Grapes of Wrath

I was a bit hesitant about watching this since, I've read the book and the book which is an achievement in subtlety which would appear to be hard to translate to celluloid. I was right for the most part, many of the memorable vignettes are left out or adapted to fit the Joad family. The movie works solely on the strength of Henry Fonda's ability to play the troubled rebel who ends up on the wrong side of things. John Carradine as the preacher Casey is stilted and many of the episodes of the book (the book is heavily episodic) become caricatures of the poor man fighting against odds, the government, and his fellow man. The movie is watchable, but I suggest reading the book instead.