Movies / Misery (1990)

8/10

Runtime: 107 min

Genres: Thriller

Languages: English

Countries: USA


Based on the chilling bestseller by Stephen King, Misery was brought to the screen by director Rob Reiner as one of the most effective thrillers of the 1990s. From a brilliant adaptation by screenwriter William Goldman, Reiner turned King's cautionary tale of fame and idolatry into a mainstream masterpiece of escalating suspense, translating King's own experience with obsessive fans into a frightening tale of entrapment and psychotic behavior. Kathy Bates deservedly won an Academy Award for her performance as Annie Wilkes, an unbalanced devotee of romance novels written by Paul Sheldon (James Caan), whose books provide Annie with a much-needed escape from her pathetic life and her secret, violent past. After Annie rescues the injured Sheldon from a car accident, she seizes the opportunity to nurse her favorite writer back to health, but her tender loving care soon turns to terrorism as she demands that Sheldon write his latest novel according to her wish-fulfillment fantasies. From this point forward, Misery percolates to a boil as equal parts mystery, thriller, and cleverly dark comedy, with the helpless author pitched in deadly warfare against his number one fan. While Bates carefully modulates her role from doting kindness to sympathetic loneliness and finally to horrifying ferocity, Caan is equally superb as the celebrated author who must literally write for his life. It's essentially a two-actor film, but Richard Farnsworth and Lauren Bacall are excellent in supporting roles as they investigate the writer's mysterious disappearance. Frightening, funny, and totally irresistible, Misery was such a hit that some of Bates's dialogue entered the popular lexicon (particularly her nagging reference to Caan as "Mister Man"), and its nail-biting thrills remain timelessly intense. --Jeff Shannon


Directors (1) Credit
Rob Reiner ...
Writers (2) Credit
Stephen King (novel "Misery")
William Goldman (screenplay)
Composers (1) Credit
Marc Shaiman ...
Editors (1) Credit
Robert Leighton ...
Cinematographers (1) Credit
Barry Sonnenfeld (director of photography)
Actors (16) Credit
Archie Hahn Reporter #2 (as Archie Hahn III)
Frances Sternhagen Virginia
Graham Jarvis Libby
Gregory Snegoff Reporter #3
James Caan Paul Sheldon
Jerry Potter Pete
J.T. Walsh State Trooper Sherman Douglas (uncredited)
Julie Payne Reporter #1
June Christopher Anchorwoman
Kathy Bates Annie Wilkes
Lauren Bacall Marcia Sindell
Misery the Pig Herself
Richard Farnsworth Buster
Rob Reiner Helicopter Pilot (uncredited)
Thomas Brunelle Anchorman (as Tom Brunelle)
Wendy Bowers Waitress