Before you see the movie, check out an excerpt of the book!
The gorgeous bride every girl has secretly been jealous of their entire lives. The hot groom every girl secretly wished asked them out first. The BFF Bridesmaid who’s secretly wished to be with hot groom since law school…but gorgeous bride snatched him up, right from under BFF.
Well, hello love triangle. You had me at bitch, hottie, and other girl.
I have not read Emily Giffin’s Something Borrowed. I know what you’re saying, “Tsk, tsk, Charli.” It’s right up my alley. but I never got around to reading it. So, with the movie coming out I feel the need to read it—stat! I am a huge stickler for reading first, watching second. Aren’t we all?
My BFF, Nikki D.C., read both Something Borrowed and Something Blue. I thought it was adorable when she told me her fiancé got so sucked into the story she ended up reading it to him in bed. How friggin’ hot is that! They were on the wedding journey themselves. Sigh…
So, I ring up said BFF and ask her all the pertinent questions. Her answers have me now in possession of said novel. That hilarious trailer, you know you want to see this movie. You know you do! Who doesn’t want to see the doormat mousy girl get the hot guy from the biotch she’s always played second fiddle to?
Nikki D.C. has some reservations about the film adaptation to one of her favorite novels. The trailer left her scratching her head like a kid with cooties.
First reservation: the casting of Kate Hudson as Darcy. In the novel, Darcy is described as dark-haired, olive-skinned, and green-eyed, with very sharp model-esque facial features. Now, Kate Hudson is beautiful, but not in this way. Not at all. Blonde wavy hair, flat facial features, girl next door. Darcy in the novel is a super competitive bitch who is always lucky and get what she wants, especially from men. This is eerily similar to Kate Hudson’s role in Bride Wars. Typecast yawn, anyone?
Ginnifer Goodwin is cute in the role of Rachel, but not at all what my friend envisioned either. Mainly due to the fact that Ginnifer is also typecasted into the doormat mousy girl roles too. He’s Just Not That Into You, Big Love. Sigh. IMO, she does look so dang cute and downright funny in the trailer.
Now, the biggest dilemma for my friend is the Ethan character; in the book, he is a friend of Rachel’s who lives in the UK and they chat on the phone. She sees him for a few days, but he's mostly a friend in the background, not a major player in the book. In the movie, he is one of those morphed characters. I hate when Hollywood does this. In the book Rachel has a work friend Hillary who, according the IMDB, is not in the movie at all. It appears Ethan is both characters. Grr.
Nikki foresees serious plot problems for the movie and for the sequel to Something Borrowed, which is Something Blue. Ethan is a main character in the sequel and it will change the context of his role, it will give it a whole different perspective and feel. For the die-hard fans of the book, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this Hollywood switcheroo. Nikki also thinks that John Krasinski is not right for the role of Ethan. She can’t put her finger on why, but part of it maybe that most of Ethan’s role in the book is via telephone.
Moreso than that, though, I believe that when we read, we create these distinct images in our head and they are part of our very personal experience. When Hollywood tries to fit that into a mold, they will always, almost, never please the masses. But, IMO, if the role of Darcy is so detailed in description, they could’ve at least dyed Kate Hudson’s hair.
What Nikki is hoping to see most in the movie is the inner dialogue Rachel has with herself, very Bridget Jones-esque in tone. These parts of the book made her laugh out loud and she’s hoping that comedy will come shining through.
In the trailer, it does look as though the filmmakers retained that aspect, at least.
I cannot wait to devour this book then go see the movie and tear it apart!
And I will let you know what I think about it.
Charli Mac, Aspiring Author, Mother, Wife & Part-Time Clown
Twitter @CharliMacs
