Well, I have been raised on the Broadway production of Les Miserables and just the other day I finished the complete (unabridged) version of Les Miserables. My English teacher observed that I was reading the book and eagerly gave me the film to borrow, saying that it was a fairly strong adaptation. With the thought of a strong movie adaption floating in my mind, I popped in the DVD and was met with a disappointing shock.<br /><br />This film started out with a strong adaptation of the book, but it got progressively weaker. Important characters were eliminated completely (Eponine and Enjolras) taking with them important elements from the book. Eponine, for example, was the key to the complex plot of Les Miserables. She made the situation between Marius and Cosette complex because of her own feelings for Marius. Her character also makes the point that the poor are the essence of a city population, and somehow are easily forgotten. This was point was completely missed in the movie by eliminating Eponine's character (where are the miserable people without her?).<br /><br />Secondly, as many people have said already, Valjean's character and Cosette's became less accurate as the movie wore on. Valjean is a new, honest man. With his new honesty, he has also gained kindness, compassion, and love. Cosette was a blessing which was bestowed on him, and he would never strike his adopted daughter. She's everything to him, and he would never have any reason to harm her. <br /><br />Cosette is not supposed to be a brat. She's the essence of innocence; she does not question her father because of his goodness. Even her love for Marius would not make her disrespect her father.<br /><br />Looking at the movie as a movie, I admired Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush's work in this film. With the so-so material given to them, they were able to do a phenomenal job. They were as loyal to their character as they could be, putting aside the story/character alterations made. Geoffrey Rush was perfect as Javert, with his determination and lack of compassion and mercy. (Although I must say that Javert would never hold anyone at gunpoint as he did in the film - that's against the law and as he says in the film, he is by the book; never done anything out of line in his life.) <br /><br />I just wish that the filmmakers had put more time and effort into a truer adaption of the book. As a film, this is a good movie with strong actors and music, but as a book adaptation, I think it could have done with plenty more work.