Misery

Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable!
Review: I do not like Stephen King's books, or the adaptations of them to film but, despite this I saw MISERY. I watched this for one reason, and one reason only: to see Kathy Bates's Oscar winning performance. I'm so glad I did. Not only is Ms. Bates brilliant, James Caan is superb, and the direction... simply flawless. Excellent cinematography, as well as a great score. A MUST- SEE for anyone interested in 2 hours of pure entertainment.

Rating:
Summary: Horrifying & Demented
Review: Stephen King's novel "Misery" is perhaps one of the most well-written books ever. By bringing that concept to the film, he's painted the perfect mental picture of Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), the tormented fan of the author Paul Sheldon (James Caan), who will stop at nothing of locking him up in a sort of a solitude room, torturing him at any cost of keeping him where she thinks he needs to be. Paul Sheldon thinks up every diversion to escape the wrath of Annie, but will he ever get out? Directed by the brilliant Rob Reiner, "Misery" can easily be one of the 90's greatest movies.

Rating:
Summary: ONE OF STEVEN KINGS BEST
Review: KATHY BATES IS EXCELLENT IN THIS MOVIE. SHE REALLY BRINGS THIS CHARACTER TO LIFE. JAMES CAAN IS ALSO SUPERB IN THIS MOVIE PLAYING THE TORTURED MYSTERY WRITER. CAAN GOES ON A TRIP TO HELP HIS WRITERS BLOCK AND WINDS UP A GUEST AT KATHY BATES HOME, WHERE SHE IS CLEARLY OBESSED WITH HIM. SHE DOES THE MOST BIZARRE AND CRUEL THINGS TO KEEP HIM WITH HER. SHE THINKS THAT HE LOVES HER AS MUCH AS SHE LOVES HIM. AND REALLY GETS TICKED OFF WHEN SHE REALIZES THAT HE DOEN'T THIS IS A GREAT MOVIE. YOU GOTTA SEE THIS ONE.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic thriller!
Review: This is one of my favorite movies of all time. It seems so real, it's creepy. This is the best adoption from a book ever done. Kathy Bates is simply remarkable in her mood swings. She makes you live the life of Paul Sheldon himself. You feel every bit of pain, frustration, and rage that he feels.

There's not too much I can say about this movie without giving away some of the plot. But when a movie contains only two actors and the setting for the entire movie is one house, and the movie is this good, you know you have something special. This is top-rate acting. You won't find any better than these two. It's a shame that Kathy Bates had to lower herself to the "Titanic" standards, but I guess the money was just irresistable. But anyway, "Misery" is one of the top 20 movies ever made. As far as suspense goes, it doesn't get any better than this.

Warning: Not for children under 16 or ANYONE with a weak stomach. This movie is excellent in its portrayal of the pain of real life. If you can't take it, don't watch it.

Rating:
Summary: I'm Your Number One Fan!
Review: Paul Sheldon, renowned novelist of the Misery Chastaine series, has just finished a new composition and is on his way to the airport to fy to New York and confer with his editor. A snowstorm develops in the surrounding area, the road becoming increasingly difficult to see. He squints past the dash through the roaring blizzard, swerving uncontrollably across the icy tracks. His car suddenly careens off the road, tumbling down an embankment and becoming burrowed in the mounting height of snowfall. The crash knocks him unconscious and renders him helpless for he has sustained multiple fractures in both legs and various other injuries. In the middle of the chaos, a mysterious figure spots the buried automobile and drags Paul from the carnage, throwing him over their shoulder and carrying him to safety. When he awakes, the face of a young nurse hangs over him declaring proudly that she is his number one fan. Little does he know, this is a fact she will prove time and again during his tenure at the Wilkes farm.

Paul (James Caan) begins contemplating his escape the minute Wilkes' true nature is revealed to him in a fit of rage over his new manuscript. She frightens him into reducing his only copy to charred morsels and he is then coerced into penning his ninth installment of the Misery Chastain saga, unwillingly resurrecting his deceased heroine. As time goes on and Paul's wounds heal, he begins to see Annie's obsession with Misery's fictitious world burgeon to pure lunacy. He eventually comes to the doomed conclusion that his only way out will be his life or hers...

"Misery" couldn't have been a more appropriate appellation for what Paul endures throughout this entire film under the domineering and neurotic guardianship of Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates). Bates is spine-chilling as the reclusive and irrational medic who keeps Paul captive in her foreboding lodge, dulling his senses with powerful painkillers and preventing his escape by any means. She is a dangerously intelligent fraud, perfectly unsuspecting in her demure manner and lighthearted disposition. This is a device that flawlessly conceals the fiery malice lurking beneath her charismatic shell. Bates won an Oscar for Best Actress for her disquieting and methodical portrayal and, along with her recognition from the Academy, unknowingly attained a special place in Stephen King's heart paired with another starring role in his next adaptation titled "Dolores Claiborne" (see my review on that).

