I am planning on seeing it Monday as well. Would love to compare notes after you see it. Most of the people here seem to like it. The book is hard to put down.

Yeah, it's true that Frisco is a very major character in the story, and I agree that wasn't entirely apparent in the film AS1. However, I understood the need to cut parts in order to keep the film under two hours, and I think the producers did a good job deciding which parts to cut and which parts to retain.

Generally speaking, even the best film adaptations of classic novels do not manage to equal the greatness of the original novels, and I think this is really a testament to what made the novels great in the first place -- i.e., the majority of the novel is actually highly enjoyable to read, and hence people will lament its absence in a film adaptation.

Another example is the Lord of the Rings film adaptations. I thought Peter Jackson did a fantastic job, and I could hardly have envisioned a better adaptation of the novel. Yet even still, most days I would still rather read the novel than see the films.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll get a lot of enjoyment from reading Atlas Shrugged, and if AS1 led you to read the novel, then I'd say that is mission accomplished :)