Going Postal (2010)

I love this movie so much

Too much of everything

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

It's not really a period drama so much as a costume drama- It's got a magical, Dickensian feel with the Victorian inspired costumes and settings. The world is located on the back of four elephants who are on a giant turtle…I haven't read any of the series but from what I've read about it and from watching this adaptation, it's a comical cross between Dickens and fantasy.This series definitely made me interested in Terry Pratchett's works! Don't know if I'll have time to read them any time soon but one day it would be fun! I think if you like fantasy series like Harry Potter and such as well as costume dramas you should like this show.

So one of better recent Terry Pratchett books get converted into a miniseries/3 hours movie? As a huge Pratchett fan I should be thrilled... or should I? I'll try to keep it short. Basically, they did a more or less good job of making a random Victorianoid adventure movie with light fantasy elements. They failed at making a Discworld movie.Ankh Morpork simply isn't Ankh Morpork. Not just for the lack of dwarfs and trolls. It misses nearly all the elements that make it special. It could be nearly anywhere.Acting was generally good, with some really good performances to lift everything to a higher level, and casting was generally good as well. There are exceptions to both though.The costumes? Unsure on the golems, but the vampire and the banshee are just silly.Too many liberties have been taken with the script, Pratchett's legendary humour is rarely well replicated. The movie even gets slightly shoddy at some times (obvious unpolished cuts).I'm sure that the budget wasn't brilliant and the movie has its' own merits - it's highly approachable by those who don't know anything about Discworld. But for a fan, it'll be a disappointment on more than one level.

First off, I thought Going Postal was an above average Discworld novel. It flowed nicely, the character development was interesting, and of course it included Pratchett's trademark similes.This production, however, was sub-par. First, though, what they got right.The special effects were adequate. The golems looked like what you'd expect a guy wearing a hundred pounds of clay-coloured latex to look like, but the clacks towers were well done, as were the swirling letters in the post office. The sets and costumes, however, were excellent. The city streets lived and breathed, and the post office was wonderfully dark and decrepit. (Moist's Postmaster hat, I noticed, improved over time as the Post Office's fortunes improved.) The script benefited from streamlining the novel's plot somewhat. Just about everywhere the plot was changed, I could see why they did so. Much of Pratchett's wit made it into the dialogue, as well as more than a few good lines that weren't in the novel. But nothing, nay, nothing can make up for the acting. I don't blame the actors here: plainly they were directed to mug like Jim Carrey having a facial spasm. So much of what was funny in the novel was made utterly cringe-inducing by being overdone. Pratchettian humour works by understatement, by the characters taking themselves and what they do seriously. Of the characters played for comedic effect only Vetinari, as far as I could see, was played straight, and not coincidentally only he survived this massacre unscathed. It might be that the program was aimed at children, and this explains the awful, awful hamhandedness. But Pratchett is lost on apparent age level they were trying to pitch to. A terrible, terrible shame, after all the thought and effort that went into the production, that the delivery was muffed so badly.

... to make all the changes? I'm not saying I was completely disappointed. It is a Discworld adaption and as such it was pretty much impossible to make something entirely bad. But apart from necessary or adequate changes such as removal of the sorting machine were all the differences really needed? The last Flashback was so... no... it is supposed to be a comedy but I don't think this was supposed to be comical. I would have much preferred the postman initiation over all the flashbacks which really didn't serve any real purpose. (I know what purpose it was supposed to serve, yet it didn't. The viewers aren't morons and neither is Moist. No need to drop an anvil.)The depiction of the golems was... good enough, I'd assume. I always imagines them otherwise but that's up to personal taste.The actors I liked quite well. I loved Coyle back when he was Jeff and he is a great Lipvig as well. Adora Belle and Vetinari also were for the mo part well depicted, except for the changes to Adora's character. Though, Gilt suffered badly from the adaption. I won't blame it on the actor, I guess he did what he was told to do. But the evil genius con man became such a pathetic little worm... No I just didn't like it.Also, I'm looking forward to what they will be doing with the Making Money adaption due to the changes in Angua's plot line. Way to make life difficult for yourself.Anyway, it's not a bad movie per se, but... I would not recommend it if you read Going Postal, or plan to do so. Then it is more sad than enjoyable, or at least to me it was, sadly.