Going in we knew that the movie would not be exactly like the book. Several characters were left out (i. e. Madge), Haymitch was not the buffoon that he was at the reaping in the book. We all thought this was should have been included because it shows a lot about Haymitch's character. However, my son (age 18) and I both thought that Woody Harrellson was OUTSTANDING in the part - my son compared his performance to Johnny Depp as Capt. Jack Sparrow (high praise from him). We enjoyed the movie very much any may go to see it again.