Customer Reviews

Misery (Widescreen/Full Screen)

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

this is one of the best movies ive seen. kathy bates just walks away with the whole picture, as she does in everything ive ever seen her do.shes so over the top in this character that you find yourself wondering what the heck shell do next.james caan turns in an understated performance, giving kathy first place and room for her characted to develop into what it does.well worth watching and owning as are fried green tomatoes and delores claiborne.

The VHS arrived very quickly and was as described. It plays well despite being used. I would recommend this seller.

Great deal. It just took a little time to arrive but I would definitely do business again with this seller.

The scary thing about Steven King's novels is that they're not that ridiculous. This one in particular, could very well happen. Just remember the penguin always looks south.

Misery is by far one of my favorite movies. A writer gets in a car accident and ends up being held at this crazy nurse's home.Excellent plot & fantastic ending---A must've for any one into suspense and who loves S. king's books & movies.

By now pretty much everybody knows the rule that the best movies made from Stephen King novels do not put his name above the title and do not trumpet the fact in the trailer. This would be film's like "Stand By Me," "The Shawshank Redemption," "The Green Mile," and, of course, "Misery." Director Rob Reiner did the first and last films on that list, so he would know. The idea in this 1990 film is fairly simple and one that obviously would send shivers up and down King's own spine: what if an author became the captive of his "number one fan," who, needless to say, is a psychotic maniac?

Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is a famous writer, who has been turning out historical bodice rippers about a heroine named Misery Chastain. As was the case with Arthur Conan Doyle, who killed off Sherlock Holmes at one point, and Edgar Rice Burroughs, who tried to kill off Tarzan's Jane, Sheldon has enough of his fictional creation and has killed her off in a book about to hit the stands. Meanwhile he has just finished a new novel about the slums in which he grew up that he hopes will establish his reputation as a serious writer. However, after he leaves the secluded Colorado Hotel where he goes to write his books his car crashes during a snowstorm and he is horribly hurt. But before he dies he is taken from his car and when he awakes he finds himself in a bed, both of his legs broken, and in the care of Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), a nurse who gleefully informs Paul that she is his "number one fan."

Grateful to be alive and believing Annie's story that they are snowed in and that the phone lines are down because of the storm, Paul recuperates. He even lets Annie read his new manuscript, a privilege reserved for his editor, agent, and anybody who saves his life. But Annie does not like Paul's new novel and when she discovers he has killed off Misery she goes off the deep end. It becomes clear to Paul that if he has any hope of getting out of there alive, he is going to have to bow to dictates of his "number one fan" and bring Misery Chastain back from the grave.

Meanwhile, Paul's agent (Lauren Bacall) has called up the local sheriff (Richard Farnsworth) and alerted him to the fact that the writer, on his way to New York with a new manuscript, has disappeared. With the help of his plucky wife (Frances Sternhagen), the sheriff starts to search for Paul, who is trying to find some way of getting away from Annie, even in his hobbled condition. Unfortunately, the more he learns about Annie, the less he likes his prospects and the more desperate his condition becomes.

The original novel had a great irony in that under Annie's stern editorial guidance Paul is rather mortified to find the new Misery novel he is writing is the best thing he has ever done. But with William Goldman's script the novel he is writing is but a small part of the game of cat and mouse between Annie and Paul. Once it becomes clear Annie is insane Paul faces the daunting task of keeping on the slippery slope of her good side. Besides, Goldman knows that the whole bit that King did in the novel with Paul's typewriter, which keeps losing keys as his work goes along, would not translate to the film, so he did not even try.

This film represented the second time King created a female character who would be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, the difference being that Kathy Bates won for "Misery" whereas Sissy Spacek did not for "Carrie." While Caan turns in a solid performance as a character bound to a bed or wheelchair for most of the film, ultimately it is Bates who makes this film work with the way that she goes from sweet to sour on the drop of a pin. Annie's is a many faceted lunacy and part of the terror is that Paul never knows which one will come walking through the door or back out of it again. "Misery" struck me as being a flip on "The Exorcist" in that instead of being afraid of what we would find when we walked through the door, this time we were afraid of what was going to open the door and walk through.

"Misery" is a relatively simple and rather intimate horror film. This time King's monster is a human being and that makes Annie Wilkes one of the scariest, especially as she is played by Bates. When you think of all the fine cinematic performances Bates has turned in since then, especially in "Dolores Claiborne" and "Primary Colors," you have to be glad that Bette Midler turned down the role of Annie when it was offered to her.

