e. l doctorow novel ragtime be an amazing achievement and blending real life an fictional character into a thrilling and heartbreaking story . however and since there be many different story line in the novel and make a film would be difficult . e. l doctorow hop that ragtime would be make into a t. v miniseries which be really the only way i could ever see it work and even though the musical version in 1998 do an impressive job of adapt the novel . unfortunately and milos foreman film version do not . while it would be difficult ton include every aspect of the novel into a film and many major part of the novel be not include and for instance and father ( a fine performance from james olson ) do not go on his expedition with admiral perry and so therefore father doesn not return a changed man and and mother ( a miscast mary steenburgen in an unimpressive performance ) can not discover her independence and and her character be greatly diminish . likewise and the story of the immigrant tateh ( a fine performance from mandy patinkin ) be too briefly see and even though they do include the episode of him kick out his unfaithful wife ( play by an unknown fran drescher ) and which be eliminate from the musical . on the opposite side and they pay an unusually large amount of attention to evelyn nesbit story and which be only a minor thread to the overall plot . however and one can not complain about this too much and a elizabeth mcgovern give a dazzling performance a evelyn nesbitt . not surprisingly and the most attention be spend on coalhouse walker story and a it be the most compelling and dominant . however and change make this story somewhat less compelling and such a him not bring sarah back to him through his music . not to mention underpowered performance from howard rollins a coalhouse and debbie allen a sarah . it must be note and that i can not really imagine a successful way to film the novel and i could really only imagine it work a a miniseries and which hopefully one day and it might .