I'd skip the book too. mild spoilers: This is not how you make a good movie and here is why. First off the protagonist is hard to get into, is he a punk or appreciative of the fine arts, is he a bicycle man or a driver, is he a hard ass or a lover? The story telling could not decide, there was evidence for everything. There is no way a broad audience can root for a scrawny, talent free nobody who's sense of humor is defined by holding a dead rat to his sister's face. The second big mistake, two thirds into the movie a main character dies. That's like eating a meal and half-way through someone takes away your side and says go ahead, eat up it's art now. At that point in the film it is safe to fast forward, skipping pathetic conversations the pot head fake-glasses-wearing hero has, with his bathroom sex jealous instead of happy for him girlfriend. And lastly, the probably biggest flaw of this "story". The plot was non-existent. Things happen, but none of them are intertwined. There is no structure, events just happen without connection, other than the time-line. Where are the scenes of importance you remember when interesting plot-twists happen? Where is the build-up? Character development? "Native Son" is not that kind of movie. "Native Son" is a bad movie. 1 star for production value. 8 April 2019 I am migrating my reviews from a different site which has become simply garbage. TMDB looks awesome and I look forward to be a part of it.