| In the Book |
In the Movie |
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Sutter didn't apply to college. |
It begins with him writing his college admission letter. |
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Cassidy is fat. |
She isn't fat.
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Sutter tries to set Ricky up on a date with Bethany on a sight seeing boat tour and he uses the excuse that he lost his wallet to get them to go without him. |
He takes them to a lake and they go for a canoe ride together, and he says he forgot his cell phone. |
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Amy wears glasses and is described as a nerd. |
She doesn't wear glasses and her nerd status isn't a big point of the story.
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Sutter's family is well off. They have a pool. |
They seem poor. There is no pool. |
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Sutter's mother has a rich second husband and she doesn't work. |
She isn't remarried and works as a nurse.
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When Sutter meets Amy in the cafeteria he tells her a story about jumping off a bridge. |
The story is about jumping out of a car. |
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When Sutter asks Amy about a story about herself she tells a story about him standing in front of the class and talking when the teacher left the room. |
She says he was wearing a mascot head in the story.
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When pressed for a story about herself, Amy tells a story about when a man exposed himself while she was delivering newspapers. |
She doesn't tell any story. |
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Crystal is fat. |
She isn't.
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When Sutter asks for Amy's phone number she seems shocked. |
She gives him her phone number after he asks for help studying. She seems confident. |
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She has no cellphone. |
She has an iPhone.
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Amy is obsessed with Science Fiction and is writing her own story. |
She loves Manga. |
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Amy had drawings on her walls that Sutter thought were very poorly done. |
Sutter likes the drawings on her walls.
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Amy put on lipstick when Sutter first came to her house and he thought it looked horrible and pathetic. |
She doesn't change her appearance. |
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Amy has a step father. |
She doesn't.
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While Sutter is at Amy's house, her step father demands a doctor Pepper. Sutter takes her to get it and asks her to go to a party with him because he feels so sorry for her. |
Sutter asks Amy to go to the party without any sense of pity. |
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Sutter searches online for info about the Scifi books Amy likes. |
He goes to a store and buys one and reads it.
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Cassidy sends Sutter an email telling him she wants to be friends. He tells her about the party he is going to. |
They instant message. |
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The party is in February and it is cold outside. Amy is wearing a large purple jacket that Sutter finds embarrassing. |
It is warm and Amy doesn't wear a jacket. Her purple hoodie doesn't embarrass Sutter.
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Cassidy is with Marcus at the party and he leaves for a minute to get a beer and Sutter goes to talk to her. |
Cassidy is talking with two girls and Sutter comes over to talk to her. |
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Sutter finds Amy being hugged by a scum bag who is making the moves on her. He creates a distraction to get her away from him. |
After returning from his conversation with Cassidy he finds Amy talking with a guy and asks her to come with him and she does.
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Sutter gets Amy a cooler because she is more likely to drink it. He then offers her some of his whiskey. |
Amy drinks beer from the keg and then asks Sutter for a taste of his flask. |
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Sutter says that his father is a successful businessman who works in the tallest building in town. He shows his friends the building. |
He his father is an airline pilot.
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Amy says she would like to go to college, but she can't because of her family responsibilities with the paper route. |
Amy says she was accepted to college but she won't go. |
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After the night of the party, Sutter ignores Amy for two weeks. She doesn't call him. |
Amy calls Sutter and it is less than 2 weeks.
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Sutter and Caddidy end up naked in bed and she cries because she likes Marcus. They agree to meet every Thursday. |
The don't end up naked. They have a serious talk about the future and going to college. |
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When Marcus finds out they have been meeting, he waits outside Sutter's work. Sutter waits inside with his boss for fear that he is going to be beaten up. He goes out and they talk. |
Marcus comes into the store and pushes Sutter but then they talk.
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Sutter goes to his sister's party alone after work. He is drunk and stones and sets fire to a suit in his sister's closet. He gets grounded because of it. |
He takes Amy to the party, and he isn't stoned and there is no fire. |
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Amy tells Sutter that her father died because of an addiction to sniffing gas. They are alone. |
Amy tells the story at Sutter's sisters dinner party. She says that her Dad died from a drug overdose.
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Amy gets drunk all the time. |
She doesn't appear to have a problem with too much drinking. |
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Sutter goes to Amy's house with the intention of having a celibate sleep over while her parents are out of town. |
Sutter is fine with having sex.
