I will go against most opinions and I would say give it a try.
My friends who are into the book quoted much more from the second and style-wise I can tell you this: I LOVED the first one. I HATED the second one.
So, since the book seems really to be about deception, war and religion (the last 2 I despise to see in movies because I find them boring as hell), I could suggest you watch it.
I can tell you that I was forbidden from doing that while playing during a vacation in Colorado, mere months before Columbine. This bullshit is ridiculous.