Apt Pupil

[Johnny Latino Heat]

I've recently finished reading Stephen King's novella "Apt Pupil" and I've learned that there's a movie of the same name starring Ian McKellen and Brad Renfro. My question is, is the movie faithful to the novella itself and is it worth watching? I was deeply interested by the novella and I'm seriously thinking about purchasing the movie if I can find it (since my video store doesn't have it and I can't rent it), and I was wondering if it's actually worth the money.

[Pander Opiate]

I think it's pretty similar but I don't think it's quite as dark and the ending is slightly different. Apart from that it's reasonably faithful to the story. I love the Apt Pupil novella though. It's the best in Different Seasons.

[Johnny Latino Heat]

I love the Apt Pupil novella though. It's the best in Different Seasons.

[TGC]

I love the Apt Pupil novella though. It's the best in Different Seasons.

Even though I'm still reading "The Body", I have a gut feeling that the Apt Pupil novella will be my favourite from that book. "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" is also great, and while "The Body" is not bad, it has not done much to captivate my attention, "Apt Pupil" is just my kind of novella. It immediately caught my attention and, well, I really, REALLY feel the urge to see the movie now, since I loved it on paper.

Repeat after me, The Book Is ALWAYS Better.

With that said, Shawshank Redemption is a far better film than the novella (book is a C and the movie is an A), and ditto Stand By Me over The Body (Book is a C and the film is an A again). However Apt Pupil is good in both formats, but slightly different. The film is a Bryan Singer film before he went on to make huge Super Hero Summer Movies, showing that the man that made The Usual Suspects is indeed one of the better director's to come around in many years.

If the novella gets a Grade of B+, the film gets a grade of B-. Ian McKlellan really makes the movie and steals every scene he is in. You can buy it on Amazon on DVD relatively cheap, and is a good addition to any movie fan's collection of films.

TGC