I'll say this: I read the book today, and it is indeed not like the first half of the movie which I happened to watch. (Then the DVD flipped out and refused to show the rest.) Neville is a far less amiable character than Will Smith portrays him as. (Furthermore, Neville isn't black, either, but that's really a minor and irrelevant detail.) Still, I can't criticize a movie based on a book. But I will say that the story was very well written - fans of Stephen King should definitely check it out.