Misery | Lauren Bacall, Kathy Bates | The worst kind of "Misery" is the best kind of movie....

Misery | Lauren Bacall, Kathy Bates | How to Keep a Man

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Misery

	Misery Lauren Bacall, Kathy Bates MGM (Video & DVD), 2000 average customer review:based on 175 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The worst kind of "Misery" is the best kind of movie....

I have always felt the underappreciated film, "Misery", from King's novel of the same name, was akin to some of the best of his films (and so many of the films made from his novels are drek!). I do think that the film would have profited from a better actor in the lead role of Paul Sheldon (Nicholson is said to have turned it down....DeNiro would have been a great choice, but my personal favorite was Kevin Kline, who also turned it down), but the casting of James Caan just gave us more ability to focus on Kathy Bates, a journeyman actress who had been in at least a dozen films before Misery launched her career. And Caan turns in a worthy performance.

King puts a modern day twist on the same kind of captivity and obsession that Fowles dealt with in his book, "The Collector". The title of this movie and also King's book is ironic. Misery, of course, is the name of the popular character in the Paul Sheldon (James Caan) series of books; he's a successful novelist with a romantic heroine he's grown tired of (Misery Chastain) and is killing off in his newest book, as yet unpublished (sort of like Patricia Cornwell with Kay Scarpetta...and while PC hasn't killed KS yet, one hopes she will, and soon) And misery (without the capital M) is exactly what he gets for having encountered Annie Wilkes, a psychopath immortalized by Bates. Injured and alone, Sheldon is made a virtual prisoner by his "number one fan".

The audience is uneasy....if Hitchcock had directed, the uneasiness would have grown into fear a lot sooner, but Reiner, a good director that's a little out of his genre here, invokes realism instead of symbolism to point to all the signs of an impending Annie breakdown. Even those who had not read the novel will be hit over the head by the clues Annie leaves to what will happen when she finishes his new book. It's the one element of the film that prevents it, in my opinion, from being truly great. There's a background story going on about the sheriff, his wife and Sheldon's publicist trying to find him. It's well kept in the background and necessary to inject realism into what is happening to Paul.

How Annie and Paul revenge themselves on each other is something you will recoil from, as you watch the film.

Bates is stunning in her role, won every award in filmmaking for it, and has gone on to be our most memorable character actress. Reiner and Caan (especially Caan, who resuscitated his post-Godfather career with this) also contributed heavily to the very real life tragedy of the stalking/obsessive phenomena that famous people sometimes have to live with. There are also a lot of bloopers in the film, most of which I think Reiner left in as sort of a signpost to see who would pick up on them. My favorite Reiner-ism is the video of "Harry Met Sally"...a Reiner film that is clearly visible on one of Annie's trips to the local store.

And the film is chock full of memorable quotes, that will stay with you long after the credits have rolled. I leave you with one, from Bates as Annie, at the height of her madness:

"Oh, This whole house is going to be full of romance, OOOH, I am going to put on my Liberace records."

Add it to your collection, it's a memorable thriller.

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How to Keep a Man

This was the second Stephen King book to become a critically acclaimed film, the first being Carrie nearly twenty years prior.

Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is a successful romance novelist. His famous heroine is Misery Chastain. He always goes away to write his books and he has just finished his final Misery book. On his return home, his car spins out and into a snowbank.

Lucky for Paul, Annie Wilkes (Cathy Bates) saw the accident and pulled him out of the car and to her cabin. Also lucky for Paul, Annie has been able to set his broken bones and dress his wounds. Unlucky for Paul, the snow has cut them off from everyone else.

Annie is his "number one fan." She has read all of his Misery books. With Paul, Annie rescued his manuscript. Annie reads the manuscript and finds out that Misery dies. This will not do for Annie.

Annie keeps the bed ridden Paul hostage until he rewrites the novel with a happy ending. This creates a high risk chess game between Paul and Annie. And any pawn who gets in Annie's way is quickly removed (killed).

This is a great suspense thriller. You are constantly guessing what Paul is going to be done next and how Annie is going spoil it.

Cathy Bates won the Oscar for this and she deserved it. James Caan started his comeback with this film - but it would take nearly fifteen years before he succeeded.

The supporting cast is three great performers - Richard Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagen and the always luminous Lauren Bacall.

Most famous scene: The hobbling scene where Annie crushes Paul's ankles to prevent him from escaping.

DVD EXTRAS: None

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"You Dirty Bird!"

I saw this movie last night and I think that it deserves all of the attention it gets. The actors are simply amazing and I hope my review is of some help. Buy this movie, you WILL NOT regret it!!!

The best kind of Misery there is....

In Misery, we find ourselves faced with a cat-and-mouse game that gets even the toughest tough-guys biting their fingernails. Paul Sheldon, America's best selling novelist and author of a book series entitled Misery, is on his way to drop off a new book to his literary agent. On the way, his car fails to remain on road during a blizzard and he ends up in a heap in his now upside down car. What d'ya know, a nice woman is walking in the middle of the blizzard and happens to find him! Annie Wilks is actually Paul's "number one fan" and now nurse, and after she finds that Paul has killed Misery, is on a rampage to get her back. Forcing Paul to write another Misery novel and setting fire to the story he was taking to his literay agent (due to it's "vulgar language") she is beginning to make sure that Paul is remaining the "perfect" writer he has always been, and to stay in the "cockadoodie house forever!" This book is one of King's finest, and will leave your stomach in your throat. Skip over this, and you're making a horrible "cockadoodie" mistake.

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PURCHASE BRITISH EDITION

I recall starting to watch "Misery" for the first time in the beginning of the 90s. After first twenty minutes I thought: "What's going on? This is not a usual Stephen King plot (I haven't read "Misery" at that time). Well, some car crash, a lady is nursing James Caan, blah, blah, blah..." Anyway I was stupid enough to quit watching after those twenty minutes thinking it's some boring crap. If only had I watched another five minutes! Bacause when I did a couple of years later I was damning my own foolishness. "Misery" appeared to be one of the most thrilling and gripping chillers I've ever seen. The story is so simple you begin to believe it's quite possible. It really could happen in real life. Why not? There are plenty of lunatics out there.
So if you haven't seen it (which I doubt), buy "Misery" right now. But watch first and then read, not to be disappointed, because books are almost always better then films :)
And if you've seen the movie and just want to have it on DVD, I'd advise you to purchase British special edition (by Universal), available on amazon.co.uk. Unlike American one it has commentaries by director Rob Reiner and writer William Goldman, photo galleries, composer Marc Shaiman's "Musical Misery Tour" featurette and a half-hour "Misery Loves Company" documentary. I guess, if you really like the movie all these extras will be rather useful for you.

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