My Policeman: Book or Movie?

Emma’s Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

As most readers would agree, the book is almost always better. Now, of course, there are exceptions, but the vast majority would agree that the potential for interpretation and imagination that books provide make them superior to their movies. And unfortunately, the My Policeman adaptation from author Bethan Roberts has followed this trend.  

My Policeman is a devastating story following policeman Tom Burgess (Linus Roache and Harry Styles as young Tom), who has trouble coming to terms with his sexuality with artist Patrick Hazlewood (Rupert Everett and David Dawson as young Patrick), in 1950s London. A beautiful, but illegal, affair forms and many factors work against the pair to test how far their love will go to protect each other – and themselves.  

Roberts’ novel is a testament to wasted time and regret, and its movie showed a good attempt at capturing the same feelings. While the acting by Styles and Dawson is beautifully done, the numerous sex scenes seem to override the central message of the movie. Additionally, the movie left out crucial lines and scenes that helped develop not only the plot of the story but the interesting dynamic between Burgess and Hazlewood. 

All things considered, the movie adaptation of My Policeman showed a valiant effort on the producers’ parts, but unfortunately cannot compare to the original 2012 novel. However, both will leave you teary-eyed and thankful for how far our society has come.