Caan is an interesting choice for the abducted author, his fear and rage believable, although this wasn't difficult to portray with somebody as brilliantly convincing as Bates on the job. He is the unlikely candidate for a role such as this after the portrayal of hot-headed Italian sibling Sonny Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's masterful trilogy of Godfather movies. He makes us cringe with his agonizing screams, falling out of his bed and banging his splinted legs on the hardwood floor. His determination and hopelessness are evident in his mobile face, and he makes for a great protagonist in this eerie tale.

Co-starring to the thrill of Bates is the late Richard Farnsworth (The Straight Story) as Buster, the county sheriff investigating Paul Sheldon's disappearance. Lauren Bacall makes a relaxed cameo as Sheldon's editor who prods him about abruptly ending his enduring literary series.

Most surprising was the direction by Rob Reiner, the architect of such zany comedies "When Harry Met Sally", "Throw Momma From The Train" and "The First Wives Club". This is not his usual schtick and it's nice to see him venturing forth into unexplored territory. Compare some of the camerawork from "Misery" to one of the above mentioned (Throw Momma...) and you will see the remarkable similarities.

I prefer reading most of King's tale instead of watching them because often movies cheapen the psychoanalysis that books offer for their characters and the possibility of bad casting can put some of your favorite stories to shame. There is an exception to be made for this one, however, and her name is Kathy Bates.

Rating:
Summary: Solid
Review: This is a little B-movie-ish, but it's good thrills. Some of it may make you feel all oogie, and you might think James Caan is a dirty birdy. But it will keep you filled with suspense. Screenwriter William Goldman and star James Caan had a multi-year dry patch before this film, but this was a come-back for them both. It's one of the few Steven King movies that's any good, too!

Rating:
Summary: I am Kathy Bates' Number One Fan!
Review: There comes along only once in a lifetime an actress as talented and as magnificent as Kathy Bates. Recently, I saw her in the marvelous Bravo show INSIDE THE ACTOR'S STUDIO...she is just plain brilliant! This film, along with DELORIS CLAIBORNE (also starring Ms. Bates), are probably the best adaptations of a Stephen King novel to the screen to date. The direction, by one of my favorites-Rob Reiner, is impecably paced for the suspense and humor that it contains. James Caan, another actor I have loved since BRIAN'S SONG and THE GODFATHER, is equally great as the long-suffering novelist who is terrorized by Bates' character, Annie Wilkes. Let's just say that this movie is a tour-de-force of horror, humor, and pathos. Superb in every way!

Rating:
Summary: "I'm your number one fan, there's nothing to worry about."
Review: It's hard to imagine anyone else portraying Annie Wilkes on the silver screen than Kathy Bates. Her slow revelation of insanity to her captive favorite author is so captivating and so disturbing that you'll be thinking of her everytime you require medical attention. James Caan plays Paul Sheldon very well and the small supporting cast (especially the recently deceased Richard Farnsworth as the sheriff) make this an enjoyable adaptation of the brilliant novel. Although some of the more graphic elements of the novel were slightly altered (the hobbling scene for instance) for either rating or budget constraints.

The exploration of human psychosis is the key element here, and no one since Anthony Perkins in Psycho has brought a more convincing and somewhat sympathetic mad character to life. Kathy Bates definitely deserved her Oscar for the role. Rob Reiner's direction is spectacular and all in all this is one of the best suspense films ever made. And also one of the best film versions of a Stephen King work. An essential film for all!

Rating:
Summary: Misery
Review: What can I say? This is a masterpiece. I read the book first and I loved the book, but when I saw the movie, I was taken away by it. Being from a family that doesn't really like even a little violence (this movie only has a bit of violence) I was really the only one who liked it. This movie is absolutely amazing. I can only say that Kathy Bates definitely deserved her academy award for the role as the psychotic/friendly/depressed/#1 fan Annie Wilkes. Her different words that she used to describe added a little humor, some of them being: "You dirty bird!" and "Ooogy!". On the topic of humor, Richard Farnsworth was really funny as the town's sherrif (among other jobs). He was perfect for the role and I do not think that someone else could have filled his shoes. As for the main character, Paul Sheldon, James Caan also did a fantastic job portraying a man in a blizzard amount of pain from his car accident. The way that he humored Annie Wilkes in the movie was in a way funny also. In some scenes when Paul's legs kept getting hurt, it was almost hurtful to watch his expressions because James Caan really made you believe that he was in a lot of pain. I'm a bit surprised that James Caan did not also win an oscar for this role because he really did give a wonderful performance as Paul Sheldon. So in other words, you really should see this movie and of course read the book. There are some scenes that are just fantastic. I think that if you read the book first before the movie, you will understand the movie better. I sure did. I would also recommend seeing the Stephen King movies: The Tommyknockers, and The Shining. Both are exceptional movies.

Rating:
Summary: an awesome thriller!
Review: It's been too long since I've seen a thriller like this one. By this, I mean this is truly a gem that keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat from beginning to the very end. Rent this one, you won't regret it.