Misery 1990

     This film is abased on a novel by Stephen King.  Paul Sheldon is a best-selling author.  He always books a hotel room in Colorado to work on his next novel.  He checks out of the room but there is a blizzard in the area soon after he leaves.  He always drives his 1966 Mustang and he knows this car very well but he runs off the road because of skidding.  The car turns completely over and Paul almost dies.  Annie Wilkes finds him and she brings him back to her remote home.  She’s Paul’s “number one fan” and she’s read all his books.  Annie is a nurse and she tends to Paul’s broken legs, injured shoulder and the cuts on his face.  She tells him she will take him to the hospital as soon as he can travel.  She also tells him that she has contacted his daughter and his publisher to let them know what happened, where he is and that he’s recovering. 

     Paul takes everything Annie says as the truth until he starts to see that Annie is slightly unhinged.  He finds a hairpin that he uses it to unlock the door of his room.  He reads her memory book and discovers that she is a nurse with a history.  The local sheriff comes to check the property and Paul tries to alert him from down in the basement.  This is very suspenseful and you don’t know what is going to happen to Paul from the beginning until the end.  You are hoping Buster, the Sheriff will discover Paul at the property before it’s too late!!  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)

107 min, Crime directed by Rob Reiner with James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagen, Lauren Bacall, Graham Jarvis, Jerry Potter, Thomas Brunelle, June Christopher, Julie Payne, Archie Hahn, Gregory Snegoff.

Note:  Imdb 7.8 out of 10, 89% critic 89% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*, Empire Online 4* out of 5* review by Philip Thomas, Amazon 4.7* with 1626.

Special Note:  Filmed in Genoa, Reno, Truckee, Nevada; Los Angeles and Hollywood, California; New York City.  Stephen King refused to speak about his motivations for the novel Misery for two decades.  He finally stated that it is about his battle with substance abuse.  Annie represents his dependency on drugs and what it did to his body and mind.  He felt alone and separated from everything.  The novel was almost made into a Broadway play with Julia Roberts as Annie.  King thought the casting was wrong because he pictured Annie as a brawny woman who could sling a guy around.  King wrote two more roles for Bates because of the impression she made on him in this role.  Dolores Claiborne and The Stand.  Jack Nicholson was offered the role of Paul but he didn’t want to do another King movie after doing the Shining of 1980 with Stanley Kubrick.  The role of Annie is loosely based on Genene Jones, a nurse who killed during a two-year period.