Review of Misery (1990) by Harry W — 31 Jan 2014

Misery was a mindf*cking psychological thriller that drew tremendous strength from an excellent performance by Kathy Bates.

Misery stays very true to Stephen King's story with very minor changes and gains strength from Rob Reiner's skilled direction.

The screenplay is sufficiently strong and brings strength and support to the characters and actors and never leaves them empty or skewed too far from the Steven King novel.

Kathy Bates gives one of the most brutal female performances of all time. The shocking way she flips back and fourth between a sweet girl and a total psycho is incredible. It's always disturbing when she's around, and Bates' performance is worth nothing short of an Academy Award. It's no surprise she won.

James Caan makes an exquisite comeback in Misery, and as a character who has to act physically disabled and mentally tortured simultaneously, Caan succeeds in his role extremely well. He uses good vocal skill and line delivery in his dialogue scenes, as well as proper physical skill in his scenes that require use of character disability. Misery features one of Caan's best performances.

A contributing factor to the success of Misery is the utter intensity and musical score, as well as the character development and the simplicity of the plot. It's also thrilling thanks to the sense of realism and the plot dynamics used to characterise the characters. Misery is a great and unforgettable thriller, and one of the better Steven King based films.