the oprah winfrey present adaptation of the zora neal hurston novel their eye be watch god be a major disappointment . winfrey shallow adaptation barely skim the surface detail of hurston novel and do not capture the spirit of the great book it be base on . winfrey say the late ms. hurston would be proud of her movie while i do not think she should be so eager to speak for the dead . i doubt any author would want to see their work butcher the way winfrey have do this novel on screen . oprah winfrey adaptation of hurston work strip it of it unique identity by remove all the reference to african american culture of the time . instead of tell a story that detail the role of black woman in the 30 and detail the light skin or dark skinned intraracial issue and sexism and the dozen and symbolism and and utilize the wonderful southern dialect that make the character come alive and we get a pasteurized movie that boil away the black culture away like it be an impurity . without that culture to show u what life be like in janie time the movie lack a true heart and soul . this make the character lifeless and one dimensional . stripped of her soul and janie crawford in this movie become a totally different person than depict in the novel . because i never get to see the childhood that would have define the character independent free thinking way and i saw janie a a slut when she kiss the boy . when nanny say and black woman be the mule of the world the word have no meaning . her marriage to the old man come off a a way to preserve janie morality not stifle her independent way of thinking . because winfrey decide to remove all instance of domestic violence from her movie janie have no motivation for leave her first husband . in the book she leave the old man because he beat her . on screen she come off a lazy and irresponsible when she hat do the work on the farm . when she meet joe starks it look to me like she be a gold digger want to live the high life . when janie get marry to joe starks the movie turn into a bad romance novel . he want to possess her while she regret let him objectify her . he only get angry when amos be covet her . the confrontation joe and janie have be suppose to build into a humiliating argument that destroy him a a man . on screen the fight come on the porch have no bite because winfrey remove the dozen game and most of the violence from the movie . when joe die the film treat his death with a sense of relief . i really start hat this movie because janie on screen seem downright cruel . she barely work a day in her life and be more anxious to spend her husband money than grieve his loss . the relationship with tea cake in the book be not as love a depict on screen . winfrey subjectively decide to leave out of her movie all those scene in the book where tea cake beat janie in an attempt to make him a big hero . after a flat courtship and they leave town to go on the road spending money and engaging in some lukewarm love scene . winfrey make tea cake abuse of janie seem like it honorable . when he steal janie money to go gamble it depict a noble . janie just forgive him for gamble away their money and car and they go off to live in a village full of hippy . the climatic hurricane sequence have no feeling of drama at all . the scene where rabid tea cake and janie face off before kill him have no tension and no suspense . arbitrarily oprah leave out the funeral scene in the novel where janie grieve the loss of her true love . what really important be those frame show that janie be still wealthy in spite of her tragedy . upon return to town in the end janie show absolutely no sense of remorse about kill tea cake and the great love of her life . she go fishing and frolicking a if nothing tragic have happen in her life swimming in the lake she say smile that she watch god . that final shot of her make my stomach turn . the janie crawford in this movie doesn not make me believe she come to the conclusion that she love herself . i see her a a loose gold dig ruthless woman who take no responsibility for her action . the men in her life be just fodder to give her nice thing . inherit joe starks wealth make her someone . nice message oprah . oscar winner halle berry be uninspired in the role of janie . she make no effort on her own to add dimension to the character and sleepwalk through her part read her line a if she be on autopilot . she have no chemistry with reuben santiago hudson or michael ealy at all . have watch all of berry performance since 1989 and i can truly say this be the bad performance of her career . she actually put more effort performing in the terrible b. a. p. s than work on this movie . rueben santiago hudson be passable a joe starks . he do his best with the role but there no script here for him to work with . terrence howard portrayal of amos rise above the heartless screenplay . he add dimension to his role making you see the sleazy man covet janie from afar . michael ealy be a very stale tea cake . he just here to be the baby oil splash boy toy show off his ab and pecs and smile for the camera . ruby dee be strong in her small part a nanny . i believe if they give her more to do she would have steal the movie . if you haven not read the book and please do so . avoid watch this twisted movie adaptation that pervert everything the late ms. hurston write about . the value promote by this movie totally betray the message in the book .