I've read the book so I was bored. Many parts of the movie were verbatim from ...
932359
I've read the book so I was bored.  Many parts of the movie were verbatim from the book but not all.  I think you'll have a better understanding of the overall picture if you read the book First.
1182363
I had just completed the novel of the same name when I decided to rent the video of "Less Than Zero" to basically see the novel come to life.  This was something which I eagerly anticipated since I thoroughly  enjoyed the book.  I was sadly disappointed.  The film is a very sanitized  version of the book.  While the film does feature a plotline which is a bit  similar to that of the novel (drug dealing, rich kids in L.A., 80's excess)  the majority of the story in the film has nothing to do with the novel, and  much of the character attributes are lost in translation to the screenplay.  For example, the main character, Clay (Andrew McCarthy)is a highly strung  out junkie in the novel, while in the film he is a clean kid who preaches  to his friends about the dangers of drugs.  The film seems to focus more  on the problems with Julian (Robert Downey, Jr.) than on anything else,  while the book's plot revolved around Clay.  Many of the other, more  interesting secondary characters are barely touched on in the film, making  it lack depth.  Lost in the transition to the screenplay are some of the  book's greatest lines such as "Get Lost Here" and "I want to  go back.  Where?  I don't know where, just back."  The film does seem  to have one or two good things going for it:  the portrayal of drug dealer  Rip by James Spader and the soundtrack...but that's about it.  If you  haven't read the book, you may want to try the film, but if you've read the  book, skip the film.  However, I recommend skipping the film altogether and  just reading the book instead.
2882307
The novel for the most part was quite boring
2350123
I may not be considered a true judge of the movie as I slept off and on through much of it and did not bother with a rerun. The movie does not at all follow the story line of the book. The special effects are overdone and the battle scenes boring and too long. I imagined JRRT flinching in his grave. The old animated movie version was much better. I cannot recommend the movie to anyone.
3755031
I have not read the book as other reviewers here and so my opinion is based on the film alone. I found this film tedious to the point of boredom. I had had high expectations for this film since I was really impressed by Jolie's "Land of Milk and Honey", I expected a solid film but this failed miserably. First of all there is hardly any character development of the lead character, no emotional resonance, no depth of character. The supporting characters are just card board screen fillers. I  left the film bored and with no feeling for the hero, there is little imparted on what emotional struggles ensued to help him persevere, no insight into his weaknesss and strengths. The fault is not just with direction but in the script itself which has no meaningful dialogue and simply stitches a series of events together, from what I understand the book gave them a lot to work with so I can only assume their efforts to bring the material to life an unsatisfactory attempt. I may now read the book if only because it's so praised here by the reviewrs of this film, if this film were all I had as introduction to the life of this man he would soon fade from memory. I made the mistake of buying this film, I suggest those who want to see it wait until it's available as a rental. It's as banal as the cliche "if you can take it you can make it." Urghe.
4928341
As just any other hollywood movie with guns, car chases, and explosions....this movie was OK. The acting was decent and the writing was bland but not embarrasing.
But if you liked the book, and were hoping for something better than the mini-series that was on TV some years AGO - stay away from this movie.
I am not one of those people who always likes the book better than the movie and complains when seeing a book on-screen. (The only issue that I had with Lord of the Rings was that I could not help but see Agent Smith in Elrond.)
But this movie cuts away - not just scenes of the lengthy book - but numerous major characters, so that the fundamental plotline and character motivation are something entirely different. I won't give away details here - but this is a different story. And I don't really mind different, as long as it is replaced with something intelligent as opposed to something unnecessarily formulaic. Sadly, all traces of what made the original so good and exciting are gone, and we are left to watch "yet another".
4086736
So disappointing after reading the book.  The movie may be ok if I had not read the book first.  The book is very good.  This movie is blah.  It doesn't even flow well.  It seems like a few changed snippets from the book put together.
