Let me start by saying that I was looking forward to the film, and am a great fan of the books -- but I also have learned over the years that the movies never measure up to the books. So I think I approached the movie with enthusiasm, but was not overly idealistic. Having said that, I thought the movie was disappointing. Yes, it deviates from the book quite a lot, in some very important ways. Beyond that, the first half dragged, too much attention was paid to the romantic entanglements, and I think the build-up to the traumatic ending fell flat. In short, I *wanted* to like it, but I really didn't.