We asked The Atlantic’s writers and editors: What’s a film adaptation that’s better than the book?
The article explains why they consider the movies Jurassic Park, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Devil Wears Prada, The Social Network, and Clear and Present Danger each to be better than their source material.
I prefer Hitchcock’s ‘Rear Window’ to the original short story it was based on, ‘It Had to Be Murder’. Not that the latter is bad, I just think some of the things the film is able to do like the slower pacing and neighbourhood ambience helps us experience the world from Jeff’s (Hal’s) perspective and that goes a long way to building suspense later in the film. You feel like you’re trapped in there alongside him in the film, whereas the book is recounted in past-tense so it’s a lesser secondhand feeling of suspense.