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Originally Posted by PITAronin 
Would like to resurrect this thread and encourage all of you to check this film out. I was so impressed that I went bqack to re-read the novel and would be curious to see if anyone else who checks out both the book and the film would agree with any of my initial reactions.
1. The best parts of the film were pretty much directly taken from the book (including especially memorable lines of dialogue)
2. In adapting the book to do the screenplay for the film, the results seem (to me) to be mixed. Some plot elements from the book (e.g., the sapphic relationship between Ree and Gail, the 'stoned on mushrooms rape' flashback, the whole 'fists of god' religious cult element) are ok being cut since they might have a tendency to clutter up the narrative thread. On the other hand, elements related to Ree's mother's past (including the fact that one of the young children was actually fathered by one of the kinfolk living nearby when Jessup was in jail) seem to have been dropped to the detriment of a fully- fleshed-out understanding of the characters.
1. The best parts of the film were pretty much directly taken from the book (including especially memorable lines of dialogue)
2. In adapting the book to do the screenplay for the film, the results seem (to me) to be mixed. Some plot elements from the book (e.g., the sapphic relationship between Ree and Gail, the 'stoned on mushrooms rape' flashback, the whole 'fists of god' religious cult element) are ok being cut since they might have a tendency to clutter up the narrative thread. On the other hand, elements related to Ree's mother's past (including the fact that one of the young children was actually fathered by one of the kinfolk living nearby when Jessup was in jail) seem to have been dropped to the detriment of a fully- fleshed-out understanding of the characters.
One change that I found led to some plot inconsistencies was the changing of Ree's siblings from two boys, nine and ten, into a boy and a much younger little girl. Presumably this was to increase the sense of the family's vulnerability. The younger boy in the novel was much like the character in the movie--gentle. The older boy in the novel was the one fathered by Blond Milton (the neighbor); he was a little tough guy. This explains Blond Milton's willingness to take the boy in movie but not the little girl, which was a little baffling the first time I saw the movie. When Ree instructs the children in marksmanship and handling guns, it seemed odd to me (on my first viewing) that so young a child (and a little girl) would have been included.
The "Fists of God" cult seems closely based on Mormonism. I think at one time, before migrating West, a lot of Mormons settled in that vicinity.
In the book, the bail bondsman was considerably younger and seemed a little sweet on Ree, offering her a job at the end of the book, which gave it a somewhat more upbeat ending than the movie, it seemed to me.
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3. Some elements that were included in the film but do not appear in the book strike me as being especially weak and contribute little (e.g. the whole artsy black and white squirrel in a forest montage when Ree is considering having to sell the timberland, and the painfully awkward interaction with the Army recruiter which makes Ree come across as far less savvy and competent than the whole film has led us to believe.)All in all, though, well worth checking out.
The whole cattle auction and Ree's trying to confront Thump Milton there seemed extraneous and confusing. Also, Teardrop's confrontation with Thump and his goons in the bar after which he smashes up the truck seems to be a reduplication of his confrontation with Thump & Co. at the barn (and a violation of the uneasy truce concluded there with Thump et al.). In the book, he just smashed up some guy's car for leering at Ree, even in her beat-up state.
On the other hand, I thought the boat journey in the movie was an excellent addition. I also thought the decision not to have everything snow-covered (as it was in the book) helped accentuate the grim, harsh character of the region and increased the sense of menace.
