The thing about movies based on books is that you may already know what is going to happen. But when author Emily Giffin saw the film version of her first novel, "Something Borrowed," she was surprised to find herself on the edge of her seat.
"At various moments, I forgot I had read the script a million times and knew what was going to happen. It was surprising, the ability I had to watch something I'm that close to and lose myself in the movie," said the Brookhaven-based writer.
"Something Borrowed," the new romantic comedy starring Kate Hudson, Ginnifer Goodwin and John Krasinski hits theaters Friday. This testament to the complicated nature of friendships and romance, stands on its own, but also has the added bonus of being the type of novel-based film that doesn't ruin the book.
"The movie is true enough to the spirit of the story and the basic plot points. There are a few things that changed and for the most part they were necessary changes for the adaptation," Giffin said.
Goodwin stars as Rachel, a high-powered attorney with a low-wattage love life who finds herself still single at age 30. Hudson stars as Darcy, Rachel's self-involved best friend who is engaged and constantly reminding Rachel of her single status. But on her birthday, Rachel, fueled by alcohol and hormones, has a fling with Dex (Colin Egglesfield) who happens to be Darcy's fiance.
The road to redemption is littered with all sorts of mishaps and misunderstandings made more entertaining by Krasinski's scene-stealing portrayal of Ethan, Rachel's confidante who at times seems a better friend than her bestie. Ethan is fighting his own demons, but doles out healthy doses of tough love to Rachel such as when he tells her he can't take anymore of her "daddy hits me because he loves me stuff."
"Something Borrowed," is most definitely a rom com, but in a gender neutral sort of way, if such a thing is possible. Yes, there are the obligatory female bonding rituals like Rachel and Darcy making a bump and grind sandwich at a nightclub in the Hamptons to the melodic sounds of Bubba Sparxxx' "Miss New Booty," but it's not all about the girls.
"Everyone can relate to the feeling of being in love with someone you shouldn't or where the circumstances aren't right," Giffin said. "In this film, you see multiple viewpoints and change your allegiance sometimes even within one scene. There is no clear winner and loser."
Giffin's biggest fear was that a movie version of her work, the first in a series, would lose a certain complexity, but given her constant presence on set (an anomaly in Hollywood) that wasn't likely.
"One of the reasons we were able to work so well together -- which isn't to say there wasn't a little drama -- was I was very careful to keep in mind that this was their movie. I acted as a consultant," Giffin said.
When asked for guidance by director Luke Greenfield, Giffin was certain to stay true to the characters rather than her written words. In at least one instance, Giffin, who has a cameo in the film, was the only one passionately arguing for a departure from her original novel.
Even casting Hudson as the character described on paper as a leggy brunette, could have been a sticking point, but from the moment the spirited actress uttered one line of dialogue, even Giffin had to admit, it was pure Darcy.
"Once you stand back and think about Darcy and the kind of actress Hudson is ... you see she gets it," Giffin said.
That is to say, that Hudson somehow manages to be both charming and catty all at once.
In the end, there's no tidy resolution to this story which is best understood in two non-consecutive lines of dialogue about how hot people live.
"Hot people are supposed to be with hot people," says Rachel, early in the film.
"Hot people get cheated on sometimes," says Darcy later.
About the Author
