Killing Me Softly. Book vs. Movie

Last night I stayed up till 2am watching this movie. I was all kinds of excited since I read the book almost 2 years ago and loved it, and the movie was supposedly based off of the book. Now I've only ever watched a movie and read a book that were the same once before. It was A Walk To Remember, and at first I loved the book and hated the movie but after watching the movie a few more times it grew on me. I just had to reconcile with myself that there were some differences. But you know what? The storyline at least was the same, the ending was the same. But before I get into the movie let me give you a little on the book. And be forewarned, there will be spoilers in both reviews (movie and book) so I can tell you how they differed.

A friend of mine that reads a lot but not usually romance recommended this book to me. She said she knew it wasn't romance but she really thought I'd like it. I don't know why she felt the need to say that since I don't' only read romance I just mostly read romance. Anyway, this was the first time I ever read Nicci French, and since this book I've come to really love her writing style. I found this book in the Thriller section of the book store and it's a book about obsession. Lets do a run down of the book. And just so you know, it's been quite awhile since I've read the book and since Holly STILL has my copy I'm going off of memory.
Alice is living in London with her boyfriend (don't remember how long they were together but it was serious) they have their group of friends they always hang with and Alice is best friends with her boyfriends sister. She has a pretty mundane job and just goes day to day. One day as she's walking to work she catches the eye of a man crossing the street. And that's where the obsession begins. She leaves for lunch and (if I'm remembering correctly) he's outside her building, she gets into a cab with him and goes to an apartment where the screw like crazy all day. This goes on for about a week I think. Her meeting up with him banging around feeling this crazy obsession to be with him, even as she knows practically nothing about him. But also struggling with leaving her long time boyfriend and her old life behind. Adam, the new man she's met, is a mountain climber. He's practically a hero for just about a year ago he took a team up and there was a tragic accident that killed many of the people including his girlfriend at the time, but he saved 6 peoples lives. So the book goes, she leaves her old boyfriend to be with Adam. Adam does a interview for a Mountain magazine where they talk him up as a hero and then the letters and accusations start.

Now let me put in real quick that some time either before the article or after Adam convinces Alice to marry him. So they are wed now.

A girl comes forward and claims that years ago Adam had raped her. Then Alice starts getting hang up phone calls, and letters warning her away from Adam. She starts to snoop around asking questions about Adam and his past. At one point Adam finds out she's snooping and beats the living hell outta her. Then says he loves her so much and cannot live without her. Alice keeps digging and comes across a few things, one Adam was having an affair with a married woman and when she broke it off with him is when she went missing. Also the girlfriend that was killed in the climbing accident? She was cheating on him and he had just found out. Little by little things start falling into place.

Long story short she takes all she knows and goes to the police (I think for the second time cause they didn't believe her the first time). But anyway when they do believe her and go to get Adam he is found dead in his apartment. He hung himself and left a letter saying he only loved Alice so much and needed her love. He was obviously crazy.

I really loved the book, it was intense, a little erotic, it had me turning each page faster and faster. So it is no surprise that I was sooo excited to watch the movie.......I should have known better.

So as you see I loved the book. I am of course expecting the same from the movie, now I'm not dumb I know there are going to be some things added some things taken away, and some things exaggerated or played down. But I did expect it to follow the same story line with the same ending. OMG was I disappointed. Before I even get into the plot of the movie that I didn't like let me just say they messed up just casting Heather Graham as Alice. She has got to be the worse actress EVER. Her facial expressions alone killed it! I think they were just thinking 'oh we need to have quite a few naked sex scenes so lets get a girl with a great body, and who cares if she can act." Ugggg!
Now back to the movie!

Okay first off the intense obsession that you feel in the book is totally missing. In the movie it seems like just an instant intense attraction, you may ask what's the difference. But the movie seemed so normal. The book seemed like it was a beyond normal obsession, it was so much more intense, it drew you in so much more.
So they meet basically the same as they did in the book, yet there is barely any of the history on Adam in the movie as there was in the book. I kept waiting to see the intense almost craziness in Adam but it never came. Yeah, he was crazy about Alice but not in a scary way. So I'm thinking this movie is definitely lacking...yes they still had the kinky sex that bordered on violent but it was never a forced thing like it almost seemed in the book.
Alice never was uncomfortable in any way, she was hot for everything Adam did. So I'm waiting and waiting, and finally Alice starts to find clues to Adams past. She starts putting things together and finally she goes to the police. They don't believe her so she turns and runs to Adams sister, who by the way didn't even exist in the book.

Let me say real quick that we meet Adams sister in the beginning and you don't really know how to take her, she seems a little off, but still kind of nice.

So she goes to the sister and tells her what she is thinking, all the same suspicions as the book, and the sister believes her. So together they go off to where Alice thinks Adam buried the body of an ex-lover that he killed. When there they both start digging and Alice finds the body....but she also finds a necklace on the body. The same necklace that the sister gave her! Turns out the sister was the one killing and crazy. She had an obsession with her brother, made him have sex with her when they were younger and thinks of him as her's. Adam arrives to 'save the day' and Alice ends up killing the sister right as she's about to kill Adam. So you'd think after they messed up the ending to the book the least they could do is give Adam and Alice a HEA right? Ummm, NO! They freaking go their separate ways and that's that. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID.

Now if I never read the book I may have liked the movie, IF they stayed together in the end. But they just messed it in so many ways it wasn't even right. But one thing they did get right? Yummmy yummy yummmy Adam! The guy that played Adam was freaking HOT! Joseph Fiennes, and here's some eye candy of him:
I think it's mostly his eyes. OMG you could just drown in them, they are a mix of light brown and hazel. It sounds really weird but they are almost clear brown. See you know I got it bad if I'm staying stupid things like "drown in them". I am so not THAT girl. But goodness the eyes and that half smile of his? Yeah, baby!