Several sites have been compiling book and movie combinations and I am a fan of these types of films as much as anyone. The trick is to find movies that stick to the book in all the right ways but also deviate enough to be enjoyable to watch. (An introspective book can make a deadly dull movie.) (Or a really lame action adventure - I'm looking at you The Golden Compass.) Here's some I think are first rate:

Among bibliophiles Helene Hanff's 84 Charing Cross Road is a classic must read. Short and witty it is comprised entirely of letters exchanged between Hanff, a NYC writer, and Frank Doel, a British bookseller. Set in the period after WWII the letters reveal a great deal about life in both countries and especially the austerity in England after the war. It's also interesting to see Hanff's career unfold as she carves out a life as an unmarried professional woman in a time when that was most uncommon.

The movie, starring Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft, is AWESOME! There's obviously not a lot of action and no romance but in its very quietness there is room for so much characterization. Bancroft is quiet funny, talking directly to the camera, cursing the intellectual mediocrity of the world as she chain smokes in her apartment and searches in vain for books to feed her brain and soul. Hopkins is the utter picture of quiet devotion, loving books, loyal to his staff, devoted to his family. (See Judi Dench in a small role as his wife.) This is a movie about the value of books and the bond between bookish people. I love it madly.

I will freely admit here and now that Chocolat, by Joanne Harris, is a book I very much enjoyed. The slight fantasy touches were quite appealing (reading as a contemporary fairy tale) but as someone who grew up Catholic and can recall some of the austere aspects of that religion (my mother had some stories from the 50s and 60s that were truly mind boggling) it was the collision of two different kinds of faith that made it compulsive reading. In many ways the book is very subversive, clashing candy and God in the most overt manner. It's a challenge to what we know and a suggestion of what else could be out there.

In other words - way more than romance.

But then the movie. In the film, the religious aspect is dropped (for marketing reasons I'm sure) and the conflict is more between the past and future - those who hold on to the power of tradition versus the bold few who reach out for temptation. With Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp the movie is much more about romance but the fantasy aspects are still there along all that wonderful candy and some great performances by actors like Judi Dench and Alfred Molina. I honestly prefer the ending of the film to the book - call me a sucker but happy endings make me happy. For sheer sumptious escapism, Chocolat is just hard to beat. (Consider it balm to those nursing a wounded heart.)

Another big sweeping romantic drama that worked way way way better for me on film was the Emma Thompson/Kate Winslet version of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. I've never been able to read the book (and I tried, I swear, I really really tried.) Alan Rickman is a wonderful romantic hero and Hugh Grant - well he plays Hugh Grant but with Thompson along for the ride he is better at it than usual. (And she is fabulous of course.) This movie is one of the better British costume dramas to me because it is not only serious and almost tragic, but also romantic and funny and wry. Certainly a comedy of manners but also a sensible look at what it meant to be a woman living at that time. Pair with a book about Jane Austen (there's a great YA novel based on her life, Cassandra's Sister, which I highly recommend) to give a picture of the author's life and times.

I've written before about how much I love westerns (my dog Jake was named for the John Wayne film Big Jake and my current dog Hondo is for the film - and book - of the same name.) (Also starring John Wayne and written by Louis L'Amour). (My middle dog Tucker was named for car and A Cricket in Times Square.) (But I think Tucker is a great cowboy name too.)

I digress.

I read pretty much all the L'Amour books when I was a teenager and The Shadow Riders was one of my favorites. It's post Civil War, two brothers coming back together and then saving the women they love from Confederate raiders. It's also one of the funnier books L'Amour wrote. The movie, starring Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott as the Travens, is big fun. These guys were made for westerns (as evidenced by the number they have collectively starred in) and with Katherine Ross along as Elliott's love, just as she is in real life, it's really just fun to watch. The great actor Ben Johnson plays the Traven's eccentric uncle and helps them organize a rescue operation for Ross and the younger Travens who along with a lot of other women have been kidnapped by former Confederate soldiers to be sold in Mexico for gun money. The plot is full of wild chases, some military politics and big explosions. Mostly though it is Selleck and Elliott being wicked cool - something they are rather good at. None of Clint Eastwood's angst is present here (the man is awesome but sometimes exhausting); it's just a movie about cowboys and horses and the good guys winning. Love it.

Finally, I was thinking about Neil Gaiman after yesterday's post (and I reread "The Problem of Susan" last night) (and then saw previews for Prince Caspian on DVD today and got disgusted all over again) and wanted to include his film Mirrormask in this post even though it is not based on a book. It's a bit Alice in Wonderland crossed with Buffy and The Neverending Story. (I can't imagine the sort of picture you have in your head now at that mash-up.) This is a definite fantasy about teenager Helena who works in a traveling circus with her parents. Her mother becomes dangerously ill and the artistic Helena is wracked with guilt over a fight the two had. As everyone is consumed with her mother's illness she finds herself suddenly witness to a shadow alternate earth - a Dreamworld - where a doppelganger longs for her life and the White Queen has fallen asleep placing her world in peril. Helena must find a way to restore the balance there between Dark and Light to save the queen and her mother. Directed by Dave McKean, Mirrormask is visually stunning and Helena is a smart and proactive heroine who hangs in there against all odds; defiant and feisty (and generally pissed off) until the end. Perfect, of course, for creative and curious teens, this one never fails to spark my own creativity. It's Gaiman on film - how can you resist?

[Post pic of MirrorMask montage.]