This is, by far, the best Stephen King movie of all time! I have one small complaint, which is one I have about MANY classic movies on DVD: WHERE ARE THE BONUS FEATURES?! For a movie this great, I would expect a documentary about it, maybe a commentary. But that's my only complaint about it. I love this movie so much. I could watch it over and over again. We are given perfect performances by James Caan and Kathy Bates. It's hard to believe that MGM originally wanted James Caan for the part of Rocky instead of Sylvester Stallone.
The movie begins with writer Paul Sheldon finishing his book at a lodge that he travels to, but on his way home he gets caught in a blizzard and crashes his car.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, he is rescued by Annie Wilkes, his "number one fan", who feels that she has found a prize and will do anything she has to to keep it.
I will not tell the whole story, I don't want to ruin it. All I can say is this: If you love every Stephen King movie you have seen, BUY THIS!!!; and, if you HATE every Stephen King movie you have seen, BUY THIS!!!

When he manned the filmed adaptation of Stephen King's great 1987 best-seller MISERY in 1990, Rob Reiner, known at that time mainly for hilarious comedies like THIS IS SPINAL TAP (1983), THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987) and WHEN HARRY MET SALLY...(1989), showed that he could also direct a suspenseful thriller. He did a terrific job. Starring James Caan as injured, cynical romance novelist Paul Sheldon, and Kathy Bates as obsessed nurse and "Number-One Fan" Annie Wilkes, MISERY is perfectly cast and is one of the few truly successful Stephen King film adapatations. Indeed, in some ways it is even better than the book! It keeps the dark, cynical humor and concentrates more on the psychological cat-and-mouse game between Sheldon and Wilkes than on visual shocks. It definitely tones down the level of graphic violence from the novel; for example, Annie carries a sledgehammer instead of an axe. Also, she has no electric knife in the movie. Although the book's gore was effectively disturbing in written form, it would have been unnecessary and distracting in the film version.

Better yet, Reiner focuses on the character-driven psychological horror and suspense, which draws you in right from the beginning and never lets up. James Caan strikes the right note for his portrayal of the bedridden Paul Sheldon. With his subtle, cynical, sarcastic, detached tone, Caan conveys a talented author whose whole world turned upside down, along with his car, on an icy road in the middle of nowhere. Being cared for/imprisoned by crazy, obsessed nurse Annie Wilkes, Caan creates a sympathetic character who refuses to accept himself as a helpless victim. Kathy Bates, in her first-ever filmic starring role, became the perfect embodiment of the Annie Wilkes that Stephen King had created in his novel, and as a result, deservedly won the Oscar for Best Actress in 1990 (unusual for a Horror/Suspense film). Up to that point, Kathy Bates had been mainly a stage actress and was very well known in those circles, but she was virtually unknown to Hollywood despite having appeared in over 15 movies. MISERY quickly put her on the map, and she subsequently starred in excellent and diverse films such as FRIED GREEN TOMATOES (1991), DOLORES CLAIBORNE (another Stephen King adaptation, it was released in 1995 and should have earned her another Oscar nomination, at the very least), TITANIC (1997) and PRIMARY COLORS (1998).

Also notable in MISERY are the supporting actors: Richard Farnsworth as the town sheriff who gets involved in the search for the missing author, Frances Sternhagen as his cranky wife and assistant, and Lauren Bacall, in a welcome return to the screen as Paul Sheldon's agent, who initiates the search process. The story is well-paced, the dialogue priceless, the claustrophobic cinematography excellent. MISERY is one of the very best Stephen King adaptations, and was one of the best films of 1990.

MOST RECOMMENDED

One of the best psychological thrillers ever made, "Misery" is a tride and true adaption of the classic Steven King bestseller, white - knuckle tale filled with suspense that only someone as brilliant as King himself could ever provide

Paul Sheldon (played flawlessly by James Caan) is the author of a very successful book series called "Misery". But after years of success, he decides to kill the character once and for all and get on with his life. He finishes his book, but disaster strikes on his way back to New York. He gets caught in a snow storm and crashes his car. He is on the verge of death when a seemingly harmless nurse named Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates in an Oscar - winning role), who claims she's his number one fan. At first, Paul really enjoys Annie's company. Then Annie has several outbursts (including the now infamous ankle - breaking sequence), and Paul becomes suspicous of her past. From here on it's a tense battle between cat and mouse. And if you've never read the book before, then you're in for one of the creepiest endings in your life.

No movie fan should be without "Misery". It is in a class of its own, different from other King classics like "Carrie", "Cuju" and "The Shining". If those films didn't do it for you, then "Misery" will get your blood pumping, your palms sweating and your heart racing in no time.

In this really engaging story (movie), a popular novelist gets in a car accident and is rescued and privately nursed by--you guessed it--his "#1 fan" Annie at her remote home in the woods. Of course, what he doesn't realize is that Annie is a little, shall we say... mentally disturbed! She doesn't like the manuscript to his new novel, and forces him to start a new one from scratch. It soon becomes evident that this madwoman will do anything, including cripple him, to keep him all to herself. So, ironically, his rescuer turns out to be his captor! The rest of this suspenseful story involves his desperate attempts to free himself. But of course I won't spoil it for you by giving anything away, sorry! :)

David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"