I read The Glass Castle a few years ago (and loved it!) and I just saw the movie yesterday. I want to share my observations with other people who have read the book:
Woody Harrelson as Rex Walls was perfect casting. I also really liked Brie Larson for Jeannette.
I don’t think the film captured her mother’s personality though. I appreciate that they didn’t overplay her idiosyncrasies, but I feel like she was too… normal. Like, I wish they would have included the scene where Jeannette catches her mother eating the chocolate bar that she’s been hiding from her kids, or one of her breakdowns about not wanting to work.
The setting of the Chinese restaurant was exactly how I pictured it when reading the book.
I also thought the movie focused too much on contrasting Jeannette’s adult life in NYC with her childhood, and trying to show that she eventually realizes her father is right that she’s not actually happy with that lifestyle. I liked how the book focused on her childhood and how she worked hard to make a better life for herself. But—I just read the cliff notes on the book since it’s been a few years since I read it, so maybe this was a good angle to use for the movie. I just didn’t remember that being a huge part of the book.
Like all books made into movies, I thought the book was better, but I did enjoy the movie.
