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OK, I’m
cheating a bit on this one, but in my defence, I only just worked that out. 5
Feet Apart the book was released in November 2018, with the film being released
in March 2019 in the UK. Rachael Lippincott handled the novelisation of a
screenplay written by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis. Because of this being
a novelisation tying into the film, it’s already pretty guaranteed to be a very
loyal adaptation but sometimes changes happen that affect the film, but not the
novel, will this be the case here? Before we get into it, here are some
thoughts on the book and film as individual entities.
The Book
Rachel
Lippincott utilises a dual-perspective narrative, with the two leads taking
alternate chapters like in Allegiant. It works better here because our leads
have more distinct personalities and individual conflicts outside of the one
driving the main narrative. It’s well enough written but suffers from the same
limitations the plot of the film has
The Film
From a
filmmaking perspective, I see why this film was made. Setting it during a
hospital stay (and what a lovely hospital, expensive I’d bet) means the film
takes place in a relatively small number of locations, and without any major
Hollywood actors, it kept the budget down. The characters are likeable in their
own ways and I enjoy their performances. The story is little on the dull side,
sadly, it could’ve done with some meatier subplots. With regards to the
portrayal of CF, I find it hard to believe they’d even allow 6ft if they were
high risk like these guys.
On the
subject of the film, wtf were they thinking with that Instagram marketing
campaign! They asked for stories of long-distance relationships and tried to
equate it to living with Cystic Fibrosis, that’s all kinds of offensive and
shame on them for doing that.
