I just watched Mother Night.

I absolutely loved the book and as such was worried the movie would be a let down. After all, how the hell do you adapt Vonnegut? You can't very well adapt it verbatim, Kurt tends to get off on weird tangents that would more than likely turn off the casual viewer or, at very least, completely confuse them.

It worked though. They managed to cover all the bases that needed to be covered and without it felling rushed. They avoided the tangents but kept in the better lines. My personal favorite, the Black Fuhrer of Harlem's line about the Japanese dropping a hydrogen bomb on China, was kept in which made me happy.

The casting was also a nice surprise. All I knew was Nolte (whom I am not a graet fan of) but Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Frankie Faison and even Kirsten Dunst managed to play their respective parts exactly as I had envisioned them myself. I always pictured Frank Wirtanen as a skinner man but I like John Goodman so I'll let that go.

I highly recommend it whether or not you've read the book (or any Vonnegut for that matter.. but you really should you know).

All-in-all it was a respectible adaptation and I can only hope Cat's Cradle (if they ever get the damn thing off the ground) ends up as good.

I'm afraid of Breakfast of Champions, however, because Kurt Vonnegut once said that he found it "painful to watch." I am anticipating Slaughterhouse-Five quite a bit more because Kurt said of it "...I drool and cackle every time I watch that film, because it is so harmonious with what I felt when I wrote the book." Let's hope it lives up to that glowing review.