"The review from the SunTimes link was pathetic and left me wondering if the reviewer had actually even read the books. He was complaining that it was like an action movie, not a story of modest hero hobbits."

Ebert said this in his review as well, but I simply don't agree. Especially in the third book, Tolkien really focused on the action (Aragorn and company got half a book, the hobbits had two chapters and then hooked up with everyone else), not the hobbits.

As for the Farimire thing, this really did disappoint me. I still loved the movie, but this was such a drastic change that it did take from the movie. However, I've always approached these movies as a re-telling of the myth, and with that I think the succeed beautifully.