With a few obvious detours (one of which they actually acknoledge in the script concerning polyjuice potion), I give them a B+ for thier rendering of some very difficult scenes from the book. The movie overall seems a bit slow at times, but then again, so was the book.They managed to effectivly display the characters frustrations and to draw the slow time down to a minimum.
Remember guys, this is the first half of the plot, and by where they stopped, I cant wait for part 2... It is going to be a hang on to your seat kinda ending.
One thing I did note is that they seemed to get away from the special effects for thier own sake kinda stuff some of the other movies had (we are in a recession after all) but then again, they may be saving it for part 2.
A final note... They did ok splitting the book. There is a relativly complete story line and an ending that will make you sit up.... I will say however that it is fairly obvious that something is missing. You will not be (too) dissapointed.