5 Book-to-Film Comedies That Beat Reading Any Day
You might be surprised to find out that these comedies are actually based on books.
We know many dramas based on books, but book-based comedies are not so common. However, you may be surprised to learn that even Homer's Odyssey was the basis for a comedy and turned out to be the gem of the genre.
1. Adaptation
Adaptation is a quirky comedy-drama about writer's block based on Susan Orlean’s book The Orchid Thief.
According to the plot, Charlie has a twin brother named Donald. While Charles is struggling to get his novel published, his brother, who has decided to become a screenwriter, is writing the screenplay for a six-figure thriller.
Charlie can't come up with any new worthwhile ideas until he decides to just write about what's going on around him.
2. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fast Times at Ridgemont High, based on the book by Cameron Crowe, was released in 1982. One of the pioneers of the teen sex comedy genre, this movie explores the tumultuous lives of California high school students in the early 1980s.
It was the first time when the director showed teenage problems like sex, pregnancy, drugs, relationships with teachers and parents with a lot of irony.
3. Clueless
Clueless, loosely based on Jane Austen's Emma, is somewhat legendary, though not like Psycho or Titanic, but like Scott Pilgrim VS The World or The Parent Trap. It is the kind of movie that has a certain impact on pop culture and creates endless references.
This is the story of Cher – the spoiled but kind girl. She decides to help her bald and middle-aged, but kind teacher, start an affair with another teacher, thereby starting a series of ridiculous incidents and comic situations.
4. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
This comedy road movie by the Coen brothers tells the story of three convicts, who decide to run away after one of them tells about a treasure hidden in a remote place. They have little time to reach their destination – the cabin where the money is hidden will be flooded in five days due to the construction of a new power plant.
The plot of the movie is based on the ancient Greek Odyssey by Homer.
5. Mean Girls
Having spent her entire childhood in Africa with parents who are zoologists, Cady thought she knew all about survival of the fittest. But the law of the jungle is completely redefined when she enters a school for the first time and falls in love with the ex-boyfriend of the meanest girl in school.
Yes, Mean Girls is also based on a book, and it is Rosalind Wiseman's Queen Bees and Wannabes. The comedy has become a cult classic among other similar movies about mean schoolgirls.