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A Disturbing And Great Adaptation On King's Novel(SPOILERS)

SPOILERSWhat can I say? I love this film. I always liked movies based on Stephen King's novel and this is in my top ten. I actually liked James Caan better in this than the Godfather, and he was great in the Godfather. Kathy Bate's performance was amazing. She totally deserved that Academy Award. I mean, her performance was spectacular.Here is the plot. Quite simple, really. The famous writer of the popular Misery books, now you know why the movie is called Misery, crashes his car and he is injured. He is rescued by a woman he helps him recover. No, she does not call the police. Anyway, that woman, ironically, is the writer's biggest fan. The writer is named Paul and the woman is named Annie, by the way. Anyway, after his new book comes out Annie finds out that Misery died in the book. Paul realizes that Annie is insane. She forces Paul to write a new book. When Annie is out Paul explores the house. Annie finds that out and tortures him. He burns the new Misery book and they get into a fight. He kills Annie and is treated at a hospital. Months later a waitress says she is his number one fan.Overall, this is a very tense, thrilling film. I liked Paul's remark after the waitress says that she is his number one fan. "That's very kind of you." Also, there is the hobbling scene. I am sure that every horror fan knows what that scene is. It is one of the most disturbing scenes in a horror film ever. Annie puts a block between Paul's leg and smacks his legs with a huge sledgehammer. His feet swing like a door opening. That was not even in the book. His feet are chopped off in the book. Anyway, this is a fantastic horror film.8/10Recommended Films: The Shining.

"I'm your number one fan, there's nothing to worry about."

It's hard to imagine anyone else portraying Annie Wilkes on the silver screen than Kathy Bates. Her slow revelation of insanity to her captive favorite author is so captivating and so disturbing that you'll be thinking of her everytime you require medical attention. James Caan plays Paul Sheldon very well and the small supporting cast (especially the recently deceased Richard Farnsworth as the sheriff) make this an enjoyable adaptation of the brilliant novel. Although some of the more graphic elements of the novel were slightly altered (the hobbling scene for instance) for either rating or budget constraints.

The exploration of human psychosis is the key element here, and no one since Anthony Perkins in Psycho has brought a more convincing and somewhat sympathetic mad character to life. Kathy Bates definitely deserved her Oscar for the role. Rob Reiner's direction is spectacular and all in all this is one of the best suspense films ever made. And also one of the best film versions of a Stephen King work. An essential film for all!

Hitchcockian!

Rob Riener may best be remembered as a meathead, but this man is an amazing director and has done a masterful job here. I think Alfred Hitchcock couldn't have done a better job at creating a thriller. There is somewhat of an intangible spirit in King's books that doesn't come through on the big screen, most movie adaptations of his novels are inferior at best and downright laughable at worst, but this one is THE BEST adptation of his work that I have ever seen it is every bit as good as his prose even better. Since this film is set mostly in a lonely snow covered farmhouse, Kathy Bates and Jimmy Caan have to carry the film on their shoulders pretty much and both come thru in spades! Kathy Bates may not be very glamerous, but she is an awesome actress and rich deserved that Oscar. In a sense, she has to play four different roles. Let me explain, she plays Annie as good and kind, she portrays her as humerous (when she berates Paul for the swearing in his book), she also portrays her as a sympathetic lonely figure and then she portrays her as evil. Lets not take anything away from James Caan, although he has the easier part (a lot of his part is just acting like hes in terrible pain). He is one of the few actors who can play anything well. By the way, to the people who were chilled by the "hobbling" scene. It could have been worse, in the book she chopped off his foot with an axe and sprayed it with a blowtorch.

Sorry folks, excellent movie, AWFUL DVD

I am simply reviewing the DVD on this one. For such a wonderful film this DVD has NOTHING. And when I say nothing, I mean NOTHING. Oh, a booklet that's a whopping fold-open which doesn't give any information what so ever. I love this film, and it's by far the best Stephen King sceen adaptation ever, but it's a real shame there aren't ANY extras to speak of on this DVD. Special Edition is needed BIG TIME!

