I mean, it was good. Pretty good. I’d forgotten that Ben Affleck is a tolerably good actor. And he was perfect for this too, with his big-and-slightly-bloated face.

The one major difference between the book and the film was that I feel like Nick (Affleck’s character) came off as way more sympathetic in the film. In the book, I always felt like he was terrible and sort of deserved what he got. But in the film, I was always rooting for him.

Part of this was, I think, because of the cat. In the movie, he’s always picking up this adorable cat and stroking it and feeding it and cuddling with it. And you’re all like, “Well if he loves his cat, then he can’t be all bad!”

The other part was his sister. His sister is a really down-to-earth, sympathetic presence. And the easy rapport that the two characters have really makes him seem pretty human. I mean, if he’s capable of forming a connection to another person, then he can’t be all bad, right?

These are just inherent differences between the two media. In film, we’re able to see the cat. We’re able to see the grace with which he and his sister inhabit the same space. What we’re not able to see are his thoughts. In the book, we got to see his thoughts. And many of those thoughts are pretty ugly.

Anyways, solid film.