Book Vs. Movie: Which Version of "One True Loves" Came Out on Top?

I'll give you a hint...it wasn't the movie version.

Where do I begin?

Let me start with high level thoughts: loved the book, HATED the film.

Before I rant and rave about how I didn’t love the movie, let’s breakdown the plot of both first…

Plot: One True Loves at its core is a well written, wholesome book, in which I was rooting for everyone involved, no antagonists to be found, very rare in a book! It’s very much a romance novel that explores the complicated nature of love and loss. At the nucleus of this book is Emma Blair, who finds herself torn between two men: her high school sweetheart, Jesse, and her current fiancé, Sam. After Jesse goes missing in a helicopter crash (I know sounds like the set up to Castaway, WILSSSSOOOOOOONNNN!), Emma believes him to be dead and eventually moves on with her life, falling in love with Sam and building a new life with him. However, when Jesse reappears years later, alive and well, Emma is forced to confront her past and decide which man she truly loves. The novel explores the complexities of relationships and the idea of having multiple "one true love(s)."

Emma Blair (Book Version): She is our protagonist of the novel, the one we root for, the one we feel for, we want nothing but the best for this complex and relatable, female character. She is torn between two men, each of whom represents a different phase of her life. Her high school sweetheart, Jesse, represents her youth and the carefree days of her adolescence, while her fiancé, Sam, represents stability and security. As Emma struggles to choose between the two men, she also grapples with her own identity and sense of self.

Jesse Lerner (Book Version): Jesse is the quintessential hunky, swim team jock from Emma’s youth. One teenage, cop-busted party and a trip to the “station” and the romance starts to brew. Jesse as a teen is definitely trying to make a path for his passions and needs, while drifting away from the pressures of his parents. Jesse as an adult, pre-crash, seems to be very in love with Emma and their nomadic life. She the travel writer, he the handsome photographer and husband. Jesse, post-crash, is quite complex, in the fact that he’s seen some stuff! After living on a rock in the middle of the ocean for years and losing a finger (or part of one, I can’t fully remember), he’s holding on to his old life with Emma, but neither of them are the same person.

Sam Kemper (Book Version): A true precious gem of a character! Sam is the the cute and wholesome guy in high school you had no interest in because they weren’t the bro-ie jock guy with muscles. He also works at Emma’s family bookstore part-time in high school. He definitely asks Emma out on a date once, she shoots him down, it’s awkward, then life moves on. However, they have a meet-cute (sort of) when she is back in Acton, Massachusetts, post-crash, and while she’s starting to rebuild her life as a “widow”. Sam is the perfect partner, understanding, kind, generous, a music teacher! Sam gives space for Emma to figure things out when her husband, Jesse returns from the dead, and for that reason I am #teamsam!

Marie Blair (Book Version): Not much to say on Emma’s sister in the books, other than the fact that she was kind of a typical, disgruntled, older sister in the book. As adults they develop a better relationship and things are great between them at the end of the novel. She has a husband and twins, who are deaf.

Emma’s Parents (Book Version): Precious gems, great parents, own their own cute bookstore in town, no notes.

Olive (Book Version): Olive is essentially the comedic relief and a constant in Emma’s life through childhood into adulthood. While she is a supporting character, she more or less is the best friend and anchor for Emma when times get rough. Also, she is bisexual visibility, and I stan her for that.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE BOOK VERSION!

What’s that old adage? “The book is always better than the movie adaptation.”

Very true in this case.

The film version was very choppy, the whole thing felt like one giant montage, the score was atrocious, and everything was a hazy and budget version of a Hallmark or Lifetime movie.

Stream of Conscious Breakdown:

• Where is OLIVE? Emma’s best friend in the book is nowhere to be found. Instead they make it seem like her and Sam are best friends as children. I am not here for the bi-erasure.

• I hate to say it, but Emma’s (Phillipa Soo) character in the movie is truly the villain we never asked for. Whether it was the acting or the writing, the character was stiff, frigid, and overall disappointing.

• The scene in Santa Monica where Emma is looking for Jesse at sea with a pair of binoculars for three days, never happened. Not into it.

• Aunt Zelda from Sabrina the Teenage Witch is Jesse’s mom…into it.

• Shirtless scene of Sam (Simu Liu), into it.

• Random school scenes, not into it.

• Who scored this cheesy film?

• The scene of Jesse on a life raft, meme-worthy.

• There were only 3 people total on the helicopter, in the book there were 4!

• JESSE IS NOT MISSING ANY FINGERS OR LIMBS IN THIS FILM, WTF?

• The intro credit scene with about 9000 producers and film and production studios needed to make this film, and THIS IS THE FINAL PRODUCT! Shook.

• Marie, Emma’s sister is much kinder and more of the anchor for sad-Emma than in the book.

• Overall, this movie gave me a high level of anxiety, do not recommend.

• The fact that the author of the book was involved in the screenwriting and adaptation of this film…my mind was blown, and not in a good way.

I usually never have such an adverse reaction to watching an adaptation of a novel, but this one was particularly painful.

I was so excited to watch One True Loves, and was quickly disappointed.

The End.