Having read the book first, several times as a matter of fact because it was so very good!!!, I was truly let down by the movie. The movie was no where close to the book. The book lets you get to know each character in such an intimate way, whereas the movie jumps into the plot to quickly with no "hidden places". Gee they didn't have her have the right amount of kids, or the right orchard (apples not oranges). They didn't speak about the hidden past of the Wyatt family(Batty, Lydia, Matthew, Frank etc) and Eliza's (circus family, how she hooked Sam etc) No suspense or anything. Just pure lameness. One should be ashamed to put out such a pathetic rendition of and absolutely wonderful book. The whole purpose of the book was to help one see how God can taken so many broken lives and work it all out despite so much pain and hurt and deception. I hope Lynn Austin did not watch the movie, what a let down.
Reviews
2 Reviews
Thr3e
(2006)
Great plot of twists and turns. Follows the book closely! Not without flaws.
7 January 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Thr3e is one of my favorite novels. I took my wife on the opening Saturday night and then my two nephews the next night. My wife (who started to read the book, but in spite of being a book worm couldn't get into it) loved the film and did not appreciate me calling into question the quality of the film. I think its decent for a low budget Christian production. "Luther" is probably tops and "To End All Wars," second best. I read the book Thr3e and was totally impressed with the film adaptation. The story line is fairly original and suspenseful from start to finish, with a completely unexpected ending full of twists and turns. The setting is the good and evil nature of man. The conclusion resolves that hope in God is the only foundation to stand upon.
I want to warn people against reading too many negative comments before viewing the film, not just for the plot, but for the pure enjoyment of watching a film without preconceived notions. I think that the story is very original and worth viewing, in spite of it's flaws. It is full of suspense and likable characters.
**SPOILERS** It was directed by Robby Henson (The Visitation) and produced by Ralph Winter (X-Men). The latter really excited me. One of my disappointments is the lack of African-Americans for the inner-city setting, I counted five or six. There were a few other things that were out of place. A man was standing ten feet in front of the bus looking at it before it blew up, knowing that every one else was running for their lives. Then people were running around, like they didn't know what they were doing. This also happened twice at the police station. Evidently they did not have a bomb unit or any way to isolate a bomb blast (hard to believe since they deal with bombers). Officer Peters flippantly throws the bomb out of an upper story window, endangering all of the people that were evacuated for safety. Another problem, if my memory serves me correctly, I think that she was down stars in the basement originally. Undercover plain clothed cops are specifically dispatched and we see uniformed officers running frantically to the destination.
While investigating a potential old crime scene involving two youths, two police officers wore what looked like some kind of chemical suits. Totally out of place. Another time we see cops in full riot gear arresting what appeared to be an unsuspecting unarmed man while he was cleaning his hot dog stand. Albeit a serial killer, total overkill.
I think Justine Waddell did great as Officer Jennifer Peters, but there were times when she didn't seem to fit an officer of her supposed stature, obvious directing issues. Besides the bomb, twice she is seen running around with her gun in hand, more for camera action than for realism. The personality of a strong calculating cop was also absent at the end as she quickly warms up to Kevin Parson, without really giving their relationship the time needed to get to that point. It seemed a bit unnatural in comparison with the book having ended with more of a pre-warm up. There were obvious feelings, but they seemed more guarded in the book with a smoother flow of character.
Over all, I think the acting was superb. Laura Jordan portrayed Samantha beautifully. The directing, perhaps being stifled by a low budget could have been better, but nevertheless had a lot going for it. The special effects were not perfect, but got the point across. The filmography was great. Some of the sets were better than others. On the downside, Slater's hide out looked like a cheap haunted house. Some critics blasted the movie and you may think that I am too, but in spite of its problems I thoroughly enjoyed it and I hope you do too.
Incidentally, the book Thr3e was released in September 2003, long before the movie SAW. It was not a rip off from SAW, as another review suggested.
I want to warn people against reading too many negative comments before viewing the film, not just for the plot, but for the pure enjoyment of watching a film without preconceived notions. I think that the story is very original and worth viewing, in spite of it's flaws. It is full of suspense and likable characters.
**SPOILERS** It was directed by Robby Henson (The Visitation) and produced by Ralph Winter (X-Men). The latter really excited me. One of my disappointments is the lack of African-Americans for the inner-city setting, I counted five or six. There were a few other things that were out of place. A man was standing ten feet in front of the bus looking at it before it blew up, knowing that every one else was running for their lives. Then people were running around, like they didn't know what they were doing. This also happened twice at the police station. Evidently they did not have a bomb unit or any way to isolate a bomb blast (hard to believe since they deal with bombers). Officer Peters flippantly throws the bomb out of an upper story window, endangering all of the people that were evacuated for safety. Another problem, if my memory serves me correctly, I think that she was down stars in the basement originally. Undercover plain clothed cops are specifically dispatched and we see uniformed officers running frantically to the destination.
While investigating a potential old crime scene involving two youths, two police officers wore what looked like some kind of chemical suits. Totally out of place. Another time we see cops in full riot gear arresting what appeared to be an unsuspecting unarmed man while he was cleaning his hot dog stand. Albeit a serial killer, total overkill.
I think Justine Waddell did great as Officer Jennifer Peters, but there were times when she didn't seem to fit an officer of her supposed stature, obvious directing issues. Besides the bomb, twice she is seen running around with her gun in hand, more for camera action than for realism. The personality of a strong calculating cop was also absent at the end as she quickly warms up to Kevin Parson, without really giving their relationship the time needed to get to that point. It seemed a bit unnatural in comparison with the book having ended with more of a pre-warm up. There were obvious feelings, but they seemed more guarded in the book with a smoother flow of character.
Over all, I think the acting was superb. Laura Jordan portrayed Samantha beautifully. The directing, perhaps being stifled by a low budget could have been better, but nevertheless had a lot going for it. The special effects were not perfect, but got the point across. The filmography was great. Some of the sets were better than others. On the downside, Slater's hide out looked like a cheap haunted house. Some critics blasted the movie and you may think that I am too, but in spite of its problems I thoroughly enjoyed it and I hope you do too.
Incidentally, the book Thr3e was released in September 2003, long before the movie SAW. It was not a rip off from SAW, as another review suggested.
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