I thought the LOTR films got the tone right, but I don't understand some of the things added in like Faramir taking the hobbits to Osgiliath. It seemed to serve no purpose in the story other than to give Frodo a "platoon" moment of slow-mo angst.
You hit my nerve on the LOTR movies. They raped Faramir's character in that movie. He is supposed to be so darn humble that he would never do anything with the Ring. But in the movie, he is like.. oooooh... me dad will be all coolio if I brings him the precious!!!!
Clearly they did it to add more drama to the ending. And I do love the speech over the montage, but it could have all been done differently and still leave Faramir's character un-rapified.
There were other moments as well that I thought they bombed... but I did love the movies. However, the books are more important to me than the films.