Tis a rare thing, wouldn't you agree? Those of you who read little probably can't contribute much here... so sorry about that.
I think they are getting a LOT better at it.. and in a very few cases I give them an "A" for bringing a novel to the screen.
I don't give "Lord Of The Rings" an "A"... but they did good, very good.
The highest grade that I, personally, give is to "To Kill A Mockingbird". In fact, I think one could make the argument that the movie even BESTS the novel... (that's controversial, and I'm not saying I agree with it, just saying the argument CAN be made, IMHO, because the movie is THAT good).
They have, several times, utterly failed with "Watership Down".
"The Godfather" gets an "A" from me... even though I don't think the movie was as good as the novel.. it DID do it justice, and did so extremely well.
I have never seen or read "Twilight"... but I hear that's an "A" effort.
"The Da Vinci Code"... this is an interesting one to me... because I do NOT think the movie did the novel justice BUT... I think the movie was great, on it's own.
"The Exorcist"...and "A"... but not quite as good as the novel.
As an avid reader, as many of you are as well... this is a very frustrating experience for me because almost NEVER do I like the movie version as much as the novel. I don't blame anyone for that because it's nearly an impossible task. - JamesJM