I had heard about the movie Dumpin’ when it first came out. It was never really on my radar so I kind of pushed it from my memory. Go forward a little bit and I found the book the movie is based on at a Goodwill store that I was shopping at. I am a sucker for reading the book then watching the movie when I can. If I can’t I try to at least read the book after watching the movie. Anyway, I knew that it would be a perfect time to do it for my book to movie comparison at some point.
Dumplin’ (Willowdean) has always been large. Even as a child. She feels more pressure from her mother who was Miss Teen Bluebonnet in 1991. She can still even fit in her dress, which she does every year for the pageant since she runs it. After her Aunt Lucy dies she finds an application to join the pageant. This sets off events in her life that she didn’t know she would do. I watched the movie as soon as I finished the book and made my children watch it with me, I have three girls. My oldest is 9 almost 10 and it is kid-appropriate. I wanted them to watch it since my oldest is now telling me she is fat and she is certainly not at all. I don’t want her to have body issues. The first thing I noticed that it kind of started at the back half of the book and then kind of jumped around from there. Sometimes it was the beginning and sometimes it was the end. I also wasn’t a fan of the fact that they completely cut two of the characters out. One of the other friends that joins the pageant as well, who had two different length legs. I really liked her story and was bummed that she was gone. The other person was Mitch who Willowdean kind of sort of dates to get over Bo. His character I thought was important to the story as well and yet he was gone.
Other than some other ticky-tack things, I think the movie was pretty good. Jennifer Aniston does an amazing job with the mother. Makes her really come to life off of the page. The only thing was is that I thought of her as slightly heavier than what she was in the movie but that is neither here nor there. I also missed some of the other things that happened like the sleepover at Millie’s house. I thought that was a pivotal moment in the book and with the girl’s friendship. I loved that they kept the drag show in the movie and I thought they did an amazing job of it. I am really glad that I watched the movie. I have body issues myself and it was empowering to watch. I will definitely be watching the movie again at some point and my girls have already said they want to watch it again as well. All in all, I would say definitely watch the movie. I was a bit ehhhhh on the book but those thoughts are for a different day.
Pick up your copy of Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy from Amazon, Barnes and Noble or check your local bookstore. Also check out more from author Julie Murphy on her website HERE. After reading, leave a review on Goodreads. Check out the Movie version of the book on Netflix.
