Misery (1990)

Average rating

(74%)

Starring:	James Caan \| Kathy Bates \| Frances Sternhagen \| Richard Farnsworth \| Lauren Bacall \| Lauren Bacall
Director:	Rob Reiner
Studio:	MGM ENTERTAINMENT
Run time:	103 mins
Collections:	100 Feisty Females \| 100 Horror Films
Genres:	Thriller
Languages:	English
Released:	July 28, 2003
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Romance author Paul Sheldon (James Caan) longs to be rid of Misery, his plucky heroine of seven novels. She has delivered him fame and fortune and recognition beyond the average writer's dreams, but she is also interminably linked to him. Determined to escape an eternal role as pulp novelist, he kills her off in the eighth novel and heads to his New England cabin to work on his own Great American Novel. Upon completion, Sheldon excitedly sets out for his New York City publisher in the midst of a raging blizzard and within minutes veers into a desolate snowbank. From the brink of death, he is rescued from the snow by Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), who just so happens to be Misery's self-professed biggest fan. At first, she nurses him back to health in her remote cabin, telling him the roads and phones are damaged by the storm, fawning over his literary accomplishments. However, things change when she purchases his eighth Misery book and reaches the point of Misery's death. Annie's psychotic underbelly swiftly surfaces as the unfortunate author is held clandestinely captive in her home. Meanwhile, a wily small-town sheriff (Richard Farnsworth) circles in...
Director Rob Reiner's adaptation of Stephen King's novel is an eerie tale of obsessiveness and isolation. The film features an excellent turn by Caan and an Oscar-winning performance by Bates.

Rating of 4 stars out of 5

This superb adaptation of Stephen King's bestseller from director Rob Reiner deals with the trappings of celebrity, fanatical devotion, artistic dilemmas and the worthiness of commercial fiction within a psychological suspense context. Kathy Bates deservedly won an Oscar for her monstrously scary performance as novelist James Caan's “Number One Fan”, turning from caring nurse to insane “Baby Jane” torturer after learning he's killed off her favourite literary character. While not a true-blue horror movie, Reiner's adept exercise in chilling claustrophobia nevertheless contains numerous jolts, with the sledgehammer “hobbling” scene certain to evoke screams of revulsion.

Rating of 2 stars out of 5
Halliwell's Film Guide