Review of Speak (2004) by Anthony O — 17 Dec 2010

I was forced to read the novel by my English teacher as a class reading assignment. I ended up enjoying the book and found it to be very well written, one of the best I'd read in a long time(I don't read much).

When I saw this movie, I didn't know what to expect. Now I realize one should have little expectations of this movie because it is pretty bad. Simply put, it just doesn't give justice to the book.

There are several differences, but too many to compare and contrast. Ones that really did bother me was how much the director cut. The movie is too damn short for you to follow the main character's dilemma let alone care.

The story is hard to follow and not delivered in an interesting way. In the book we'd get nice character descriptions, and narration as to why Melina(the main character) hates high school. The events described in the book were realistic and funny, but serious and chilling.

In the movie they're so rushed and all the characters "revolving" around Melina are underdeveloped. Mr. Neck, the name of a coach in the Halls, has the performance of a low-life actor who just came from a stereotype of Disney channel's, "Zack and Cody.

" Which brings me to another thing-the high school. Without trying to compare it to the vivid description in the book, the high school depicted here is flat and boring. Typical, and not threatening in the least.

If Sharzer was trying to make it seem as if it's a nice school whilst showing Melinda's horrid past, she failed at doing so. The shots of the school are quick and lazy. And the teachers at the school are over-the top, card-board cut-outs of a stereotype on high school teachers.

The art teacher, Mr. Freeman, comes off as a pointless character unlike he did in the book. His roll in Melinda's life appeared to be a complete waste of time and should've been cut from the already short movie.

And Andy Evans-the guy who raped Melinda, doesn't look a thing like he was described in the novel. He doesn't even look like a jock. Just a bad actor who was hired at the last minute. I think that must've been how all the actors in this movie were cast.

The same goes for her parents. Flat, boring, R.L. Stine type parents who don't believe their daughter worth two-shits. Maybe it's a little unfair to compare it to the book, but if you try and look at this film on it's own it just doesn't survive.

This feels more like a lazy depiction of a Disney channel child star's life gone wrong. There just simply is NO grit to it. None. At the end, there IS brief fight scene between Melinda and Andy, but it's not like you can see anything.

Once again, I must refer to the book. In the movie, Andy is sprayed in the eyes with something we don't see(due to the dark tint of the screen because the camera man or whomever got lazy), and starts screaming, "Ahh!! I can't see!" And even after Melinda walks away with a cat-scratch on her face we can hear him.

Whereas in the book, she pits a sharp piece of glass to his throat and he stops. Melinda says, "he couldn't speak, that was good enough." Hence the title! Speak! In the movie after she walks away they remaining girls who've got him pinned demand he say something for himself, but all he can do is bitch about his eyes.

How dumb. If your looking for a chick-flick gone wrong movie with all the right ways to make ir rightfully go-wrong, "Speak" is the movie to watch. But don't read the very good novel by Laurie Halse Anderson, expecting to see a good movie adaptation, as good as ones like "No Country For Old Men," or "The Outsiders.

" Speak is a movie that needs to shut the hell up.