Review of The Dead Zone (1983) by Alessio I — 19 Oct 2012

Simple and a very held back script helps it from being ridiculous and also restrains any ambitious effort. Sets up a quite mood in a small town associated with most King's adaptations. With the kind of ability that the protagonist possess, the writer's imagination could have run wild - but keeping it less complex and highly dumbed down might not go well with some audience.

Johnny (Christopher Walken) and Sarah (Brooke Adams) are high school teachers who are in love and planning to get married. Johnny meets with an accident that puts him coma for 5 years. When he comes out of it, Sarah and the rest of the world has moved on. Before he copes up with his body and his surroundings, he discovers a new ability within him to see future of any person when he holds their hand. When the media whiffs a story out of it after he warns a minor accident and help catch a serial killer, he is shown as a freak after which he mostly keeps to himself. But when he sees the disturbing future of a crooked bully of a candidate running for Senator (Martin Sheen), Johnny decides to alter the future .

Walken's performance is highly inconsistent. Thats not exactly right, his performance is actually very consistent and same despite the scenario where it feels like he is extremely suited and good at times, out-of-place and mediocre otherwise. Haven't seen a lot of Brook Adam's work, but she comes off as a subtle actress with a confident and mature voice. Action sequences, at times editing felt quite amateurish and there are many rogue threads in the screenplay which does not contribute to the central plot. Cinematography is excellent especially in capturing the quite and scenic backdrop, background score heavily relies on a single note but very pleasant. Since this is an adaptation, I cannot comment much on the way the story has been dealt (I found it a bit too flat), but a few fixes to the screenplay could have added a lot of value.

Just about manages to get past a B-movie feel, inconsistent screenplay and unambitious script might have played a part.