Although you can go see the movie and follow along pretty well without reading the book, I recommend reading it before you go see the movie. Having read the book before the movie I understood everything that some people did not. Readers just know all the details that the movie didn't cover. I thought the movie was great!! I absolutely loved it. There were some details left out, but how much could they really fit into 2 hours out of a 600 page book? It was funny and emotional and action-packed and followed the book pretty well. Im going to see it again!