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After having sex, Amy tells Sutter that she had lost her virginity to her Step brother. After that Sutter tells her the truth about his father. |
She doesn't talk about losing her virginity. Sutter tells Amy that his father isn't a pilot. |
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Amy goes to her mother's bedroom to get a condom for Sutter. |
She has one at her bedside.
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Drunk Amy sees Crystal at a store and tells her she is fat. Their friendship is over. |
This doesn't happen. |
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Amy and Sutter go on a double date with Cassidy and Marcus. Amy drops a bottle of liquor. |
This doesn't happen.
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When Sutter goes to get Amy for the prom he thinks she has bad makeup, hair and dress. |
She looks great. |
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At the prom, Sutter and Cassidy dance a fast dance, followed by a slow one. After Amy says that Cassidy is a good dancer. |
Amy says that Cassidy is a good dancer before they dance. Then Sutter shares a single dance with Cassidy.
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Sutter takes over the DJ booth at the prom and raps. The geometry teacher comes and stops him. |
Sutter doesn't rap and the Geometry teacher is shown dancing. |
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Amy and Sutter go to a hotel after the prom and Amy wants to stay, but Sutter wants to go to the prom party. They go to the party and Amy gets very drunk while Sutter ignores her. She falls into a glass table. Sutter jumps into a pool from the roof. |
They go to the party and nothing big happens.
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Sutter asks his sister to ask his mother for his father's phone number. He never speaks about his father with his Mom. They don't talk about his father after she kicked him out. |
He asks his Mom for the number she refuses and they fight, he says "no wonder he left you" |
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Sutter and Amy skip graduation to drive to see his father. Sutter does this so Amy doesn't know he isn't graduating. |
They go to the graduation and they both graduate.
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When they go to see Sutter's dad he says he is going to meet his girlfriend and they can come. |
He says he is going to meet some friends. |
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They have dinner with Sutter's dad and his girlfriend. |
They have beer with his dad.
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Sutter's dad and his girlfriend get in a fight about how he cheated on Sutter's mother after she asked why he left. |
Sutter asks why his Mom kicked his dad out, and his dad tell him he left. He says he cheated on his Mom a lot. |
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Sutter's dad is a fun loving drunk who has lost track of time and his family. |
He seems like a cranky person.
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Sutter's dad has to leave to take his girlfriend home after she breaks a glass during their fight. |
He says he is going to drive a girl home who he talked to, but it isn't clear that she is his girlfriend. |
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Sutter's dad leaves him 20 dollars for the bill, but it isn't enough. |
He just tells Sutter to pick up the tab. He doesn't have enough money and asks Amy to help him.
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They wait at Sutter's dad's house for 30 minutes and leave after he doesn't show. |
They wait and then drive to see he is in a bar with his friends and leave. |
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After Sutter kicks Amy out of the car she is hit by a car and she ends up in a field. Sutter goes to find her and she says she doesn't go to the hospital. She goes the next day. She tells her family that he was a hero because they were changing a tire. |
She goes to the hospital right away and he calls his Mom right away.
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Sutter's friends have an intervention to tell him he is no good for Amy. |
It doesn't happen. |
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Sutter calls Cassidy and she tells him she is on her way to New Mexico with Marcus. |
She tells him at graduation that she is going to Los Angeles.
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Sutter has multiple ex girlfriends that he talks about. He has a strong friendship with Dan and a ongoing strain in his relationship with Ricky. |
This doesn't happen. |
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Sutter tells Amy that he can't go to College with her because he failed algebra and has to go to summer school. He tells her to go ahead and set things up and he will meet her. |
They plan to go, but he doesn't show up leaving her to go without him.
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Sutter goes to the bar after Amy leaves and makes the bar have a good time and they become his friends. They tell him he is a hero for letting Amy go. |
He goes to a bar and drinks sadly with another drunk. |
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Sutter doesn't have much of a relationship with his mother. Cassidy tells him that his problem is he doesn't believe anyone loves him. |
Sutter has a confrontation with his mother where they work out their feelings and he tells her about seeing his dad. He doesn't believe anyone loves him.
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Sutter and Amy plan to go to St. Louis. |
It is Philadelphia. |
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Sutter is drunk and lonely and walks down with street with his arms spread out as the story ends. |
He has an epiphany, writes a college admission letter and shows up in Philly to see Amy.
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