MISERY
A terrifying Stephen King classic that remains one of cinema’s greatest psychological thrillers.
REVIEW SCORE
Misery is an infinitely rewatchable film. I must have watched it at least a couple of dozen times by now. The terrifying original book, sharpened like a razor into a script by Oscar-winning William Goldman, then elevated through superb performances by Kathy Bates (who won an Oscar for this role) and James Caan (who SHOULD’VE won an Oscar for this role), makes this a truly unforgettable, taut horror film. Considering its thematic similarity to the new release Verity, currently doing the rounds in cinemas, I thought a review of Misery was due.
Misery is about writer Paul Sheldon (Caan), famous for his series of romance novels about a woman named MISERY. The novels have developed a super devoted fan base (Stephen King paying homage to his own life and fan base), but Sheldon is ready to move on. Having killed off Misery in his final novel of the series, he has just finished writing a new, entirely unrelated manuscript. In a career tradition, he writes his books in a cabin out in the woods. Every time he finishes a novel, he has a drink of champagne and a cigarette to celebrate before driving home to hand it to his publisher (this was the early ‘90s, guys).
However, on this unfortunate day, amidst a snowstorm, Paul Sheldon’s car careens off the edge of the road into heavy snow and trees. Fortunately, a country woman named Annie Wilkes (Bates) happens across Paul’s wreckage and drags him back to her home. Annie is a BEAST!
Paul awakens in a cosy little cottage bedroom, in bed, his body completely devastated by the accident, but safe and out of the cold. In bursts Annie, a hyperactively happy woman, to greet Paul, explain where he is and why he’s there and… Well – wouldn’t you know it? She’s a HUGE FAN!
Annie is a trained nurse and, over time, cares for Paul, insisting, whenever he asks, that the phone lines are down. Given he is immobile – what is he going to do to combat this? The verbal powers of persuasion will not suffice, unfortunately.
Over the ensuing weeks, Annie puts Paul through torture, wild mood swings, physical violence (just when his legs come good, she obliterates his ankles with a sledgehammer) and obsessive fan pressure to rewrite the book after it’s revealed that Paul kills Misery off in the final novel.
Paul walks a very thin tightrope between being friendly to Annie while conspiring against her at all odds to escape what was once a place of rescue and has now become a prison.
Does he make it out? Does Annie’s obsessiveness go too far? Is Paul’s Misery rewrite a success with a psychotic fan standing over his shoulder directing all aspects of the book? You’ll have to watch it to find out. It’s been over 30 years, dude – SEE IT ALREADY!
Kathy Bates’s portrayal of Annie is WILD! She goes from a depressive maniac muttering “YOU DIRTY BIRD” while torturing Paul physically to gleefully snorting at her pet pig and hollering “Heavens to Betsy!” Her mood swings are believable and thus, terrifying. You literally DO NOT KNOW what she will do next to this poor man who has done nothing wrong to her, besides crashing his car within a few kms of her house!
Speaking of Paul Sheldon – James Caan’s tired, tortured, desperate but brave, friendly-faced portrayal of the central character is literally top-tier James Caan. That’s a big call given he played Sonny in The Godfather, but I gotta say – Paul Sheldon is his greatest performance. You believe this man is trapped. You feel his desperation. You feel his pain as he is tortured. It’s devastating, really.
Total transparency – I haven’t read the book – but I hear it goes a lot further than the movie does. I don’t think that matters here. Gore, or “scares”, are not the effective components of Misery. The mood, the situation, the plausibility created by director Rob Reiner’s execution of this film are what create the tension. The film balances borderline fictional insanity with plausible reality in a most nuanced way. It’s just so good I literally feel like watching this movie again as I type this. He he…
Did I mention this is literally the ONLY horror/thriller Rob Reiner ever directed? Which also just happens to be a terrifying, white-knuckle rollercoaster into the obsessive side of celebrity and their fans. One day Rob says to the wife, “Hey honey, think I’m gonna make a horror movie now,” and proceeds to knock it out of the effing park!
The film was released in 1990, and naturally I’m going to begin praising how much better films were in the ‘90s compared to today.
Hah. No, I won’t – but you know it’s true.
In closing, this film is an absolute horror masterpiece that complements what is no doubt one of Stephen King’s finest books. If you’re keen to check out Verity (not the same story – but both involve writers, incapacitation, isolated homes and women who may be considerably more dangerous than their circumstances suggest), then I’d say fuel yourself up with a little ‘90s film action and watch Misery beforehand.