There isn't a novel to my knowledge, but man oh man did that screenwriter want to write one. I'm nowhere near the cinema buff some of my friends are, but that movie broke a lot of the 'rules' of cinematic storytelling (and not in a good way.) And I didn't like the little girl because she was so blatantly written to be awesome. I resent it when art crosses into pandering territory. They wanted a badass little girl, and they wrote what they hoped were applause/laughter-bait lines for her. If I can see the strings you're trying to pull, I think a lot less of your film/book/show/whatever.
I think if I were a parent and struggling with a child, the movie might have had more buttons to push for me. However, I think a truly awesome film would make me *feel* the way the characters do without having to have experienced it myself.
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(And just because I can...)
He stepped out of the shadows, smiling. They were always smiling.
"Do you have it?" Flicker. Flicker. The glow from his face, from his real face, lit the room. It was like the opposite of a night-light; it sharpened edges, blackened shadows to pools, and brought the darkness to writhing life in the corners of your eyes.
"No."
The harsh syllable didn't seem to make an impact. He kept smiling. They were always smiling. "That's too bad. Goodbye."
"Wait!"
He paused and cocked his head to the side. You could almost see his false face when he did that; the one underneath, the one that wasn't smiling. The one that never smiled.
"I... I can get it back. Just give me some time."
"Midnight," he said. His smile widened then, teeth flashing white in a burst of static across his real face. "Don't be late."