Way too Late at the Movies: Going Postal

So I'm a big fan of Terry Pratchett.

I'm also mildly aware that some of his books have been turned into movies, whether "movie" movies, mini-series, or animations. I've seen a few of them, and generally felt the ones I've seen have missed the mark.

"Going Postal" is among my top five Pratchett books. I got to watch the TV mini-series today. And, alas, it also misses the mark.

There is much good to be said about the film. Richard Coyle as Moist von Lipwig is about perfect. David Suchet as Reacher Gilt *is* perfect. If they haven't cast Charles Dance as Lord Vetinari in other movies, that's a crime against humanity.

Many of the supporting players are also fine, including those who play Stanley and Mr. Groat.

I absolutely loved how they handled Lipwig's guilt bubbling up through the "new" technology of the clicks, right down to the word cards and melodramatic poses and that odd, quick early-movie pacing.

But they messed with the plot. Or one of the plots.

Mr. Gryle, the banshee. Sorry, the "words" killed him? Maybe my recollection from the book is fuzzy, but I know it didn't happen that way. Maybe the words helped. But Stanley and Mr. Groat were certainly involved. Maybe they had to trim that part of the story for length. But it was done poorly.

And wow, they gave the Golden Suit short shrift. Maybe I glanced away and missed it, but in the book Mr. Lipwig getting the Golden Suit was a moment. In the film, he was just suddenly wearing it. Again, maybe I missed something.

Some of the other tinkering made less sense. Why send the contest message to Uberwald, rather than, where was it, Genua? And to the sunburned/allergic tit of a wizard there, who was cut from the movie entirely. A lot of the showmanship that made Lipwig a charming, oily character was missing. And they really did Adora Belle Dearheart and Sacharissa Crisplock wrong. There's a lot more to their characters than what appear in this mini-series.

Crispin Horsefry, I imagined as much younger, and I think he was depicted so in the book.

I know it's like shouting into an empty room, comparing books to their film/TV adaptations, but there was enough tinkering with this story it's not one I need to watch again. I'll just stick to the book.

But it is good evidence to have in hand when the Brits complain about "American meddling" in British stories in American adaptations. They do it too, and needlessly so.