I watched this movie upon finishing the novel, and I will say it was a really nice rendition. Most everything followed the same plot line, while certain details were altered or omitted. The movie moved along very quickly, and I found myself using my knowledge of the book to follow. However, I found the movie to be emotional, and wonderful. The characters were portrayed beautifully, and I would certainly recommend watching this if you're looking for a heartwarming, tear-jerker!

"Flowers for Algernon" is one of my all time favorite short stories. The later novel is good and this movie is excellent. Beautiful music. Superb acting. Moving story.I give this movie an A+

Saw this on TV and was absorbed all the time, even though I'd read the short story. Sure, there are a few differences from the book, but I think that made it better as a movie - a movie that followed the book absolutely could have been more intellectually satisfying but would not have been as emotionally involving.Definitely worth seeing, but why oh why did they have to make the 'background' music so loud that it was intrusive! It spoilt some scenes that would have been perfectly all right without any music at all. Because of this, I have given it an 8 instead of a 9, and I don't think that it would seem so good on a big screen.

I already knew the story behind FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON before I saw the TV movie. I've always thought the story was, although maybe a little sad, a pretty interesting story. And I really like the way it was written when I read it, through the eyes of Charlie and his journal. I had once seen a very old version of FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON movie based on the book. As I recall, the acting was horrible and the movie was badly presented, but it was ok because it was true to the book. This one is the opposite. It's still very good, but it has good acting and was presented well, but is a little less similar to the book.Charlie Gordan (Matthew Modine) is a retarded gentleman who wants more than anything to learn and be a genius. He attends regular classes for special people taught by the beautiful Alice Kinian (Kelli Williams). When Dr. Strauss (Ron Rifkin) is testing an operation that can make mentally retarded people incredibly smart, Alice sets Charlie up for it as a test. Charlie becomes incredibly smart, with an IQ over 200, but is very unhappy when he realizes that this whole time his so-called "friends" were actually mocking him behind his back. Just as he starts to find happiness when he falls in love with Alice, and Alice falls in love with him, he learns that the effects of the operation are only temporary and has to try his hardest to learn how to stop from becoming retarded again.This movie lacks a few things from the original. One is that it is not presented through the viewpoint of Charlie's journal, of course. This couldn't have been done, but it was a lot better from that viewpoint. Algernon, the mouse that was another test for this operation that Charlie makes friends with, is underplayed. It's strange to say a mouse was underplayed, but it's true. Considering that Algernon is in the title, this is strange. The beginning of this movie is also kind of rushed and can be confusing if you didn't already know the story.But the solid acting and great dramatic scenes make up for all the faults. Matthew Modine does great as both the stupid and smart Charlie Gordan. Kelli Williams certainly stole the show. Whether she was crying or laughing, the emotions seemed so real. She did an excellent job.One thing that I found very strange was that many places, even this database, listed this movie as a comedy. It's no comedy. What are we expected to laugh at? The ignorant retarded people? Do you find that funny? I sure didn't. This movie is way more of a drama with an interesting plot. It's certainly not a comedy.I'd recommend reading the original story above seeing this movie. But if it came down to a choice between this one and the older movie based on the same story, I'd choose this one in a heartbeat. If it's ever on TV again, it's certainly worth watching.