tmsindc-2
Joined Aug 2000
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Reviews19
tmsindc-2's rating
After seeing the movie on cable a few months ago, I decided to read the book.
The movie is only about one-fifth of the whole book. Too bad. The movie leaves a lot of unresolved plot threads which are resolved later in the book. Subplots which seem inconsequential turn out to have major implications to the plot of the novel. Minor characters from the movie become more important as the story progresses. For example, Gene Hackman's Dr. John Whipple and Richard Harris' Raefer Hoxworth have only a few scenes in Hawaii, but their characters are perhaps the two most important characters in the book. Whipple and Hoxworth are the ones who challenge the authority of the missionaries and, in a sense, are the true foils to Abner Hale. They also are the ones who go into business.
As a result, the movie, standing by itself, tends to introduce characters and subplots with no relevancy to the main Abner-Jerusha-Malama-Keolo story line. Perhaps a sequel was planned? In short, Hawaii would have worked better as a mini-series.
********************* How the Novel Ends:
Abner Hale's son, Micah, who was last seen getting a boat to the mainland to attend Yale University, becomes a minister like his father. The sea captain, Raefer Hoxworth, marries Noelini, the daughter of the Alii Nui. Micah then meets and falls in love with Raefer's and Noelini's daughter. They get married. Abner Hale scorns Micha; claiming the Micah has gone "whoring with the heathens." Micah quits the ministry and becomes a partner in Raefer Hoxworth's shipping company - now called Hoxworth and Hale.
John Whipple and Retire Janders (the captain of the ship that brought the missionaries to Hawaii) are partners in Janders & Whipple. Initially a trading company, general store, and ship chandler, they start acquiring land and growing sugar. J&W eventually becomes a plantation company and needs cheap labor to work their fields. John Whipple imports Chinese workers.
A generation after the movie ends, the descendants of Hale, Whipple, Janders, Hewlett (the man who was kicked out of the church for marrying a Hawaiian woman) and the Hoxworth are the commercial, social, and political elite of Hawaii. Micah Hale leads the movement to have the United States annex Hawaii and serves as the first governor of the Territory of Hawaii.
The descendants of these families continue to build their businsses and develop the islands. In an ironic twist, the families, refusing to marry Hawaiians or Chinese, intermarry. Eventually cousins marry cousins - the very practices Abner Hale condemned from his puplit. You eventually get characters named: Whipple Hoxworth; Hoxworth Hale; Hewlett Janders; Bromley Hoxworth.
Finally, at the end of the novel the rich, post-WW II descendants of the missionaries talk about their "distinguished ancestors." Their descriptions and interpretation of events, differs from what it portrayed in the earlier chapters.
The movie is only about one-fifth of the whole book. Too bad. The movie leaves a lot of unresolved plot threads which are resolved later in the book. Subplots which seem inconsequential turn out to have major implications to the plot of the novel. Minor characters from the movie become more important as the story progresses. For example, Gene Hackman's Dr. John Whipple and Richard Harris' Raefer Hoxworth have only a few scenes in Hawaii, but their characters are perhaps the two most important characters in the book. Whipple and Hoxworth are the ones who challenge the authority of the missionaries and, in a sense, are the true foils to Abner Hale. They also are the ones who go into business.
As a result, the movie, standing by itself, tends to introduce characters and subplots with no relevancy to the main Abner-Jerusha-Malama-Keolo story line. Perhaps a sequel was planned? In short, Hawaii would have worked better as a mini-series.
********************* How the Novel Ends:
Abner Hale's son, Micah, who was last seen getting a boat to the mainland to attend Yale University, becomes a minister like his father. The sea captain, Raefer Hoxworth, marries Noelini, the daughter of the Alii Nui. Micah then meets and falls in love with Raefer's and Noelini's daughter. They get married. Abner Hale scorns Micha; claiming the Micah has gone "whoring with the heathens." Micah quits the ministry and becomes a partner in Raefer Hoxworth's shipping company - now called Hoxworth and Hale.
John Whipple and Retire Janders (the captain of the ship that brought the missionaries to Hawaii) are partners in Janders & Whipple. Initially a trading company, general store, and ship chandler, they start acquiring land and growing sugar. J&W eventually becomes a plantation company and needs cheap labor to work their fields. John Whipple imports Chinese workers.
A generation after the movie ends, the descendants of Hale, Whipple, Janders, Hewlett (the man who was kicked out of the church for marrying a Hawaiian woman) and the Hoxworth are the commercial, social, and political elite of Hawaii. Micah Hale leads the movement to have the United States annex Hawaii and serves as the first governor of the Territory of Hawaii.
The descendants of these families continue to build their businsses and develop the islands. In an ironic twist, the families, refusing to marry Hawaiians or Chinese, intermarry. Eventually cousins marry cousins - the very practices Abner Hale condemned from his puplit. You eventually get characters named: Whipple Hoxworth; Hoxworth Hale; Hewlett Janders; Bromley Hoxworth.
Finally, at the end of the novel the rich, post-WW II descendants of the missionaries talk about their "distinguished ancestors." Their descriptions and interpretation of events, differs from what it portrayed in the earlier chapters.
I was stuck on a 21 hour flight with a choice of 10 movies: Orange County, Shipping News, Charlotte Gray, Hart's War, My Life as A House, My Baby is Dying of Cancer (or something like that), some movie about a miner's wife; two Chinese action flicks and an utterly uncomprehensible Indian film......Suffice to say I wound-up watching Orange County six times on that flight.
This may not sound like a rining endorsement. However, had I not been forced to watch that movie, I would have ignored it on cable and on video. The trailers made it out to be some type of horny teenager movie and the cable-tv ads made it seem like Jack Black does a low-budget Tom Green.
What does this mean? Well, the movie is more entertaining than the marketing campaign makes you believe. There are some truly funny moments - the wrong candidate getting into Stanford ("Dude, I didn't even apply...this is scary man"); the stoned Dean of Admissions spouting statistical babble ("you are right, 92%......"); the Stanford girls shrieking over a then-popular rap song.
Not a reat movie.....but it does have it moments. Plus the soundtrack is really good!
This may not sound like a rining endorsement. However, had I not been forced to watch that movie, I would have ignored it on cable and on video. The trailers made it out to be some type of horny teenager movie and the cable-tv ads made it seem like Jack Black does a low-budget Tom Green.
What does this mean? Well, the movie is more entertaining than the marketing campaign makes you believe. There are some truly funny moments - the wrong candidate getting into Stanford ("Dude, I didn't even apply...this is scary man"); the stoned Dean of Admissions spouting statistical babble ("you are right, 92%......"); the Stanford girls shrieking over a then-popular rap song.
Not a reat movie.....but it does have it moments. Plus the soundtrack is really good!
This movie was obviously written and cast when it was assumed the Andrew Cuomo would be the next Governor of New York. The "Andrew" character was the son of an important New York politician - the Mayor of New York City - he was also the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development - and sported a rather spiffy hairdoo. Andrew Cuomo was the son of an important New York politician - the former Governor of New York, Mario Cuomo - he was also Clinton's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development - and he sported a rather spifft hairdoo.
Well, Andrew Cuomo tried to run for Governor of New York and was so far behind in the polls that he quit the race before the primary. When he announced his candacy, it was assumed that he would win the nomination -he had the name, the famous father, the backing of Bill & Hillary and the Hollywood elite, and the looks.......
Well, Andrew Cuomo tried to run for Governor of New York and was so far behind in the polls that he quit the race before the primary. When he announced his candacy, it was assumed that he would win the nomination -he had the name, the famous father, the backing of Bill & Hillary and the Hollywood elite, and the looks.......