Review of Misery (1990) by Adrian B — 02 Jul 2011

Reiner captures just the right level of physical tension, but for the most part wisely emphasises the mental duels. Kathy Bates brilliantly portrays Annie as someone with absolutely no sense of her own monstrosity. Elevated by standout performances from James Caan and Kathy Bates, this taut and frightening film is one of the best Stephen King adaptations to date. Director Rob Reiner creates an atmosphere of tense horror wrapped around rich dialogue ("Cockadoodie dirty birdie!"), and in the process, he gets sterling performances from Caan and Bates. Bates has a field day with her role, creating a quirky, memorable object of hate. Popular moviemaking -- elegantly economical, artlessly artful -- doesn't get much better than this. Terrific.

VERDICT: "Better Than Anything" - Highest rating in the system (Extremely Positive reaction). Usually I give this rating to a movie that I believe is absolutely outstanding and has little to no flaws in it..