1859680
I had heard so many great things about this book. Everyone I know seemed to love it. When I saw the trailer for the movie, I was intrigued. I went out and bought the book and immediately began reading it. I loved the first half. I enjoyed the writing and the characters, but I began to get bored about half way through. I found myself wanting to read something else and trying to make myself finish this book. People may hate me for this, but I ended up putting down the book and just watching the movie. I don't know why I couldn't finish it, but I just found it to be boring. I would say that if you are going to read this book, don't have high expectations. I really wanted to like it, but I was let down.
1628202
After having read the book, the movie was just a muddle.  I really liked the book but the movie just didn't follow the book and was disappointing to me.
3734355
Given the amount of buzz the film version of this is generating, I was moved to read it again over the weekend. Sadly, it's even more unfocused than I had remembered. And considerably less fun. Spending 300 pages inside the head of a main protagonist who is undergoing a mental breakdown, and who amounts to little more than a not very interesting caricature, is a dubious pleasure at best. Sure, Kirn gets in a few well-placed zingers at the weirdness that lies at the core of corporate America's culture of middle management, but it's not as satisfying or as entertaining as you might think. Satirizing the prevailing management culture is like shooting fish in a barrel, but in the end the reader, exhausted by 300 pages of unfocused, stream-of-consciousness rambling, is left wondering what point Kirn was trying to make.

The huge differences between the film and the original book make this question even more puzzling. Kirn is on record as being "very happy" with the film treatment, despite the fact that the differences between the film and the book far outweigh the similarities. Maybe the explanation is that it's hard to screw up a book which had no clear message to begin with.
632515
The book was probably more engaging than the movie. I did enjoy the scenery, but the movie itself was dreafully s-l-o-w. I was glad tha I did not spend the dollars at the box office for this one. It was better than the Saturday night line up on tv, however.
4562611
Very  little of this book was about Argo.  I KNOW the movie was partly fiction but SO MUCH more interesting and suspenseful.  The only reason I got through it was because I was listening to it, not reading it.  Some of the authors stories are interesting, but there is a lot of boring filler.  Some good editing would have been helpful...  Overall, I'm glad they all got out, but the movie was way better.
2222971
I found the book a real disappointment, maybe it is because I read it after seeing the movie, but, nevertheless, my recommendation is to see the movie and leave the book alone. I also didn't particularly like the style of writing as it feels like something was lost in translation.
3833324
It's a good movie but if you've read the book then you might not enjoy it, the plot was completely changed and it seems that they kept very little from the book.
3484209
This book came to my attention because the movie has just come out and one of my favorite actors, Nicole Kidman, is playing the starring role...so I heard about it on some talk show.  I was not aware until reading the reviews, that this book came out to such hype and rave reviews.  I agree with many of the reviews here that the story seemed to go on and on and on and then resolved itself very quickly and unsatisfactorily.  Frankly, I did a lot of speed reading thru the middle 200 or so pages...and found myself anxious to be done with it and get into some really good books I have waiting.  I always try to read the book before seeing the movie made of it but this time I won't bother seeing the movie....I've had enough of this story.  I gave it 3 stars just because 2 seemed, well, harsh!!  In this case, I would suggest seeing the movie and skipping the book...less time wasted.
45139
I decided to read the book instead of seeing the movie.  I should have waited for the movie.  There are those works of fiction that make better movies instead of books, this is one of them.  The story while interesting  was not very compelling.  The book offered very little in depth to the true  aspect to the emotion of grief.  What I thought might be a profound  testment to the human heart was really nothing more than a story of grief  in the form of total abandonment of her other two children and her own  selfishness.  I was ready to put it down but after I had invested the time  in reading over 200 pages, I trodded along to the end, which left me very  unimpressed.  The point at which this story ended really should have been  it's climax. Like I said I should have waited for the movie.
1530999
The movie was poorly done. It trailed away from the book a lot. Or so I thought.