Ryan McNeilI’m becoming more and more intrigued by pieces of fiction adapted from pieces of nonfiction.
I’m thinking about films like THE BLING RING, FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, and ADAPTATION. Films that take just a kernel of an idea and build it out into something complexed. It’s reminds me of the way sculptor Henry Moore would see interesting details on stones and trees and turn them into entire abstract sculptures.
It also stands apart from the way beloved books are interpreted into films, when fans of those properties begin to get up in arms about how faithfully x, y, and z was interpreted. It takes away the true art of adapting – of taking something beautiful and doing it justice. So when you get films like this that are adapted from pieces of nonfiction by Michael Lewis, I can’t help but feel intrigued.
While I’m not all that enamoured with a new offering by Adam McKay, and count myself as neither a huge fan of THE BLIND SIDE or MONEYBALL…I still sit here…intrigued.
If you are interested in fiction adapted from non-fiction check out X+Y based on the documentary Beautiful Young Minds, both directed by Morgan Matthews.