Very dark and eerie, but James Caan and Kathy Bates work perfectly together

Misery stars off almost like it is going to be a little slow, and not that creepy or twisted. But as it progresses and Kathy Bates' character gets more and more delusional and controlling over Caan's character who is a writer after he is in a car accident and she helps him. This is a drama, and there is one scene in particular which probably classifies this movie as horror, and the scene is obvious, don't even bother trying to figure it out. You know it is about to happen, but you son't think you'll see what you see.Misery is really a twisted movie, but great, it doesn't rely on any action, or scaring people, it relies on the great performances and the subtle and gradual transition of Bates' character from caring to crazy. The dialogue also holds this movie.To sum it up Misery is great to watch at some point and even begins to get a little disturbing, not as in 'I can't watch it' but the idea of what is going on is pretty drastic.

freaky

Let me start with saying this- you can neevr go wrong with Stephen King. All of his books are great. I know this when I've only read two of them- "Misery" and "Carrie". My mother has read just about all of them, and she loves them all. This is almost identical to the book, therefore, it is a great film. We start with a writer, Paul Sheldon. He is on his way home when he is in a massive car wreck. An obsessed fan, Annie Wilkes (Bates) abducts him from the totaled car and begins to nurse him back to health. After discovering that she is a serial killer, he gets in a wheelchair and picks the lock, escaping while she is gone. He has killed off her favorite character, Misey, in his latest book, so she makes him burn a book that he has finished and has yet to be published. She has him write a new sequel, where Misery is resurrected. He knocks down a statue, and puts it back up. When she arrives and finds out that he is trying to escape, she ties him down and takes an axe to his ankles, shattering the bones. This is the most famous scene in the film. Anyway, he begins to plan her demise and his escape, through the new book that he is writing. I highly recommend this film to anyone looking for a great watch. Look out for some of her shocking but hilarious lines:Paul: Profanity offends you? Annie: It has no nobility. Paul: They're slum kids. I was a slum kid, they all talk like that. Annie: THEY DO NOT!!! WHAT DO YOU THINK I SAY WHEN I GO TO THE STORE? HEY WALLY, GET ME SOME OF THAT EFFING PIG FEED AND SOME OF THAT BITCHLY COW CORN! AND WHEN I GO TO THE BANK? YEAH, SUE- HERE'S ONE BIG BASTARD OF A CHECK, GIVE ME SOME OF YOUR CHRISTING MONEY... LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Hilarious.

horrifying thriller

7.7? i give it 10 this is one of the sickest and and most interesting films i've had the pleasure to watch. Annie Wilkes must be one of the best thought out, deranged characters ever concocted by a writer and the actor who plays her is just fantastic. I saw the trailer and could only think: "I have to see this", i did and there was no disappointment whatsoever. I love the scene where she breaks his legs, that made me twitch and my friends turned away. I also love the scene where the police officers are investigating in the snow and the camera moves to a car going by and its Annie smiling. She's ****ing crazy. Great film. Buy or rent

Awesome

I'm going to keep this short & sweet. Misery is a extremely dark and twisted film based around Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) obsession with her favourite writer. Misery is a very enjoyable film to watch as it is both chilling and funny ( especially Kathy's character who has loads of hilarious lines.) If you have read the book and are expecting it to be as graphic and gory , you may be a tad disappointed as it has been toned down a bit. However it does contain one scene that is quite disgusting but i would have hoped that they stuck to the book's shocking graphicness(is that a word :S). Finally ... GO WATCH IT ! ITS GREAT !

Powerful acting!

Short comments this time: good script and great acting -- especially Caan's absolutely powerful performances. A must-see movie, even for fans of newer movies, with at least two very shocking moments (feet and sheriff), and a quite violent final confrontation. Don't watch if your nerves are weak.My ratings: story 7.5/10, acting 9/10, sound 4/10 (more like a 70's movie), overall 7.5/10.

Good Version

After reading the book, I decided to rent to movie version. Overall I was pleased. The interaction with Bates and Caan was terrific in what amounts to a 2 person play for the most part. Bates was fantastic in her mad role. They did tone down the gore a bit though. In the book Caan's character loses a thumb and a foot. Good acting, great direction make this a must see movie.

A perfect movie except for a pretty big plot hole...

I am a huge fan of James Caan from the Godfather and the TV show Las Vegas. So of course I'm gonna love this movie. The first time I saw it I couldn't believe how good it was. I do have a rather important question about the plot though... The sheriff finds clues about where James caan is by reading the Misery books and in a small passage there is a reference to court and justice and these phrases match those of Cathy Bates' child murder case in the newspaper. I don't know how that could have happened because James Caan was held hostage the whole time and didn't publish any books while he was at her house... Please help me figure out what happened there..

An author's nightmare!

