Review of Misery (1990) by Shane S — 22 Sep 2011

Hey, more Stephen King movies that actually work!

At first I was like "well, why did the guy who made 'This is Spinal Tap' make a thriller"...and then I was "oh my god. This is actually a really well-made thriller.".

Instead of relying on jump scares, which were starting to be heavily abused by most mainstream horror films, Reiner instead uses a more classic Hitchcockian way of scaring the wits out of the viewer. From the first minute you see Annie Wilkes, you know that Sonny Corleone is in deep, deep trouble. I blame Marc Shaiman's score for causing us to feel extremely tense - it's as if we're transported back to classic filmmaking, save for a few more swears and some extremely disturbing violence at the end.

Plot: Paul Sheldon (James Caan) gets into a pretty nasty car accident, worrying his agent and his unseen daughter. He's saved by Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), a livestock farmer who claims to be his #1 fan. Thinking she's sort of well reserved, Paul allows her to read his new manuscript (a little darker than the seemingly implied romantic tripe of the Misery novels). From there, oh boy...if I tell you that Annie doesn't really like Paul's new direction and wants him to write his new novel (to the point where she's willing to keep him trapped in her house under all circumstances), that would be an understatement of the highest order.

From there, Annie wants Paul to write a new Misery novel - more absurd than the original, with gun duels and corpse resurrections and every trope you would find in a Stephen King novel. Paul does so, thinking that if he tries to defy her under any circumstances, he would instantly be killed. Annie, knowing that Paul's trying to get away from her, constantly drugs him in order to keep him in check. However, her plan to keep Paul forever doesn't exactly work.

I think one of the more effective parts of the film in the acting. Yeah, cinematography is standard (nothing too stereotypically artsy or definitive of Rob Reiner's style - unless if you count making an exaggeration of real life his style), but it's the performances that got to me. Caan doesn't get much love in this film - after all, compared to Bates' all out and just downright demented performance as Annie Wilkes, he's extremely reserved - but in that regard, he plays a writer who's trying desperately trying to get away from the desires of his fans. Hell, even by writing this extremely terrible novel that satisfies this woman who thinks everything he writes is gold, you know Paul's up to something. You want him to get out and when he does, you ask yourself, "Was it worth it? Yeah, Annie killed babies, colleagues, and the sheriff, but after all, she's human. Nobody deserves to die by the hand of another. Was Paul truly justified when he slowly bludgeoned Annie to death?".

...and on the flip side, I adore Kathy Bates' performance. At first a Marge Gunderson type who appears as if she walked off the set of "Fargo," she slowly becomes insane. Like, "what if La Tenia and Biff Tannen had a baby with Norman Bates and Phillip Garrido" insane. All she wants is to love Paul. All she wants him is to abide to a set of standards that he clearly does not want to stand to. She wants him to bring solace to her life. She clearly cannot separate fantasy and reality - when Misery dies, her life's over. It's back to the big bad world that has disowned her because of her sordid past. She wants Paul to keep her in this state of disorientation so she can continue her fantasy life. Hell, it's somewhat implied that she's probably raped Paul. She clings to the guy - and she's deeply in love with him. Every time he asks her for a dinner with her, it's obvious that she swoons over him. Also, why is she constantly drugging him with painkillers and whatever that stuff is in that syringe?

However, like most good films, this suffers from a bit of pacing problems. Also, we're not really given much insight as to what Paul's daughter felt during those four weeks he had been captured. I know everybody thinks he's dead, but at least show us Paul's daughter reacting to that obviously misleading news. Then again, that could be the case - after all, we're solely focused on Paul and the sheriff as his curiosity piques thanks to some evidence everybody else doesn't see.

In summary, though, "Misery" is a great film. Like most great Stephen King adaptations, this adds another dimension to the film - instead of making it solely about the problems with a rabid fanbase when they disapprove of a newer and better direction for somebody's work and a critique of wingnut Christianity (unable to accept the reality of their situation), this movie also adds a bit of an "abandon all hope" feel. It shows imprisonment - it gets you imprisoned. You want people to help, but you don't get help. In order to get things your own way, you have to force it. However, is forcing it really worth it?