Blog Tag Topic #1 (To find out more about Blog Tag see previous entry)

Tag Topic #1: Take your favorite book and turn it into a movie - tell us who you would cast as the actors, director, etc. and why. (If your favorite book is already a movie, tell us how you would have done it differently.)

My favoritest book is The Odyssey, (yes please stamp "BIG DORK" on my forehead now), but there are far too many characters in that book to cast. So instead I will do my second favorite book, The Lovely Bones (I am also kind of cheating since I did a paper on this for my Careers in Hollywood class).

For those that haven't read it, The Lovely Bones is a novel by Alice Sebold about Susie Salmon, a 14-year-old girl from the suburbs who is attacked on her way home from school by a neighbor who then proceeds to rape and murder her. She narrates the whole story from heaven where she is able to look down upon the family, friends, and even the murderer she left behind. Through her eyes we see how each of them struggles through life as they carry the burden of her death with them.

Actors:
Susie Salmon - Jenna Boyd (The Missing, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants)
Why: She's not as overly exposed as someone like Dakota Fanning and she's proven herself in dramatic roles.

Detective Fisherman (investigates Susie's case) - Billy Crudup (Big Fish, Trust the Man)
Why: There's just something about him I really like. And I enjoy his work. I think he has the ability to play many different types of characters - from a cocky rock star in Almost Famous, to a clean cut, no nonsense son in Big Fish and a slacker boyfriend in Trust the Man.

Susie's Dad - Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rogue, The Island)
Why: I'd like to see him take on the role of a distraught father with a family coming apart and see his physical change as the years go on.

Susie's Mom - Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense, Little Miss Sunshine)
Why: I guess I like her as the mother of bizarre families. She's done so well in the past.

Mr. Harvey (Susie's next door neighbor and killer) - John C. Reilly (Chicago, Talladega Nights)
Why: I think he is an amazing actor who could bring humanity to such a hated character.

Susie's Grandma - Ellen Burstyn (Requiem for Dream, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood)
Why: Like Reilly, I think she's a very talented actor and I'd love to see her take on this emotional role.

Director: Sam Mendes (American Beauty)
Why: I think he could capture the same creepy underbelly of white-bread, suburban America that he did for Beauty to put to use in this very different time and story.

So, there's my movie. If you haven't read the book, don't wait for the real movie to come out. No matter who is involved, most movies just don't measure up to their books. It'll be interesting to watch for the cast list to come out though and see if any of my picks make it (I had to do this exercise in another class for The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and when the movie came out at least one of my character picks matched up to the real one!).

Let me know what you think of my list and (if you've read the book) let me know what you might do different.

Then check out Sara's entry on the same topic. Tag Sara, you're it!