Review of 1408 (2007) by Rojome — 06 Jan 2017

John Cusack nailed the role of Mike Enslin in "1408." The only complaint I had of his performance was the overuse of his sarcastic smirk every six minutes. He didn't believe in ghosts...we got it...and within the first five minutes of the motion picture (even before he entered the Dolphin Hotel's doors). Speaking of early in the movie, I'm not sure why the woman, Anna, (in the book store after Enslin's "Author's Corner") was even there. Her entire scene consisted of her having Mike autograph one of his early books, "The Long Road Home," that she purchased on eBay, and then asking him a question regarding the authenticity of the "father/son" relationship within. While the question was interesting, it was totally out of left field, and in no way pertained to the rest of the movie. I don't know if this "side road" of his relationship with his dad ended up on the film editor's floor, or if it was something that only those who read the short-story would understand. Despite Samuel L. Jackson only having a minimal role in the movie, his depiction of Gerald Olin was memorable. He took control as the Dolphin Hotel manager, without trying to take control of the movie. His disappointment in Mike Enslin's refusal to stay in a different room...ANY different room was both believable and sincere. His self-serving, uncaring line, "Look, I'm not telling you not to stay in that room for your own good or for the profit of the hotel. Frankly, selfishly, I just don't want to clean up the mess," was short, sweet, and brutally honest. My favorite quote of the movie was actually from Jackson, in his limited role; it was when he answered Cusack's question of what was wrong with room 1408 by saying: "It's an evil **** room."; it was classic Samuel L. Jackson, and reminiscent of his role in "Pulp Fiction.".

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie; it was surprisingly scary for a PG-13 production. I read that there were actually four endings; while two of the other three were decidedly darker, the fourth was fluffy, fun, with a fantastic finality...which is something you neither expect nor desire from a Stephen King book/movie. So with that being said, I believe the one that made it into the theater production was the best of the lot. Despite the few negative reviews I've read here, I'm still going to recommend it. I believe some of the negativity comes from the fact that not only did this "only" garner a PG-13 rating (which is not of the norm from a Stephen King book-to-movie), but it doesn't "feel" like a King flick...neither of which is a bad thing. Despite those two reasons, it's still a better alternative to many non-Steven King, R-rated movies in the horror genre. To put it in another way: Stephen King + John Cusack + a little of Samuel L. Jackson sprinkled in = a pretty good way to spend a little under two hours of your time...