The Hunger Games (Movie #8)

Let me just get one thing straight before we commence:

Nobody in this film looks near hungry enough to merit the title.

Figure One: Lawrence has never met a squirrel she couldn't capture, kill, skin, and eat on camera.

Jennifer Lawrence, as all my male students who have seen the film assure me, is an Amazon-esque tigress with her too-puffy pace and her sturdy shoulders. They approve. When I imagined Katniss, I'll be honest, I imagined Kristen Stewart. Not the..ahem...too stoic acting bit. But the "I need about seven cheeseburgers and some milkshakes" bit.

Lawrence is a better choice.

Nobody doubts that she's skinned a squirrel before. And nobody doubts this girl's survival instincts. Stewart's Bella Swan would have lasted about seven seconds into the cornucopia (admittedly her odds would have improved if Edward were there to save her).

Lawrence's Katniss had me convinced, like Peeta's mom, that District 12 would finally have a winner.

Also working in the film's favor is Stanley Tucci, who can do very little wrong in my book.

Figure Two: Tucci is the "Host on Fire"

He humanizes a character that I didn't realize had more than one dimension. The man is genius here.

Also working for me: Rue (blessedly not played by a Pinkett or a Smith).

Figure Three: Oh, I didn't see Rue there.

I read the books, knew what was coming, and still bawled uncontrollably. When Katniss salutes District 11, I wanted to be right there with her. Not even joking.

But Tim would have mocked me endlessly.

The bad guys here are also deliciously depicted.

Keifer Sutherland is like Colonel Sanders met Roderigo Borgia. Wes Bentley has finally given up the drugs and turned himself on to some nifty facial hair clippers. Both capture the essence of their characters and remind the audience of the corruption and swift injustice of an overly controlling government and its media.

Figure Four: Sometimes there is so much beauty in the world; I just have to put it in a computer generated arena and force it to kill itself.

Less effective to me were the male leads, played by Miley Cirus's boytoy and some kid from those movies starring The Rock. The film succeeds at portraying Peeta's darker side, blurring the lines between the game and love.

Figure Five: Peeta, Peeta, Baker's Son.

In the emotional game, he's a better victor.

In terms of looks, it's not hard to see why so many girls are Team Gale.

The other uncomfortable casting decision comes in the form of Lenny Kravitz as Cinna. In every scene he's in, I felt that he was hitting on Katniss. Blech.

But whatever. It's a solid interpretation. It's not a slave to the text; it cuts some essential bits for the sake of time and flow and moves some moments from the next book for continuity and clarity sake.

I didn't have a big problem with either; but, then, I read the books when they came out and not when I heard it was being turned into a huge blockbuster that all my friends would want to see.