I finally got around to seeing Peter Jackson's Hobbit. And so many liberties were taken with the original text, although it should be noted that the scene that worked best of all in the movie was the one taken most directly from the book - where Bilbo finds the One Ring and confronts Gollum. Granted I don't remember Bilbo having such a jaunty personality, but I'm not complaining. It works very well.
I'm also not complaining about the decision to make Kili and Fili hot.