- CONS: I'm somewhat sympathetic - even if I may not totally agree - with Rand's book, but she was a fantastic writer able to weave a story with slowly constructed plotlines that provide convincing context, whereas, the two-hour film only has enough time to to take the thesis from the back cover, knock you over the head with hit and drag you back to its cave. The character development present in the book had all been stripped out in favor of the political treatise leaving a bunch of shallow cartoon characters about which one didn't care at all. In her book, Rand expertly argues for her philosophy by offering rich characters with which you can connect, even if they are of different circumstances.
That point aside, however, the acting in AS1 was absolutely abysmal. It was like watching a Made-for-TV movie or a soap opera. Honestly, I found myself laughing at some of - what were supposed to have been - the most dramatic moments.
PROS: great costuming and set design
One can like a book and think the film version was crap. I think this may be why some writers (i.e. J.D. Salinger) refused to let their books be turned into films. After the current hyperbole of the LCD class regaring Ayn Rand has died down again, another generation of college students would have been likely to get into her books, but the film will have the effect of negative promotion. I liked Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass but thank God the box office was bad enough that they'll never make the sequel.
