As a LOTR convert, I think it was wise to leave out the Tom Bombadil scene, because it was the part of the book that made me stop reading. You see, I started reading shortly before the FOTR movie was about to come out because I wanted to know what I was in for. I thought it was great, but then around the part of the meeting in Tom Bombadil's house, it just dragged so slowly that I just put the book down. Then I saw the movie and realized how foolish I was, because right after that was when the story really started to pick up. So once I got home, I ripped the book open again and devoured it in a matter of days.

Quick question of the story: Was Goldberry supposed to be a She-Ent? She seemed to fit Treebeard's description...

And C3PX has a good point about Elijah Wood. Frodo was supposed to be in his fifties when he began his journey, and they get a 19 year old to play him. Feh.