Many people take competent movies for granted, so much so that I've often heard "oh anyone could make a movie", which is complete and utter bullshit. Ron Howard is talented, but he isn't an auteur and I get really tired of people who criticise good (or just competent) movies from the comfort of their living rooms and subvertly suggest that every film maker has to be the next big auteur.
Anyway, I completely agree with ebert's review and personally enjoyed the movie for what it was... however, the novel was somewhat basic (in the Harry Potter books are easy to read kind of way) and should've started as a movie in the first place. Having said that, I will pick up the sequel (book) when it comes out now that I've seen the movie. I'm starting to think that maybe it'd be a good idea if only other film makers actually review movies; the armchair enthusiasts (of which there are many, including certain major websites and newspapers) are really annoying.
EDIT: To summarise: It's a decent movie, and I'm getting tired of people criticising it so heavily because it really doesn't deserve it.
