Well, I still can’t believe I missed this one (see notice), and then I forgot to put up a review too.

I’m getting senile.

Misery is one of the better-loved, certainly more critically-appreciated King films. For one thing, Kathy Bates got an Oscar for her portrayal of perky, crazy stalker-fan Annie Wilkes (and I agree she deserves it). Perhaps another reason it’s widely loved is that, since it lacks the supernatural entirely, it can more easily be categorized as a ‘Serious’ movie, one worth considering in award season or giving that last star to in your review. (It’s worth considering that both The Shining and Misery, easily the two best received (by critics) King movies to this point in his oeuvre, have minimal (depending on your perspective, in The Shining) or non-existent supernatural elements)

Well, Misery is indeed a fine film, though not nearly as *big* of a movie as I’d been expecting, going in. It has a fairly tight focus, a small cast, and a surprisingly short run time, just over an hour and a half. It was directed by Rob Reiner, and for the most part he eschews the cheesy melodrama that so many King movies have unfortunately fallen prey to so far.

Misery starts out with a flashback and a bit of exposition as writer Paul Sheldon (James Caan) finishes up a new novel in his Colorado cabin, and ritualistically consumes a single cigarette and a bottle of Dom Perignon. We learn, via the flashback, that Sheldon is a wildly successful author of a long-running series of romance, or romance-like novels about a 19th century woman named Misery Chastain (god, the name alone..) and that he’s tired of it, and wants to do something new. So, with his last book (which will shortly hit the bookstores), he killed off Misery, to make way for his new work. It’s clear from the conversation with his agent that he felt this was creatively unnecessary, but that, as an author, he had to put these books behind him so he could move on.

Now, a cynical or curious individual might ask why he’d bother writing a book he hated, even just one more, rather than move on directly. It’s clear that he’s under no legal obligation to do so, and his agent isn’t pressuring him either; he’s far too successful for that. Nor is he hurting for money. It feels a bit puzzling, until you realize he wrote that book, not for the money, and not for the fans, but for himself; he wanted to be rid of the whole mess, once and for all. From the context, so that no one would bother him about it again.

Unfortunately, Sheldon’s in a bit of a rush to get back to New York, having finished his first post-Misery work, and doesn’t note the bad weather, snowy roads, or general laws of physics, and ends up taking his Mustang off the road at considerable speed on the winding, guardrail free asphalt. Oops. Worse still, he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Fortunately, a crowbar wielding figure pries his car open and carries him to safety like a sack of potatoes, which brings us to..

Annie Wilkes, Extra-Crispy Bucket of Crazy! But not at first. At first, he wakens to find himself in a quaintly appointed guest room at the Wilkes farm, being tended to by Ms. Wilkes. Luckily, Wilkes says that she’s a nurse, and has tended to his wounds, which were quite severe indeed. Both legs, badly broken, one arm badly dislocated. Sheldon’s a mess, and the roads and phones are out. But that’s ok, she’ll take care of him, and keep him well supplied with pain pills too, until the snow clears.

So begins a sort of cat and mouse game, as Sheldon gradually realizes that something’s not quite right with his host, even as she, his self-confessed ‘Number One Fan’, discovers that he’s moved on, both from fans like her and from the character she pathologically loves.

I have to admit I went into this movie with a lot of baggage. I mean, it’s a pop culture phenomenon. It’s been parodied and satirized and quoted to such an extent that, well, how could you not know the basics? It’s just there now, part of the American lexicon, like Jesus and the Beatles and Super Mario.

Still, it all holds up very well. Kathy Bates is a very solid actress and plays this role to the hilt. I wasn’t quite convinced, until a quiet scene on a rainy day, when Annie swings into full Depressive mode and contemplates a murder-suicide with her trusty revolver. Now that’s some fine Crazy Acting indeed.

Caan is fine, and the side-story with the local sheriff and his wife bantering in folksy manner as he investigates the accident.. eh. It’s ok. It’s there as comic relief, and to lighten the mood, I suppose. I personally wonder if it might have been a yet better and more intense movie having stuck entirely in that farmhouse.

There’s not much else to say. It’s almost a 2 person show. No special effects, no monsters, no real stunts, no big fancy plot devices or writing or soliloquy. Just a man and a woman, codependent and crazy in the Colorado snow.

Hmm, where have I heard THAT before?

Kidding aside, it’s a good movie, a good King movie, and a good movie overall. Recommended.

Interesting trivia: Misery was originally intended, according at least to Wikipedia, to be a Bachman book, one of the works released under King’s literary alter-ego. However, a sleuthy, perhaps obsessive fan, uncovered Bachman’s true identity while Misery was being written. I have to wonder how much this little crusade to unmask King might have inspired Misery; according to teh Wikipedia, it definitely played some role in The Dark Half, another book about the perils of authorship by King, which was dedicated to ‘the Late Richard Bachman’.

Which brings us neatly to Week 19′s movie… The Dark Half.

Next Week: Sleepwalkers! Catpires!
Last Week: Graveyard Shift! Rats!