John Knowles's novel A Separate Peace is one of my favorite books of all time. I think there is a depth to the characters that is nothing short of genius. I recently purchased the film version, eagerly waiting until the package arrived. I was immediately disappointed with the film. The characters were bland, and on a superficial level, just plain ugly. The film went by in a totally boring fashion that really let me down. The film stuck with the content of the book pretty well, but didn't seem to stress the right things in the right way. Finny and Gene just didn't live up to the creations in the book. I just wish that there would be another version of this film made in the 90's starring some actors that could bring a little more depth to the roles. I think even the guys on Dawson's Creek would have been a vast improvement on this take on a classic book. Imagine, James Van Der Beek could play Finny; Ryan Phillippe could play Gene; Nicholas Brendon could be Leper. If that sounds a little too Hollywood for you, maybe you need to check out this film and see that ANYTHING would be an improvement.
Review of A Separate Peace
