An adaptation too close, the movie that is exactly like the book

The film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel “The Road” has been described as “very faithful”, and is surely something fans of books that are adapted to film would like to see happen more often.

Some critics however feel that the facsimile like duplication of the McCarthy novel has taken something away from the film:

But Hillcoat’s literal fidelity prevents the film from approximating the novel’s power. It’s a matter of proportion. Action and dialogue constitute but a fraction of what comprises McCarthy’s grim epic. Yet it seems like all of the book’s dialogue and main action has been shoehorned into the film’s svelte two hour running time. Scenes and exchanges are steadily beaded throughout, relegating McCarthy’s repetitions, silences, and blanketed dread to moments of scenic transition. Instead of quiet, anticipatory terror, the film plays as chatty, pulse-pounding thriller. Scenes that transpire over several paragraphs in the 250-page book loom larger when dramatized to five minutes out of 113.