This is one of those rare occasions when the movie is better than the book it is taken from. As is often the case in film adaptation, some of the characters are homogenized and this screenplay actually tightens up some of the looser elements from the book. The characterizations and insights into the struggles of rebuilding a life following traumatic loss ring true. Each character reacts differently and they negotiate that fine line between having events tear them apart and having those events bring them closer together. The children in the film have unique personalities and stand out as individuals other than some generic child prototype as is often the case especially regarding children as secondary characters. Some of the less appealing "magical" elements from the book are mercifully discarded keeping the audience grounded in the intimate reality of the experience.
Review of Past the Bleachers
