Title: Sweet Movie, Uncredited Source Material
Product review: I SUPPOSE you could say the notion of a guy inheriting a female elephant from a dead parent (or parent figure) that he then must travel cross-country with is an idea that could occur to more than one writer ... but it may be just general enough that the originating writer need not be credited. Which is too bad. For LARGER THAN LIFE is clearly an update and paraphrase of the period British novel ROSIE IS MY RELATIVE, written by the late naturalist Gerald Durrell. Though the episodes in the film are quite different from those in the book, the over-arcing story follows a similar trajectory and retains the air of eccentric sweetness. In England, where Durrell was the famous author of several bestsellers (most prominently his autobiographies, which were dramatised for TV), ROSIE IS MY RELATIVE is something of a cult classic. If you find a copy and read it, you'll see why. It's a delightful book. The film owes it much.
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