Sundance 2013: By the Book 

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Obligatory tautological disclaimer: A movie is a movie, and a book is a book. Not only can you not always judge a book by its cover, but you often can’t judge a movie by its book. If we could, we’d all know that a potboiler by Mario Puzo called The Godfather couldn’t become one of cinema’s all-time classics, and that the subtle genius of John Irving would of course make for great film adaptations.

Nevertheless, a certain familiarity with source material can at least give you a head start on what to expect. Here’s a look at four Sundance 2013 titles through the lens of the writing that inspired them.

1. C.O.G., from the short story by David Sedaris
Category: U. S. Dramatic Competition

Book Grade: B+.

Reason for Adaptation Optimism: A short story always offers the prospect of less major surgery required to make it fit into the time constraints of a feature film.

Reason for Adaptation Concern: Sedaris’ authorial voice is such a crucial part of the story’s appeal that it’s hard to imagine how it’s going to work without massive amounts of voice-over narration, which often amounts to slow narrative death.

The Movie Pitch: “On the Road meets The Breakfast Club.”

2. Austenland, from the novel by Shannon Hale
Category: U. S. Dramatic Competition

Book Overview: Jane—a young woman with a checkered romantic history and an obsession with Jane Austen—gets a gift from a wealthy relative: a vacation to an English resort where guests become characters in their very own Regency-era romance. Local author Hale’s terrific premise is bogged down in a bit of over-narration of the protagonist’s various anxieties, but the basic structure is solid enough that it works (and works perhaps even better in the sequel, Midnight in Austenland).

Book Grade: B.

Reason for Adaptation Optimism: Hale worked on the adaptation with director Jerusha Hess (partner of Napoleon Dynamite’s Jared Hess); a terrific cast including Keri Russell, Jennifer Coolidge and Bret McKenzie.

Reason for Adaptation Concern: Will the stylized Hess sensibility intrude on the need to find the humanity behind Jane’s insecurities?

The Movie Pitch: “Westworld meets Pride & Prejudice.”

3. The Spectacular Now, from the novel by Tim Tharp
Category: U. S. Dramatic Competition

Book Overview: High school senior Sutter Keely, a devil-may-care functioning alcoholic, turns his well-intentioned sights on a nerdy, introverted classmate, thinking his attentions could draw her out of her shell. Tharp creates a wonderfully unique protagonist whose first-person narration provides a fascinating (and darkly funny) glimpse inside the head of blissfully rationalized self-destruction.

Book Grade: A-.

Reason for Adaptation Optimism: James Ponsoldt directed a terrific lead performance of an alcoholic protagonist in 2012’s Sundance drama Smashed.

Reason for Adaptation Concern: Hard to envision a film version being brave enough to stick with Tharp’s fairly dark conclusion.

The Movie Pitch: “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off meets The Lost Weekend.”

4. Two Mothers, from the novella The Grandmothers by Doris Lessing
Category: Premieres

Book Overview: Roz and Lil, two lifelong friends, remain close throughout their respective marriages and divorces—so close that each begins a romantic affair with the other’s teenage son. The early reveal of the consequences of this “arrangement” builds a sense of Greek tragedy that’s undercut by Lessing’s matter-of-fact descriptions, resulting in a story that finds surprising emotional power in people too tangled up in one another’s lives to see the world beyond them.

Book Grade: A-.

Reason for Adaptation Optimism: Great casting of Robin Wright and Naomi Watts as the two protagonists.

Reason for Adaptation Concern: It feels as though only Lessing’s delicate prose keeps the entire concept from coming off as exploitative.

The Movie Pitch: “Beaches meets The Graduate.” 

Also in Sundance Film Festival 2013 Guide:

Finding your Level: How to find your kind of films

Track Records: Let directors' previous works guide you

Music Makers: Who's playing Sundance this year

Slamdance: Carving out its own Park City space