History Film / IfThereBeThorns

* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: The boys are aged up in the movie, so while Jory is 14 in the book, in the movie him and his girlfriend are discussing colleges. This means that the conflict between Cathy and Madam Marisha--Marisha threatens to expose the incest and get custody of Jory--falls a little flat. Jory is nearly a legal adult, and so custody of him will become a non-issue very soon, and regardless of where he's living, he's going to be leaving to go to college soon.

* AdaptationPersonalityChange: A relatively small but significant one for Chris. In the movie, when Chris finds Cathy setting up beds in the attic, he calls her out on it in no uncertain terms, and refuses to let her change the subject. In the movie, this is ''way'' downplayed. Then later, in the movie it's ''Chris'' who sends Bart to the attic after he tries to drown Cindy. This represents a significant change from the books, there it's ''Cathy'' who does that, while Chris lets Bart out as soon as he gets home and asks Cathy WhatTheHellHero
* AdaptationSpeciesChange: The pet Bart wants but his parents won't let him get is a snake, not a pony. The pet Corrine gets him is a snake, not a dog.

* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: Cindy’s birth mother dies of cancer, rather than a car crash as in the book. This is less in keeping with the reoccurring theme of deadly car crashes through the books, but more in keeping with the drawn-out framing of the event in which Cathy and Chris have time to argue about it.

* AccidentalMisnaming[=/=]MaliciousMisnaming: Madam Marisha calls Emma "Amy." It's not entirely clear which is ''why'', but Emma takes it as MaliciousMisnaming at any rate.

* AdaptationPersonalityChange: A relatively small but significant one for Chris. In the movie, when Chris finds Cathy setting up beds in the attic, he calls her out on in in no uncertain terms and refuses to let her change the subject. In the movie, this is ''way'' downplayed. Then later, in the movie it's ''Chris'' who sends Bart to the attic after he tries to drown Cindy. This represents a significant change from the books, there it's ''Cathy'' who does that, while Chris lets Bart out as soon as he gets home and asks Cathy WhatTheHellHero

* AffairLetters: Jory finds a letter Chris wrote to Cathy in the attic. Unique for this trope, it's not who the letter is between that's the issue--it's the mention of Cathy being 13, when they'd told Jory they didn't meet until they were adults.
* AgeLift: Bart starts the movie at age 12, while he starts the book at age 9. Jory and Melodie, meanwhile, are on the brink of college. Cindy, meanwhile, is closer to 3 than 2.
* BlatantLies: Along with therapy appointment, the therapist meets with his parents to get some background info.

-->'''Corrine:''' Lots of people resemble each other, it must be a concidance. I've been told I look like Creator/JeanHarlow.
* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: Cindy’s birth mother dies of cancer rather than a car crash as in the book. This is less in keeping with the theme of deadly car crashes through the books, but more in keeping with the drawn-out framing of the event in which Cathy and Chris have time to argue about it.

* * PsychoPsychologist: In the book, Bart's therapists are never sinister--the first one is helpful, and the second one is ineffective but benign. In the movie he is strapped to a bed and there is discussion of electroshock therapy. Cathy, thankfully, goes MamaBear and protects him, insisting that shock therapy is off the table an staying with him at the hospital overnight.

* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: In the book, there is very little attention given to what Corrine thinks of Cathy and Chris's marriage. The one time she asks about it, she says, "But I'd understand"--she had her own incestuous marriage, after all. In the movie, however, she's weird about it.
* AdaptationPersonalityChange: Bart is ''less'' of a LargeHam than in the book.

* AgeLift: Bart starts the movie at age 12, while he starts the book at age 9. Jory and Melodie, meanwhile, are on the brink of college.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Cathy and Chris have a "No Secrets Policy" for their family... need we say more?
-->'''Bart:''' My dad's come up with a "No Secrets Policy" in our family.
-->'''Corrine:''' He did? That's [[DramaticIrony very ironic]].
* RelatedInTheAdaptation: Of course, Corrine is both Chris and Cathy's mother in all versions. But in the book, they ''tell'' their kids that Corrine is Chris's mother, and that Cathy's mother is dead. This because Chris still considers her his mother--a bad mother, sure, but still his mother--and visits her in the asylum, while Cathy wants ''nothing'' to do with her. In the movie, they claim Corrine as ''Cathy's'' mother, while saying Chris's mother is dead.

* AgeLift: Bart starts the movie at age 12, while he starts the book at age 9.

-->'''Corrine:''' He did? That's [[DramaticIrony very ironic]].

* Jedidiah Goodacre as Jory

* Mason Cook as Bart

* {{Hypocrite}}: Cathy and Chris have a "No Secrets Policy" for their family... need we say more?

Starring Rachael Carpani as Cathy, Jason Lewis as Chris, and Creator/HeatherGraham as Corrine.