I'm a junior in high school, and, like all juniors in my high school, we are required to read The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I wouldn't have read it otherwise. The book is in play format, and it gives a fictional story of the Salem witch trials, but they could just have easily been true. It's not the most exciting play, but it is intriguing, and that's why I rented the movie.

The movie is pretty close to the book, especially since the book is the script for the movie. Unlike a play, of course, the movie is able to have scenery and a much more extensive landscape. To sum things up, it has everything a movie-goer wants: a movie about as similar to the book as possible, with a more realistic setting. The Crucible also has Daniel Day-Lewis (The Last of the Mohicans) and Winona Ryder (Aliens: Resurrection). Neither give the most incredible performance, but they are okay.

Seeing this movie several months after I read the book made it hard to compare, but after talking to my English teacher about it, I realized that the ending was about as drastically changed as it could be. I was shocked I didn't remember what happened in the book, but I was even more shocked about what happened in the movie. People who have read the book might have guessed what happens...

Just like the book, The Crucible is not that fun to watch. It's boring. The only thing I'd like to point out is that the movie is not to blame; that is just how the movie is. I'm probably not the best person to review this, since I'm more of the action-related person, but I can give a recommendation: If you are a teenager, or you prefer action over words, The Crucible is not you. Just remember that this was written during the "Red Scare," and has symbolic relations to the era when people were being blacklisted as Communists.

My only pet peeve was that Day-Lewis, when he came out of jail, had really nasty teeth, but only a minute or so later, at the conclusion to the story, he had the typical Hollywood whites. I thought I should note that just because.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.