Misery 4K 1990 Ultra HD 2160p

Story Movie

Writer Paul Sheldon does not remember the heavy snowfall that caused him to crash in his car somewhere in the mountains. He also does not remember how a woman found him and saved him from certain death.

All he remembers is how he woke up in the house of Annie Wilks - an ardent fan of his novels who does not want to part with her beloved author ...

Review 4K Movie

Having finally watched the adaptation of Stephen King's novel "Misery", I once again emphasized to myself how much different art forms such as literature and cinema are. On the one hand, many of the Horror King's works are very cinematic and are successfully retold through the screen language. But there are others like Misery, for example, which require a non-linear approach to film adaptation, not just a sequential staging of scenes written by the author, if, of course, the director wants to create a film that is close in style and spirit to the literary source.

If you've read King's original novel, you know that a fairly large part of the book describes the physical and mental suffering of the writer Paul Sheldon. When Sheldon ends up in the house of former nurse Annie Wilkes after an accident, the first circle of hell he has to go through is intense pain in broken leg bones. Annie constantly gives Paul the narcotic pain-relieving drug Novril, which relieves suffering, but from it, Sheldon quickly develops a persistent addiction, which brings him new torment. So, on the one hand, unbearable pain that can be drowned out by drugs, on the other hand, it is a real "withdrawal", if you do not take pills at regular intervals. King masterfully presents the reader with a wide range of hellish torment, multiplied by the primal fear of the protagonist of the insane Annie Wilkes, who is not going to let Sheldon go free.

Unfortunately, everything that King has in the book is deep, scary and painful, for Reiner in the film is superficial and secondary. The director practically decided not to convey the devilish inner torments of the central character, through any artistic techniques, limiting himself only to the emotional play of James Caan, and focused his efforts on the relatively accurate film retelling of the novel. But even here Rob Reiner is not up to par.

In addition to the obligatory "terrible" psychological component of his works, King was never shy about describing outright physical violence, the mental representation of which in the process of reading is no less terrifying. In the book "Misery" there is not much outright "massacre", but it still exists and does not spoil the brilliant composition of the psychological horror novel. But in the film, Rob Reiner is not clear from what considerations to the limit softened the violence, with the exception of the ending. King used the "bloody" scenes in his novel to maximally express the madness of Annie Wilkes, who is not only subject to sudden mood swings and the maniacal idea of ​​making Paul Sheldon her "tame writer", but is also really capable of torture and brutal murder. And Rainer, having also created a very impressive character through the excellent performance of Katie Bates (Oscar for Best Actress), still did not fully convey the nightmarish madness that King put into his heroine. That is, Annie Wilkes in the film is a scary and dangerous person, but not to the extent that she could be.

However, it is enough to criticize a good film, because stones can be thrown at it only from the standpoint of comparison with the literary original. By itself, Rob Reiner's Misery is a top-notch psychological thriller with vivid acting and an interesting story. It's just that if you have not read the novel, but are watching the film, know that in essence, King's work and Reiner's tape are very different things.