"My Sister's Keeper" and some strange encounters

Having read the book, I can say I was a little disappointed in the movie. I would say that if it were not based on the book, it would have been a really moving story on it's own. But then again, if it weren't based on the book, I might not have caught the show. However, it was still a touching show and I did cry along the way, but somehow, I felt that the essence/impact of the original story was not brought through.

*WARNING - SPOILER ahead for both book & show*

First and foremost, the ending was totally different! That played a major part to the impact of the movie. In the original story, the ending was a dramatic twist and tragedy, besides the twist that she was only suing her parents because her sick sister told her to. Basically, the ending in the book was that Anna (the protagonist) won the case for the rights to her own body. However, on the journey home, she met with an accident and died, which enabled the eventual recovery of her sister.
Maybe the producers felt that the original ending was too tragic and dramatic, and thus took the safer & more predictable route of letting the sick sister die. But that was the part in the book that hit me the most! You really question "why" did it have to happen that way. (I'll come back to that again later)

Secondly, it turned out that the movie shifted the focus to Kathy, the sick sister, rather than the main character in the book, Anna. So the character development was a bit off and obviously, some part of the essence of the book was lost. The original story was about Anna being a genetically engineered child and I believed that that was the heart of the issue that Jodi Picoult was writing about in the book, i.e. dealing with the moral concerns of genetic engineering, whether for a "valid" reason or not, and the possible consequences.
Coming back to my point on the original ending, I felt that Jodi made it happened that way for a reason. Not for the dramatic effect alone, but really, it could be saying that there can only exist one sister. Of course that would be an eventual result in both the movie and book, but maybe, the genetically engineered child was not meant to exist in the first place since she was born "unnaturally", where humans try to play God. And also, maybe she has served her purpose in bringing up the overlooked consequences of such a measure, so she had to die and deliver her ultimate purpose, which is to ensure the survival of her sister of whom she was born for.
As the original ending was changed, the impact was not there. But then again, I might have read too much into the original ending.

I also felt that some parts lacked certain depth in development. It could be the editing, as it seemed a bit "jumpy". I understand that a movie cannot really follow the book exactly due to time constraint, but then it felt a bit "loose" in a sense, if you know what I mean.

So that's my opinion of the movie. If you have not read the book yet, please watch the movie first.
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On a side note, I had a freaky encounter before the movie. I was running a little late, only reaching to collect my tickets at about 5.05-5.10pm for a 5.15pm show. My friend was a little late too and hadn't reached yet. While proceeding to enter the ticket collection line, I was stopped by this guy who asked me to recommend a movie to watch. I didn't know the person and I wasn't sure what was showing at the cinema (Filmgarde Bugis) so I pointed to the screen and said "it's your personal preference". I mean, I don't want to recommend a show to a stranger and if it's not good, then what?
Anyway, I managed to get away from him and collected my tickets. As I proceeded to find a spot to wait for my friend, I was accosted by the same guy again. He asked me the same question again. I was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable but to be polite I still answered him and then he asked me some strange question on whether the cinema where a movie is screened would show other movies as well and how many cinemas were there. Then he told me in Thailand 1 cinema will show different movies after each show. Then he asked me if they had horror movies, then I mentioned 1, and then he asked if there were any action movies. I said I didn't know. He even asked me about the pricing of tickets. So I explained the pricing system to him. It was getting a bit weird, but he was sort of standing in my way. Then he asked me what show I was watching, so I replied and as he saw I was holding 2 tickets he asked what time my show was. I said 5.15pm. He actually looked at his watch and said it's already 5.15pm. Then I said yah (privately thinking, why then is he blocking my way still).
By this time I was really wanting to get away, and then he asked me for my name. I hesitated for a while but eventually quickly said my name. And then he asked "can I make friends with you". Of course, I said no. And he actually asked me again. And I said sorry, no again. It was getting really awkward and I started pointing behind him and said I needed to go and walked round him to walk to another spot. Good thing my friend arrived at this moment and I quickly approached her and we hurried into the cinema ( it was already 5.20pm) as I related the incident to her.

That felt freaky to me. Another strange encounter occurred after the movie when my friend & I crossed to Bugis Junction to take the MRT to City Hall. It was raining. While closing my umbrella along the passageway, we were approached by this old lady who started telling us of how she was supposed to meet a friend at 5 plus and till now (7 plus) that friend had not appeared. And she said she had wanted to take the train but then didn't have enough money. Then she said it was raining, so she also could not leave the place by walking. Then she was commenting that it would be expensive to take a cab too. My friend and I were clueless at what she actually wanted and at a loss to what to do next. Was she waiting for us to give her some money to take transport? Shelter her somewhere? Or was she just grousing? Well, eventually we said bye bye to her and she said bye bye too and we were on our way. So maybe she was just looking for someone to tell her story to? If she had asked for some money to take the train, I think I would given it to her, but she didn't.

So 2 strange encounters for me in 1 evening. Maybe because it's Halloween?