In the Westwood’s movie, most of the plots and settings are similar as those in the novel, except the abridged background information and some minor modifications. The structures of those two works are uniform; start with the stories in three main characters’ childhoods, following by what happens in decades later, after they grow up and have their own families. Both movie and novel tell the murder and Nadine’s First Communion in parallel structure. When I read the book, I feel a little bit confused because the scenes keep switching, but then I find the structure reinforces Jimmy’s ambivalent feelings for his daughter, angry but dysphoric. Happy for his youngest daughter’s First Communion, but worried about his first daughter. The movie version …show more content…
For example, there is no introduction like the difference between the Flat and the Point, or the outrageous things that Jimmy did like he jumped down to the rail when trains were in operation to get his ball back. Yet Clint Westwood still demonstrations that Jimmy was the most audacious one by telling he suggested his friends to steal a car, to write names on municipal property and didn’t call the fake police sir. Another difference is the place where police find the body of Katie Marcus, which is the bear cage in the movie version, instead of the drive-in screen in the novel. Jimmy and his daughter have memories there. Jimmy had brought his family there for the Shakespeare’s show once before, although other family members cannot understand the beauty of the drama, Katie enjoyed the show a lot (151). All those details are pruned. However, the most notable variation must be the screenwriter changes the reason why Dave was taken by the fake cops. In the original story, it was because Sean, Dave and