This is a particular challenge, because readers of the novel come to Charlie's character through his voice- Charlie is the one telling us the story. Considering that this is a film with very limited voiceover (I can think of one scene, very early one when it is used), Miller is faced with the enormous burden of conveying Charlie's character non-verbally. There is never a line of dialogue out of place. Everything he does just flows, it makes sense. Miller's portrayal of Charlie Bucktin, a deeply introverted and introspective character, is a real highlight of the piece. In Jasper Jones, that character is Charlie Bucktin, played by Levi Miller who some may recognise as the boy from Pan and Red Dog. In both films, we are presented with protagonists who are wrenched from childhood by events beyond their control. Critics have compared the movie to Stand by Me, and I can certainly see where that comparison comes from. If it sounds like I am setting up to pan the film, you can relax- I'm not. But Jasper Jones has been my favourite novel for a long time, and while I was incredibly excited to see the film, I was also terrified that maybe watching someone else's version of it on the big screen would be a let down, or change the way I saw the book. Let me just preface this blog post by saying that I am not a professional film critic, and that I am by no means an expert on Australian cinema. And sometimes, that's just a plain disappointment. When those books are adapted for the movies, sometimes what the director and the cast and the screenwriter choose to portray can be in direct contrast with your own thoughts. Reading is such a personal experience, whereby the novel gives you just enough information to allow you to imagine its world all on your own- what the characters look like, what particular events might mean, and why certain things may have occurred. Whenever a beloved book is adapted for the big screen, there is always the possibility that it will be a let down.

Some of you may know that I wrote my Honours thesis on the novel, back in 2012, so I approached this film with a degree of trepidation. One of the most hotly anticipated film releases for this year- for me, anyway- was the film adaptation of Jasper Jones by WA author, Craig Silvey.

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