My faith in films made from books has declined somewhat in the past few years and this is an example of why. Although Marchetti wrote the screenplay, some of the most important things lost their meaning. The film was a mere pastiche of the book. Obviously time constraints meant that they couldn't film the whole book but I thought that certain things could have retained some adherence to Josie's insecurity about her ethnicity and illegitimacy. As a film it was great, but people who loved the book will probably be disappointed.
Review of Looking for Alibrandi
