When I read this book in 2001, I was struck by how cinematic the writing was. The story was tragic and operatic--perfect for film. Why it took so long, I don't know, but this movie is a major disappointment. Weitz had a brilliant cast and Rene Fleming's voice to work with and he wasted both of them.
The most powerful moment in the book is when the guerrillas are going to execute a hostage and the singer faces them down and blasts them with "O mio babbino caro". Violence is impossible in the face of such beauty and the entire dynamic of the situation is changed. Choosing to cut out that scene was the first indicator that this director/screenwriter was clueless about this material.
The final assault that frees the hostages was just bad action movie crap. We need this scene to be operatic: the saddest aria in the repertoire blasting on the soundtrack as the assault plays out in slow motion--the death of each of the characters we have grown to know devastating us as we watch them gunned down one by one with all the tragic pathos of a great opera.
Patchett's novel deserves better.
