Written by Josh Brewer, June 23rd, 2017, at 6:30 p.m. Tweet to: @theJWBrewer
Title: Misery
Director: Rob Reiner
Writer: William Goldman
Based on the Novel by Stephen King
Release Date: Nov. 30th, 1990
Cast: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Frances Sternhagen, Richard Farnsworth, Lauren Bacall
Cliff’s Notes
After nearly dying in a car crash, a writer finds he’s been saved by his number one fan. Alas, she’s crazy as all get out and wants nothing more that to make his new story murder.
Lecture
Okay, so I had a major sidestep with the my King movie from last week, so I was hoping to recover with Misery. Generally regarded as one of the foremost King adaptations – even he agrees – Misery manages to take the best parts of Kings novel and build them into one hell of a flick.
Essentially a two hander, Misery lives and dies with its cast. And I’m glad to say that Caan and Bates were 
up to the challenge. Caan rocks as the distraught writer desperate to survive his encounter with his number one fan while Bates gives a performance for the ages. She ranges from sympathetic to demonic, angelic to insane in a matter of minutes. Bates won an Oscar for her performance – Misery stands as one of the few horror films to even be nominated for Hollywood’s biggest honor – and her work stands as one of the genre’s highlights.
Of course, the awesome acting would be wasted if the rest of the flick doesn’t stack up. Luckily, Misery rocks with stellar work from its director and writer. Reiner manages to fill the film with all kinds of dread and tension while Goldman takes one of King’s most intimate stories and opens it up to feature film level. The very few flaws in Misery can’t manage to slow down one of horror’s best offerings.
Acting
Bates is the movie and her work has never been better. She gives one hell of a performance and manages to make her horror movie villain into a three dimensional person. I can’t think of another actor who would rock this role this hard. Nice job! Caan gives his strongest performance in almost a decade, imbuing his character with the manliness than defines his work while balancing it with a vulnerability that most actors couldn’t match. Rumor has it that a dozen actors turned down the role for being “too weak” compared to Bates. Caan steps in and showed them who’s boss.
Directing
Reiner rarely takes on a horror flick, his work remains varied in terms of genre, but he does well here. He manages to hold tension and build up dread with the best of them. He manages the claustrophobia well, really making the view feel trapped by the use of his shot composition and angles. Not as strong as the rest of the film, but pretty damn good.
Script
Goldman rocks – check out the rest of his work, stellar all around – and he manages to give King’s story one hell of a send off. His dialogue feels natural and engaging while his pacing leaves nothing to be desired. He also manages to expand the story naturally, including new characters logically and making them feel intertwined honestly.
Effects
So, Misery manages to be all kinds of terrifying without relying on its effects. That makes the use of them even stronger, because they hurt like no other. The creme de la creme has to be the hobbling scene, which remains one of the major achievements in horror cinema. That’s not to say the rest of the flick lacks any goodies, but Misery doesn’t need them to be successful. Quality work.
Highlights
See effects. But also Kathy Bates and all of her greatness.
Lowlights
So, a really tiny thing, the coda of the film seemed a little glib to me. It falls just slightly out of the tone of the rest of the film, which limits the final moment. Super tiny, I know, but worth mentioning.
Final Thoughts
By far one of the best Stephen King adaptations, Misery takes the performances of The Shining and matches them with the care and focus of Carrie and Cujo. This puppy is still one of his best.
Grade: A-