telerib | 'Memoirs' movie?

They've apparently made 'Memoirs of a Geisha' into a movie.

My sister read it and lent it to me; when I finished it, she asked, "Wasn't the ending just the worst?" I had to agree.

The titular geisha has, essentially, two important men in her life: the ugly, gruff one who respects her intelligence and the handsome older one who would spoil her like a favorite child - or pet. She's had a crush on the older one since childhood, when he did her an act of kindness.

My sister and I were both rooting for the ugly guy. Yeah, he was a little distant, as I recall. But he gave the impression of seeing her as an adult person, someone with whom he could be a co-equal. The older guy always seemed to treat her like a naive kid. It wouldn't be a Western fairy-tale wuvvy-dovey ending, but it wasn't a Western fairy-tale story. So that would be cool.

Nah. She purposefully hooks up with some chump where the ugly guy can see them, so that he loses all of the respect he had for her. For a few pages, I had hopes of a tragedy unfolding - she'd thrown away the one man who really loved her in the hopes of catching the older guy, who'd shown no real serious interest at all thus far.

But again, nah. Older guy suddenly reveals that no, really, he'd been pining for her for a while but didn't dare say anything since his friend ugly guy had gotten there first. He sets her up as his kept woman for the rest of her life.

The hell? It felt like a cheap cop-out.

With Narnia and King Kong and Pride & Prejudice (and heck, Harry Potter which I still haven't seen) all out, I think I'll be taking a pass on this one.