I was disappointed that all my favorite parts of the book were left out of the movie. However, I thought it was an excellent movie and could certainly be enjoyed by someone who had never read the books. I thought the cast was phenomenal, especially Ron, even though Rupert Grint was MUCH too short to play him, he was just so charming I wanted to give him a hug.
Harry Potter is a big part of my life, no children's book has EVER done what this series has for kids' enthusiam for reading. HP #4, for you trivia buffs, had 7 million books in its first printing alone, an all-time publishing record. Kids are putting down their video games and picking up books, which just makes me want to stand up and cheer (and it's good because it means I won't be out of a job anytime soon
). Hooray for J.K. Rowling and shame on Time magazine for not electing her Person of the Year for 2000 (they got a lot of angry letters about that one).