Seriously Humorous

I'm still mad at Gus Van Sant, the guy who directed the Even Cowgirls Get the Blues movie. He slavishly stuck to the book, which I can understand because it is such a great book, but the book was not a movie. After seeing Van Sant copy scene for scene the original in his remake of Psycho, now I understand. The guy really doesn't know how to adapt and add movie-isms to a book or film. He doesn't bring anything to the table.

They're always trying to classify Robbins as quirky and arty. His work is those things, but it is also "serious". I think if a mainstream talented director made a Tom Robbins novel into a film and added his "movie magic" to it, there would be great potential for a great film. Maybe Spielberg? What do you think?