Misery is a strange tale about a crazed fan who locks up her favorite author in a room. She wants him to write the novel,
Misery to her specifications. After beatings and being drugged, the author still keeps his head clear. He plays into her sick and demented fantasy world just to stay alive.
This movie almost made me afraid of being an author!
Great read and wonderful movie. I recommend this movie.

Chilling

Stephen King gives us a mesmerizing masterpiece. Now James Caan and Kathy Bates and director Rob Reiner relive it in this classic suspense thrilled event. This is the most thrilling movie ever created in my book. It gets you so nervous and scared that you will shake through out the whole movie. James Caan was brilliant in this film. Acting with no legs and trying to escape a crazy woman is not very easy. Now, when I look at Kathy Bates in this movie, I see Psycho right away. She deserved her 1990 Academy Award for Best Actress. I really enjoyed the movie and I recommend it to all viewers who like to get scared and like Stephen King because this is definitely one of the greatest stories he had ever written.

Dare I say, it was not as good as the book?

The problem in making a movie from a book like Misery is that the fans of the book have our own ideas as to what Annie Wilkes would look like, sound like and act like. They could never cast an actress that would compete with the character that we have all envisioned when reading King's book. Kathy Bates did a phenomenal job of portraying this character, but she just can't frighten me like the Annie Wilkes that I envisioned while reading King's novel.

Overall, this is a movie worth seeing, but I think that people who never read the book will enjoy the movie a bit more.

THE BEST MOVIE EVER

This is my favorite movie! Paul Sheldon (brilliantly played by James Caan) is in a horrible auto accident. Annie Wilkes (even MORE brilliantly played by kathy Bates) "saves" him from dying. Meanwhile, the rest of the world thinks he is dead. Ironically, Annie is Pauls "Number one Fan"

Annie seems like the perfect nurse; cheerful, pleasant, great cook; until she finishes reading her newest Paul Sheldon book which kills of her favorite character, Misery Chastain. Annie throws a rage, saying Paul is "not good". She then leaves.
Annie is back the next day, cheerful as ever.

Kathy Bates deservedly won an oscar for her role as Annie Wilkes. She goes from giggly happy woman to a monster in 0.0034 seconds. She is one of the scariest figures thought up by Stephen King, the one who wrote the book the movie is based on. This is scarier than other movies because it can really happen.

I recommend this movie to anyone. I love it. It is full of suspense, horror, and twisted plot characteristics. A great movie to watch!

creme de la creme

I saw this movie like 100 times and i just can't get enough of it.Direction, acting, story, everything is superbly done. And the best thing in thing movie is Kathy Bathes. She's in my opinion one of the best actress of our time. My wote for this movie is 10/10

kyle podmoroff's "Misery" review

"Misery" is a psychopathicaly suspenseful film filled with laughs, jumps, and wonders. Kathy Bates plays the best part and does a hell of a job at it!

Kathy Bates at her finest DEMENTED as ever!!!!!

This movie is one of my favorite movies of all time. Kathy Bates takes insanity to another level. I cringed when she hit Paul Sheldon (James Caan) with that sledgehammer. I guess in her warped mind Misery Chastain cannot be dead.

Good stuff!

I'm sure every writer has that real "#1 fan" who would love to hold them captive in a secluded cabin while forcing them to write a masterful work of fiction against their will. For this unfortunate novelist (James Caan), his newest draft never reaches the publishers on time after he skids off the road during a bad snow storm and is rescued from the wreckage by an admiring reader of his book series (Kathy Bates). She crudely fixes his broken and infected legs and keeps him confined to a bedroom while she expresses her admiration for him with the occasional violent outburst and acts of bizarre punishment and scolding - such as making him burn, what she believes to be, his worst novel. When she makes him re-write his book, he plays along while planning an escape. "Misery" is a terrific suspense film with the memorably quirky, and unpredictable performance by Bates that will either have you laughing hysterically or cringing. The sledgehammer method of restricting the writer access from his room is a painfully awesome scene and the ending is one of the coolest cripple-on-crazy-lady scuffles I have seen in a movie. The pig knick-knack sure came in handy! Too bad I never got around to reading King's book, but the movie is surely one of the greats! Watch it!

Excellent Movie

This is one of the best movies I have seen in my life. It is very intense and for anyone who likes Drama movies THIS ONE IS FOR YOU. Kathy Bates plays Annie Wilks and meets her favorite Author who was in a wreck and she saved his life and brought him to her home. He gets better each day and finally Annie decides she wants him to stay. I highly recommend this movie for mature viewers and once you finally see this Masterpiece you might understand what I mean when I say "She wants him to stay".