Review of Lolita (1962) by Natalie M — 11 Aug 2009

Considering Nabokov wrote the screenplay, I was disappointed with how different the film was from the novel. The book is absolutely brilliant, and I think a lot of that was lost in Kubrick's film. This was especially apparent in the the moving of the ending of the book to the beginning of the film. It left the film anti-climactic and took away a lot of the suspense and surprise that grabbed me so intensely at the end of the novel.

Sue Lyon was a little too old for the part of Lolita, which I'm sure was a purposeful decision to make the film more acceptable. James Mason played Humbert Humbert decently, but the role was not written with the charm and lovability that so characterized the character in the novel. Peter Sellers yet again plays multiple roles including a crazy German guy.