Faramir initially tries to bring them back to Gondor in the movie, but in the book he doesn’t do that; he doesn’t want the ring, and helps them on their way. The distinction is important, as it shows that he (like Aragorn) still retain some of the purity of the men from long ago.
You make Faramir sound less comfortable with a sword and comfortable with a Swiffer and an apron.
I know when they do movies, because they have timetables, deadlines, and budgets, they will start with mockups of costumes and characters to see if what is in the book will work on screen. They generally only make changes when it’s not coming across well. I know for a fact that Peter Jackson told the actors that they had to play the parts straight and there would be no room for any sardonic attitudes, if the parts called for being emotionally vulnerable to each other.
His main characteristic was incorruptibility and I thought they captured it. He held the ring and had no temptation to put it on. They probably changed his personality to account for the fact that he was a warrior-prince and wasn’t his habit to cry into his souffle. :P
If you think of it this way, Peter Jackson and New Line laying everything on the line to get this film made. They spent upwards of a billion dollars to make it, with the risk that it could very well fail, because most fantasy movies are not particularly big office draw.
The last thing they would want to do is produce a movie that would piss off fanboys. Everything they field in these movies was with intent to strike a balance between the fanboys, but keep it attractive enough to also draw in the general movie audience, especially women.
I think overall, because there is usually no way, outside of using cardboard cutouts with balloons drawn with exact dialogue, they succeeded.