It had probably been thirty years since I’d last watched Misery in its entirety. Now I want to read the book again; it’s probably been fifteen years since I did that.
You never know what you’re getting with Stephen King adaptations. Sometimes you get brilliance—The Shining, The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption—and other times you get complete trash—The Dark Tower, The Langoliers, Desperation—and everything in between. I think Misery kind of falls in the middle of the pack. Probably closer to the top than the bottom, though.
If for some reason you don’t know the plot of Misery, it’s about a writer named Paul Sheldon (James Caan) who crashes his car in the midst of blizzard in the mountains. Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) finds Paul, saves his life, and takes him to her house in the mountains to recover. Only thing is, Annie is Paul’s “biggest fan” and she has no intention of letting him leave.
Kathy Bates is a hell of an actress, and this may still be her greatest performance. She pulls off the crazy really well. And, as someone who appreciates attention to the source material, Bates truly becomes Annie Wilkes. You can’t read the book without picturing Kathy Bates as that nut-job nurse. I’m sure it’s thanks to this performance that Bates has had such an outstanding career in show business.
James Caan is great as well, especially in those moments when Paul Sheldon is in intense pain. You see it on Caan’s face. In the same way, you can see his unease through his expressions as he slowly begins to realize Annie does not intend to let him go.
Someone who doesn’t get enough credit for their role in the film is Richard Farnsworth as the sheriff. Watching it, you feel like you could pull into any small town in America and see him patrolling the streets, getting coffee at a local diner, or investigating some small-town crime.
The only reason I don’t put Misery among the very best Stephen King adaptations is because I don’t feel like director Rob Reiner went quite far enough. I think the movie could have been a little more brutal. While the sledgehammer makes you wince, it should have been an axe like the book. Why the change? Reiner should have gotten Tom Savini involved and made a gory-as-fuck scene where Paul Sheldon gets his feet chopped off. As it stands, the most cringe part of the film is where Paul has to burn his manuscript, not when he gets his ankles sledgehammered. Actually, the manuscript burning may be the most cringe part no matter what.
PC3’s Horror and Exploitation Movie Scale of Awesomeness!
Gore - 4
Special Effects - 5
Nudity/Sexuality - 0
Wow Factor - 6
Acting - 10
Fear Factor - 6
Story/Plot/Originality - 7
Cinematography/Atmosphere - 7
Sound/Music - 6
Fun Factor - 4
So Misery gets a very respectable 55 total PHEMSA. It could have gotten several more points on Gore if they’d chopped off Paul Sheldon’s feet. You can catch this flick on Amazon and HBO Max.