Really, this is what a good adaptation is supposed to do. Movies can never be as rich as the book, but if it gets people to read the books, it has succeeded. Jason
Maybe this is a big hint that maybe some of the faults you find in the film may be in the source material itself. Personally, I haven't read it in years, so I can't refute most things you say about the film, except that I disagree with you on the film. So, maybe you should revisit the book...
Actually, I'd probably would give Walden Media a lot of the credit. They've did a real good job with adapting "Holes" and "Because Of Winn Dixie". (Unfortunatly, "Around The World In 80 Days" was a misfire.) But, they earned a lot of goodwill with me with Holes, which was much better than...