J.W.'s Movie Review
Although the movie FIRESTARTER is based on the thriller by Steven King, there are many differences between the two. One of the main differences is the way that "the Shop" was portrayed. The novel goes into great detail about the lengths which this government agency will go to keep their lot 6 experiment confidential. They describe a man who "sits at the bottom of a trench, where he presumably still is with two cement blocks tied around whatever remained of his legs" (p. 66) because he would not stop investigating the death of his godchild (a suicide member of the initial Lot 6 experiment.) Also in the novel, several shop agents hold and threaten a federally employed mailman at gunpoint to illegally obtain the letters that Andy McGee wrote to several national newspapers. The novel portrays the Shop as ruthless, immoral, men that are above the law. This is what makes Charlie's triumph over these men so satisfying at the end of the novel. Except for one graphic murder of Andy's wife, the Shop agents in the movie look like boy scouts in comparison to the characters that Steven King painted so vividly for his readers. Also, Captain Hollistier is portrayed very differently in the movie then I pictured him while reading the novel. From reading the novel, I got the impression that he felt very cold toward Charlie and Andy. He was not interested in using thier powers, he just wanted to shut them up for good. In the movie, however, he goes to see Charlie the night that she is brought to the Shop's headquarters (something he only did once in the novel-because of a suggestive push by Andy) with hot cocoa and tells her that they can bring her anything she wants. In the following weeks, he brings her dolls, toys and dresses and is extremely excited when she uses her powers. Also, in the novel Andy's stroke-like symptons (bloodshot eyes, migraines, fainting spells, and
numb patches on his face) foreshadow to the reader that his powers will one day cause his death. In the movie, after Andy uses his powers, he appears to have a bad
headache and a nose bleed. However, there is no suggestion that these powers may be too much for his body to handle. I feel that this is an important point that the movie left out. Andy was not born with his powers, therefore, his body may not be able to handle the effects. In other words, the Shop could give these college students ESP powers, but they could not make their bodies able to handle what the powers would do to them. Perhaps because Charlie was born with these powers, she did not suffer after using her powers, and even liked using them. (Another point left out of the movie.)
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