Film: The Martian

I like to think I'm immune to the whole "if you've read the book then you'll hate the film" reflex that most people describe as having. If a film sucks I think it would always have regardless of any personal experience I've had with its plot or characters - I understand that it's impossible to represent a full volume in the relatively small number of minutes available on screen, and I'm generally happy with the distillation most novels go through.

Which is why it's easy for me to say that The Martian was a good film. It was well made, coherent, engaging and thrilling at the same time. It's a pretty easy recommendation to make. It looked and played great, and I left being totally in love with Jessica Chastain.

But it's not a patch on the book. And I guess that's what's most disappointing really - that the pure genius and talent of the book has been left to its pages and that the majority of people who have watched the film will never know it. That makes me pretty sad.

So yes, I do recommend The Martian, the film. But I super recommend The Martian, the book and I implore that you all read that too.