There is something wrong with the movie “Twilight.”

As a huge fan of the book (I read it three times), I definitely enjoyed the movie. I loved seeing Edward, portrayed convincingly by Robert Pattinson, and Bella, played not quite as convincingly by Kristen Stewart, come to life on the big screen.

Bella and Edward’s story of forbidden love between a vampire and an ordinary girl has touched many people (OK, mainly pre-teens, teens and their moms), and it was a gift to see someone else’s vision of the story brought to life.

I have such a strong connection to the characters in the book, I’ll probably see “Twilight” again while it’s in theaters and I’ll own a copy of the DVD when it’s released. But I have to be honest with myself. I’m disappointed.

Here’s the deal. The “Twilight” in my head—the “Twilight” I imagined for myself while reading the book—is much better than the movie.

There were so many things they got right with the movie, I can’t pinpoint exactly where they went wrong. The casting was genius, from Edward and Bella all the way down the list of the supporting cast of Bella’s high school friends. Billy Burke as Bella’s dad, Charlie Swan, brought a spark to the movie in each of his several scenes. Nikke Reed as the angry Rosalie Hale, Edward’s disapproving sister, stole the show when she had the chance.

Forks, Wash., the setting for this love story, looks better than it did in my imagination and director Catherine Hardwicke made the most of the the moody, lush, green surroundings.

The soundtrack, which topped the charts before the movie was released, is phenomenal. The movie stays true to the characters in the book, their personalities anyway.

So what in the world happened? Why didn’t I leave the movie theater bowled over? What went wrong?

I’m not very good at being a critical movie critic but I’m going to break out my constructive criticism hat and put it on for uno momento.

The movie moves through integral parts of the book with reckless abandon and not in a good way. I didn’t expect to see every scene from the book played out, but I think there was something wrong with the thought process when screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg decided what to keep and what to give away.

The blood typing scene? Gone.

The build up at the end where Bella and Edward were separated for days, the frustration, the longing? Missing.

Alice? Jasper? Esme? Carlisle? Not nearly enough screen time.

Stewart’s Bella narrates the beginning and end of the movie, but it would have been helpful for those who don’t have the book memorized if she had added her insights throughout the movie, filling in the gaps between those long stares that undoubtedly won’t be understood by non-Twilighters. The movie would have benefitted if it were 30 or 45 minutes longer. Us “Twilight addicts” would have gladly sat in our seats had Hardwicke and the producers taken the time to develop the story better and given us the fix we were looking for. I feel like I went to open a bottle of expensive wine and ended up drinking a glass of Strawberry Hill.

I’ve read other reviews that complained of cheesy special effects. I didn’t have one problem with the special effects. I loved the baseball scene, one of my favorites in the movie. I didn’t go see “Twilight” addicts to be blown away by computer-generated effects. I wanted to be blown away by the story. It huffed and it puffed, but was no more than a big bad wolf with a wheezy case of emphysema.

The movie left me feeling like the director and cast ran out of time and money. One highlight to “Twilight addicts” was the prom scene at the end, a saving grace if you will. Hardwicke, Stewart and Pattinson hit the nail on the head in that one scene. For a few minutes at the end of the movie, I felt like I was watching Edward and Bella as Stephenie Meyer meant them to be when she wrote the book.

Will “Twilight” addicts make a lot of money? Most definitely. Will the target audience of teenage girls enjoy it? If the screams and squealing inside the movie theater are any indication, that’s a resounding yes.

I don’t need to be able to read minds to realize “New Moon”, the second book in the four-book series, will be made into a movie. I hope the powers that be do a better job next time because “Twilight” could have been so much more.

It could have been great.