Note: This discussion comes with a spoiler alert. (In case someone has not read the book or seen the movie.)
Many popular books are eventually turned into movies. People often ask which came first, the book or the movie? In most cases, the answer is the book. However, in the rare case of in Nicholas Spark’s The Last Song, the screenplay was the first work done. As Sparks has stated with movie scripts the screenwriter “tells” the story, but the in a novel, the author “shows,” the story. In a book there can be more detailed story lines and characters development. A screenplay does not have the luxury of time to fully develop the characters and plot. In each version of The Last Song Ronnie, a sullen teenager is sent to spend the summer with her estranged father, Steve. Both plots detail their relationship and her summer adventures with her new friend Blaze and Will, the boy who becomes her boyfriend.
Music plays a major part in both the movie and the book. Even so, it is easier to feel the impact of a song when it is actually heard as opposed to merely reading and imagining song is being composed, played or sung in a book. In both the movie and the book, Ronnie is a child prodigy and has been accepted at Julliard. In the book, more detail is given for explanations on why the main character, Ronnie, is so adamant about not playing the piano. On the other hand, in the movie version, the audience does not know the reason she will not play but can sense by her actions something powerful has happened between father and daughter. In the book, her father, Steve, had been a professor at Julliard, although this is not even mentioned in the movie. In both versions Steve plays the piano. However, in the book, when Ronnie visited her father, the piano was in the alcove. She was so upset with him playing, he had to build a “cage” for the piano so it was safe but could not be used. Now Steve must practice at the church. In contrast, the piano in the movie is in the living room where Steve practices. In both movie and book, Steve is writing a song entitled “For Ronnie” which she ends up finishing for him. In the movie Ronnie plays the finished song at the funeral.
The book goes into deeper detailed character story lines. Each chapter’s title is a characters name. For instance, Steve is a central or main character in the book, as opposed to the movie version Steve who although a main character is not fully explained. Similarly both Ronnie and Wills parents have the same expectations for them in both versions. Ronnie’s parents hope she will relent and attend Julliard while Will’s mother insists he attend Vanderbilt even when neither child wants to agree with their parents wishes. Another major difference in character detail is that of Blaze, a girl Ronnie meets at the beginning of both movie and book. In both, Blaze befriends Ronnie but after a misunderstanding she sabotages Ronnie’s stay at her fathers by placing an unpaid for bracelet in Ronnie’s purse. Ronnie is arrested for shoplifting. The incident is not mentioned again in the movie. Viewers assume the charges are dropped due to the friendship of Steve and the storeowner. Conversely, in the movie, after Ronnie saves Blaze’s life, Blaze confesses to the DA that she dropped the bracelet in Ronnie’s bag.
It is difficult to choose which of these versions is better. Music makes some parts of the movie more powerful than just the words. However, the book has great detail and depth. One should read the book first and then see the film ensuring the best of both worlds.
