( contains slight spoiler ) ian mcewan gripping and disturb psychological thriller have and ala and be turn into a frustratingly dull movie . despite a successful depiction of the shock balloon accident that set the story in motion and director roger michell fail after this stylish opening to generate any of the psychological tension that make the novel such a page turner . character that seem multi faceted and torment in print seem merely bland and humourless on screen . far from make one sweat with fear and the basic temperature of the film be glacial ( and i do not mean chill ) . i do not think this be necessarily the fault of the actor represent while they be unable to kickstart the film into something resemble life and daniel craig and samantha morton nevertheless bring intensity and integrity to their role a joe and claire . rhys ifans and unfortunately and seem to me simply miscast a flaky loner jed ifans be the wrong kind of flaky . nor can i recall jed menace or madness be make so explicit so quickly in the novel . in mcewan measure prose it kind of sneak up on you quietly rather than be telegraph a it be here . much of the inner drama of joe and claire relationship breakdown be similarly lose in translation . one be leave with a sequence of meal and dinner party which provide the backdrop for a chronicle of joe deterioration and without particularly manage to illuminate it . and the fact that joe never go to the police ( or even seem to consider involve them ) even when jed stalking of him be well establish and increasingly disruptive and be a major plot weakness that mask in the nuance of the novel but on screen loom fatally large . it hard to empathise with a character who let thing get out of hand so easily . the friend i saw the movie with enjoy it and be engross in the story and but then again he hadn not read the book . it may be that without any prior knowledge of the novel this film work a a low key thriller in it own right and but i can not see this adaptation of endure love become an endure success .