Quick Answer: The Fundamentals of Caring, the film adaptation of Jonathan Evison’s novel, The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, mirrors the source material in many ways. But how does it diverge from the book? In the novel, the road trip is less dominant, Trevor’s visit to his father isn’t a surprise, and we see more of Ben’s former life as a stay-at-home dad of two children.

When novels are adapted for the big screen, changes to the source material can be necessary to suit the medium of cinema. In the case of the Sundance hit, The Fundamentals of Caring (2016), more than just the title has been changed from the source novel, Jonathan Evison’s The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving. Both stories follow a soon-to-be divorced man who becomes the caregiver of a teenager suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The film adaptation mirrors Evison’s novel in most ways, but there are a few interesting differences.

The Big Trip

One of the main differences in the film adaptation is the increased focus on the road trip that Ben (Paul Rudd) and Trevor (Craig Roberts) take. The novel spends almost an equal amount of time on Ben getting used to his role as a caregiver. The two don’t even decide to take the road trip until about halfway through the novel. In comparison, the trip to see the “world’s biggest pit” commences about twenty minutes into the film, which is an incredibly quick turnaround.

With the trip as our main narrative, the film focuses the characters on a specific task. Whereas the book has more time to develop Ben’s and Trevor’s relationship before they leave, the film drops us into this action almost right away and develops the relationship on the move. This change makes sense given the two mediums; there isn’t as much time to tell many different stories within a film as in a novel. Quickly jumping in to the road trip portion is necessary to craft a complete, succinct narrative for the film’s audience.

Selena Gomez as Dot and Craig Roberts as Trevor in The Fundamentals of Caring (2016)

Trevor’s Father

In the book, Trevor’s main reason for going on the trip is to see his estranged father, Bob (played by Frederick Weller in the film), who recently has been in a car accident. They also want to see the weird attractions along the way, but they are primarily going to see Bob. Bob also knows that his son is coming to visit.

In the film, Trevor later decides to visit his father, but the visit comes as a surprise to Bob. The film does touch on Trevor’s absent father, showing Trevor ignoring Bob’s letters, which are later revealed to be written by his mother, Elsa (Jennifer Ehle). However, the movie doesn’t have enough time to give this narrative the weight and attention it receives in the book.

Trevor’s and Ben’s Relationship

In the movie, Trevor and Ben’s relationship takes on a more sarcastic and playful tone than it does in the novel. In the film, when Ben first meets Trevor, Trevor puts on an act of more extreme disability to make Ben uncomfortable. This interaction sets up a long-running game in their relationship: both try multiple times to fake one another out, whether it is Trevor pretending to choke or Ben fooling Trevor into thinking that he lost his medication. They have an understanding through this shared style of humor, which some might call twisted.

In the book, there isn’t the same amount of joking around and pranking. Instead, Trevor’s and Ben’s closeness is shown through their objectification of women. We see a window into this banter when they discuss the Weather Girl in the film, but their discussions of women are more prevalent in the book — the two judge the looks of almost every women they encounter. The filmmakers’ decision to cut down on these scenes is a smart choice that makes the characters more likable for a movie audience. In the short span of a film, the plethora of judgements about women’s appearances would be off-putting and confuse our feelings about the characters. Replacing the non-stop objectification with the morbid fake-outs alienates the audience less while retaining a level of edgy, “incorrect” behavior in the male relationship.

Craig Roberts, Selena Gomez, and Paul Rudd in The Fundamentals of Caring (2016)

Ben’s Former Life as a Stay-at-Home-Dad

Although in the film we get glimpses of the accident that caused the death of Ben’s son, no flashbacks show the dynamics of Ben’s family. The book combines between Ben’s time as a caregiver with flashbacks to Ben’s time as a stay-at-home father before the accident. In the novel, Ben even has another child, Piper, who is cut from the film in order to heighten focus on his other son’s death. The film’s audience can more easily connect with Ben’s grief without the more complex narrative development of a still-living child, especially since the film doesn’t have time for as much information about Ben’s family.

Ben’s soon-to-be ex-wife, Janet, is reduced to only a couple of scenes in the movie. Including Piper and adding more detail about Ben’s marriage might have made the movie too long, although these additions would have helped us understand Ben’s state of mind and his already strained relationship with Janet prior to the chaos of the accident. Still, these nuances arguably aren’t necessary. While the film works with a more condensed version of events, the less detail-heavy story does come across as complete.

Out of necessity, film adaptations rarely incorporate every plot and character element of the source material. It’s clear that, when The Fundamentals of Caring isn’t able to exactly mirror the novel, this is largely due to the time constraints of the medium of cinema. The novel has room to develop numerous characters and subplots. Films, based on far shorter scripts, don’t have the luxury of including every novelistic diversion.

Yet, even with some major changes, The Fundamentals of Caring does a good job of retaining the core story and atmosphere of the original. Both the novel and the film center on ideas of hope and acceptance, wrapping these themes in a story of humor and male bonding. Just by going on this road trip, both Trevor and Ben grow as people and let go of the emotional weights that are holding them back from experiencing life. Trevor escapes the claustrophic home routine and the extreme caution that has prevented him from going out into the world, while Ben makes peace with the aftermath of the accident and finally feels ready to sign his divorce papers and move on.

The film adaptation preserves this heart of the story, communicating the book’s themes with subtle warmth and a sarcastic edge that complements the earnest sentiment. Ultimately, despite the differences, the film captures what makes the novel special.