“While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: People at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects.”
Tonight, I watched, for what seems the like the millionth time to me, the first Harry Potter film ever made. “The Sorcerer's Stone” may have been viewed many times by me beforehand, but if you're already watching along with me, you were probably extremely surprised by the final twist. Even after many years, I would be entertained by several of the adult actors reading a phone book. As Dumbledore, the late Richard Harris, who died a couple of weeks before the second film was due to be released, gives the all-time best performance of his very long career. Michael Gambon, who replaced him from all succeding, is an exemplary replacement, but he just doesn't have that pathos that Richard Harris bought to the role. Harris said himself that he only took the role to appease his grandchildren, but he made the right choice by choosing it. The rest of the adult cast is similarly perfectly cast: Alan Rickman, who at that point was best known for his “… and cancel Christmas!” line in “Robin Hood: Prince of Theives (where he played the Sheriff of Nottingham), plays Snape with a “I'm-delivering-this-line-and-no-one-will-stop-me” air, and it works nearly beyond all recognition. No one will ever be able to imagine the Harry Potter movies without Maggie Smith (Professor McGonagle), and John Hurt's appearance as Ollivander the wandmaker is brief but memorable (just one reason to call him back for Deathly Hallows Part 1). Many people who were adults when the first movie came out can hardly believe that the kids looked that young ever, but I can totally imagine it. One very clear inaccuracy with this movie is that if Harry saw Quirrell die in the movie, he should already be able to see… something by his third year, though as my sister once pointed out, since Quirrell drank unicorn blood to strengthen Voldemort, he didn't have much of a life to lose to begin with. Two noticeable flaws are that Harry and Hermione are both much better looking in the movies than in the books. Also, that the characters are more compelling on print, when we can see into their brain, and as a result, we're often left with a bunch of characters looking amazed, fearful, sad or mad. I also may tell you that when it comes to fan's of the books’ preferences in movies, their opinions are split right down the middle, with some preferring the more faithful view of this movie plus the one following it, others preferring the more character driven approach of the following movies. Most of my family is squarely in the first camp. My sister actually hates the fifth one because it cuts out MANY plotlines, without the slightest mention of the fact that even after that, it's still entertaining. But this is a good start to the franchise anyway.
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