This week, I've found myself justifying why I enjoy Nicholas Sparks's books, after my interview with the man himself went live. I understand why people may not have heard of him. After all, he writes romance novels, so if you don't enjoy reading a good romance, why would you know him? And if that isn't what you enjoy then I can totally see why you wouldn't be a fan. His books appeal to a specific target audience and I understand why anyone outside of that audience would not necessarily see his appeal.
Sparks's books are not particularly literary and are short and simplistic enough to lend themselves to being made into films. Does this make them bad? Well no. I often stress that books and films are - in their simplest form - escapism. Sometimes people want to be intellectually challenged and read something complex and wordy like Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy or The Cloud Atlas. Other times, they want an easy-to-read romance and will turn to Sophie Kinsella or Nicholas Sparks to satisfy that need. They want a story that will take you along for a ride and leave you content at the end without the need to have a lie-down or take a paracetamol because your head hurts.
It isn't just romances that do this. Formulas have been used in both books and films for years and will continue to for many more, of that I have no doubt. There is a sense of security in using a formula. Just think about how many films you've watched or books you've read about the young protégé who is forced to take over the mentor's role - Harry Potter, Star Wars, The Matrix, The Godfather. When it comes to romance, how many truly original romantic stories can you name? Guy and girl meet. Something gets in their way. They find a way to stay together anyway. If there was no conflict, where would the drama be? If they just met, fell in love and lived 'happily ever after', how very dull the story would be.
Blockbuster romance Titanic was the largest grossing film of all time before Director James Cameron's next film Avatar knocked it off the top spot. Millions of people across the world went to see the film. So did the IQ of the planet suddenly plummet? No. People were as intelligent when they came out as they were when they went in. The difference was simply that they had spent a couple of hours (well in the case of Titanic - more than 3!) living somebody else's life. They were - for the time they passed in the cinema - living the lives of Jack and Rose. They wondered if they would be able to stay together, if they would make it off the boat, if anyone would turn round and punch Rose's god-awful mother (just me?!).
In that premise lies the appeal of many of the formulaic stories. With Nicholas Sparks, you know what you're letting yourself in for. There will be romance - uninhibited, passionate romance. There will be drama, probably a tragedy. There will be a happy tied-up ending, but not before - in most cases - a few tears have been shed. In the predictability of a Sparks novel or film lies reassurance and stability. If you've seen his other films or read his other books, then you will know if they are your cup of tea or not. Simple.
People, I imagine, feel the same way about Michael Bay. I was a teenager when I first saw Pearl Harbor and was mortified when I read a critic say that no intelligent person could possibly enjoy that film. Was I an idiot for having 'enjoyed' it so much I bawled for the last half an hour of the film? No. I was a teenage girl madly in love with both Josh Hartnett and Ben Affleck, just as Kate Beckinsale's character was at the time. Watching it back now, I actually find it quite amusing. The drama, the action, the you'd-have-lost-the-war-if-it-wasn't-for-us American ethos of it all is laughable. But entertaining it still is. People say similar things about Transformers - but who that knows Michael Bay's work would go to see a Transformers sequel expecting plot? Stuff gets blown up, there's a hot girl screaming SAAAAAM! on repeat and cars turn into alien robots. That's what you expect, and that's what you get. Bay delivers.
Why then does enjoying these formulaic stories make you an idiot? If reading a book or watching a film is simply a way for a person to escape, why does wanting to escape into the security of a well-known formula make you an imbecile?
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of chatting with Nicholas Sparks about The Lucky One and what it's like to have so many of his books adapted into films.
Here's what he had to say on the matter:
The Lucky One hits cinemas this week and is another in an ever-growing number of your books adapted to the big screen. How involved were you in the adaptation process this time around?
Making films is a collaborative process and I'm certainly one of the collaborators on the creative aspects of the film, whether it comes down to helping to choose the screenwriter or giving notes on the screenplay, helping to select a director or even having input on the casting. The things I don't do are the studio aspects whether it's budgets, cinematography, things like that.
And are you happy with the end result?
Yeah! I thought The Lucky One was a very good sell. If you like films based on my novels, you will love The Lucky One.
How was it seeing Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling in the roles? Was it how you had envisioned it?
I thought Zac and Taylor were great. We wanted someone who was twenty-five years old or under because that's the average age of marines. We wanted someone who had an aura of being a nice guy and Zac is like that, Zac really has the aura of the character. We wanted someone who was really a great performer because we were going to saddle him with a lot of emotional stuff - you know, PTSD and all her issues. Then, of course, once you have Zac, what you're looking for is chemistry with Zac. Taylor not only had chemistry with Zac but she has a lot of emotional depth as an actress and it was good!
