A Joy

For those who HAVE NOT read the book: Odds are you will enjoy this film. It is a Christian storyline that identifies brokenness, redemption, and God's love. I would categorize the movie as a Christian romance, one not intended for audiences under 16. It is evidently a movie without the highest budget, but nevertheless it will most likely strike a cord with most audiences. For those who HAVE read the book: With all due respect to the creators of this film, as I know they did their best, I quite frankly categorize this as the worst film adaptation of a book I've ever seen. In my opinion, this book is not a romance, nor is the biblical book of Hosea. They are books which embody sacrificial love infiltrating the foundations of evil and corruption. This movie in no way captured the brokenness of the book. Angel smiles, laughs, and cries easily in the film, while the book conveyed her as a character so stripped raw of all things good that she had become numb as a means to survive, remaining detached for a majority of the book. This book was heavy, and the brokenness was intricately conveyed, and this film feels like the Hallmark version of the story. It was as if each central environment from the book was used, and the characters were there, but they bore none of the traits which pulled through the weight of their message. The artistic nature needed to enhance the broken emotions of the story lacked entirely. If you have analyzed the characters and hold dear their meaning in the way I have, I recommend that you not see this film. Keep it's value precious in your own mind and heart. This story was not one that could ever be accurate on screen, as the character's thoughts which give it substance can not be physically conveyed to their designated depth.