The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks is the story of Logan Thibault, a marine who has lived through three tours in Afghanistan thanks - he believes - to a photo he found during his first tour. The photo is of a woman he doesn't know and clearly belongs to another marine but after having no success finding the photo's owner he keeps it. His best friend Victor convinces him that the photo is his lucky charm and when he returns home he sets out to find the woman in the photo and thank her.
When he tracks down Beth however, he doesn't know how to explain what's happened and keeps the photo secret, instead taking a job working at Beth's family-run kennel. The longer he stays there, the more time he spends with Beth, her young son Ben and grandma 'Nana'. Though their first meeting is a frosty one, Beth and Logan are both surprised by how quickly they start to care for each other.
Beth and Logan are damaged individuals. Sparks knows how to write flawed people who are surprised when good things come their way, having become accustomed to the bad. It makes the passion of the impending romance all the more powerful and the drama that much more heartbreaking. For Logan, he has fallen out of touch with reality, traumatised by his experiences at war. He has become quiet and introverted, unable to really speak to people and relate to them in any real way. He walks everywhere with only his dog for company. Beth, having married young and divorced soon after is raising her son as a single-mother. Her relationships since her ex-husband have been short lived and she has given up on finding love.
The book is typically Sparks - passionate, all-encompassing and with a beautifully honest and heartbreaking romance at its core. The brilliance of Sparks's books is that, detailed as they are, they are often beautifully simplistic in the fundamentals. The characters have been thought out and the stage set well but the story itself is not altogether complex. Being an easy read does not equate to dumbing down and Sparks recognises this, keeping it to the point and just enough to whet the reader's appetite and keep the reader along for the ride all the way to the end. His stories remain compelling from start to finish and are never patronising.
The brevity of his books go a long way to explaining why they are so suitable to being adapted, as is evident in the latest in an ever-increasing line of Nicholas Sparks book to film adaptations. Luckily, their brevity also means that we are unlikely to ever get a part one and part two adaptation!
The Lucky One film sees High School Musical star Zac Efron transformed in the role of Logan with relative newcomer Taylor Schilling as Beth and support from Blythe Danner as Nana. The casting first of all was spot-on. Efron has clearly done his research for the film, meeting marines and learning how war has affected them. There is also a notable physical difference to show him as the marine. High School has certainly graduated. Schilling has risen well to the role of leading lady, showing the strong and vulnerable sides to Beth perfectly.
For me, the book was an ensemble effort. Though the story clearly revolves around Beth and Logan and their impending romance, the book spent a lot of time looking at Clayton - Beth's ex-husband - and allowed Ben and Nana to play important roles. In the film, the romance is the key with the others all taking a side seat to their two leads. Jay R. Ferguson, who plays Clayton, is suitably menacing but never really gets to show off just how nasty he really is, with a lot of his back story and the brilliant opening chapter of the book left out entirely. Logan's best friend Victor also gets a much tinier part and the effect his friendship had on Logan is shown only by Logan carrying his dog-tags with him round his neck. Happily though, Beth's son Ben, who shone for me in the book, is captured brilliantly by newcomer Riley Thomas Stewart. He has all the adorable awkwardness of Ben down perfectly and it's wonderful seeing him come out of his shell with Logan around.
Directed by Scott Hicks, the film has shifted focus slightly, playing up the romance as the only real focus of a beautifully interwoven book plot. The ending, though it kept all the 'important' points, is a little too neat and tidy, leaving absolutely nothing unresolved where the book was brave enough to leave certain elements unknown. However, the stunning setting enhances the beauty of the story and makes it a gorgeous, palatable film with a cast that will keep you hooked throughout in their subtleties and inner turmoil.
A beautiful, dramatic and powerful romance that will easily take even the more cynical reader or viewer along for the ride.
THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED. THANKS TO ALL WHO ENTERED.
Next month, Nicholas Sparks's novel The Lucky Onehits cinemas. This powerful love story follows Marine Logan Thibault as he goes in search of the woman whose photo he believes kept him alive at war. But, true to Sparks form, things are never quite that simple.
Thanks to the lovely folks at Little, Brown, you can now win a copy of the book for yourselves in this month's Film vs. Book competition!
All you have to do is email me at filmvsbook@gmail.com with your name and address and tell me why you think you should be the lucky one to win. Good luck! Look out for a RT to win competition on Twitter this week too (@filmvsbook!)
The competition closes 22 April 2012 and is open to UK residents only.
The Lucky One hits cinemas on 2 May and stars Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling and Blythe Danner. Check out the new TV spot below to find out more.
THE LUCKY ONE OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS
U.S. Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault (Zac Efron) returns from his third tour of duty in Iraq, with the one thing he credits with keeping him alive—a photograph he found of a woman he doesn’t even know. Learning her name is Beth (Taylor Schilling) and where she lives, he shows up at her door, and ends up taking a job at her family-run local kennel. Despite her initial mistrust and the complications in her life, a romance develops between them, giving Logan hope that Beth could be much more than his good luck charm.
