Perhaps I’m not much of an anglophile, but the regal theatrics of Fred Zinnemann’s “A Man for All Seasons” merely impressed me for its poise and eloquence more than its moral gravitas. It is a strikingly compelling film with big, stage worthy performances and wide open cinematography that leaves us in awe of the deafening silence it can create. The climactic courtroom scene most of all is breathtaking for its lush, looming presence.
The film from 1966 is the story of Thomas More, the Chancellor of the Realm who famously opposed King Henry VIII’s divorce such that he could wed Anne Boleyn. The movie, as well as the play on which it is based, paints More (Paul Scofield) as a highly principled man who even has the respect of King Henry (Robert Shaw), but is simply pitted at a moral impasse against the good of the country. Much of the film follows his steadfast resolve to stay silent as to not be incriminated until he is finally brought to court and sentenced to beheading. Continue reading “Rapid Response: A Man for All Seasons”
“You mustn’t come between Irene and Godfrey. He’s the first thing she’s shown any affection for since her pomeranian died last summer.”
Of course the thing that Mrs. Angelica Bullock (Alice Brady) is referring to is Godfrey (William Powell), not a pomeranian or another animal but the Bullock family butler. You know, a person.
The Bullock family in “My Man Godfrey” is so hilariously oblivious to how condescending, offensive and even racist they are at all times that the movie is not just some screwball caricature of the upper class or of a select group of needy people but a ridiculously razor sharp, tart and biting comedy about the class divide and the compulsively, unhealthy attachments that people can develop and force them to act out. Continue reading “Rapid Response: My Man Godfrey”
When I was a freshman in high school, I remember a day when the entire band was gathering in the hallway to go outside for marching practice when a senior came up to me and handed me an empty 7-Up can. He asked if I would hold it while he tied his shoe, but after I took it he simply walked away and stood on the other side of the room.
This was harmless, but you could say it was a form of bullying. He had duped me into taking the damn thing, and everyone saw it happen. It was enough of an embarrassment for them to laugh at me still holding it like an idiot and being confused as to what happened.
But I was lucky and arguably changed how that student saw me for the next year. I took the can and threw it at his turned back. Not hard, but enough for him to know I’d done it. Everyone saw that too, and he said, “Okay, I like you,” before turning to my friend and jokingly saying, “You’re next.”
I was a target, however briefly, and it’s something most kids know throughout their entire childhood lives. Yet some kids are more targeted than others and are unable to cope. When that happens, it can lead to tragedy.
Such is the focus of “Bully,” a documentary that earned a lot of buzz because of its unfortunate debacle with the MPAA Ratings Board. Harvey Weinstein lobbied intensely for Lee Hirsch’s film to be seen by kids and teenagers so they could see students just like them going through similar hardships. But much as the film demands change, it struggles to find an answer outside of letting kids know this is happening. Continue reading “Bully”
I read the work of Roger Ebert, A.O. Scott, David Bordwell and so many more critics, and I can see their greatness and intelligence on the page. I fear that I may never attain that level of excellence and that I will be punished only to recognize it in others.
This was the plight of Antonio Salieri, or at least in the epic drama “Amadeus,” in which he believes himself punished by God to see such an insolent brat as Mozart achieve genius so effortlessly as if he was a beacon for the Lord. Salieri (F. Murray Abraham) tells his story in flashback after he is taken to a mental institution in a suicide attempt. He accuses himself of actually murdering Mozart.
Much of this sounds very dour, and a listen to those resounding first pipe organ chords may suggest that it doesn’t get more epic or dramatic than this. But the film is like a good opera, filled with life, amusement, comedy and most importantly, music. Continue reading “Rapid Response: Amadeus”
Is The Avengers a great movie? In this day and age, what sets a movie apart from being great and being culturally relevant?
Do you know what a great movie is?
“The Avengers” is not it. If you think it is, I’m starting to think it is not that you are wrong but that you are sadly naïve. Maybe you have a good reason to defend why it is great, why it is worthy of its praise, why it is a cultural landmark, but more likely, you had fun.
It is admirable that you have fun at the movies. A critic’s job should be to encourage the joy of going to a movie theater and watching with an enraptured audience. And fun and entertainment is inseparable from art. This much is obvious.
Hopefully my reason for targeting “The Avengers” is clear too. I don’t mean to attack those who had fun at it specifically. In fact, I did as well. But it’s the movie of the week, and those defending it have somehow convinced the world of its importance. It is not enough that this film is popular and fun, for the audience that loves it most feels it cannot have detractors either. It cannot be seen only as a popcorn movie or as something other than a landmark achievement, and those who dislike it do so because they don’t respect the art of comic books.
I’ve heard Michael Uslan, the producer of every Batman movie ever made, opine twice in person that comic books deserve a place in the canon of American folklore and great art. And yet when you see a movie like “The Avengers” raking in the record weekend high of $207 million domestically alone (it made even more last week overseas), it’s hard to see how any comic book fan can still call their culture neglected. Continue reading “Defining Greatness”
Gene Siskel would always ask, “Is this film more interesting than a documentary about how it was made?”
Such has been the guiding logic with “Hearts of Darkness,” a documentary on the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now.” The production hell this film went through is still unrivaled in terms of sheer difficulty and complexity, and some would argue (see: recent episode of “Community”) that the telling of such an immense story actually surpasses Coppola’s masterpiece. “Hearts of Darkness” stands for the same themes of surreal unpredictability and radical change of perspective that “Apocalypse” is about, and it is mystifying and immersive in the way it engages us with such powerful, conflicting emotions.
And yet, you likely couldn’t make a documentary as interesting as this if the subsequent film weren’t also fairly interesting. The Coppola we see has mixed feelings about his film, viewing it as a potential masterpiece with ambitions that are so great and tell so much, and yet he knows that achieving such a vision on film is virtually impossible. Almost never throughout the course of filming is Coppola completely satisfied with his actors, his sets or his own words. He hates the ending most of all, and he said as much at Cannes. Here he calls it too macho an ending, and something closer to the novel would have been more appropriate.
But he never quits in filming. The artwork is done in the process, and it is a never ending process. The art doesn’t stop when the cameras cut. Anyone working that tirelessly and following along with the art at every stage of its development could drive a person insane. But he boldly asserts that you must act as if you are going forward and finishing whatever you’ve claimed, even if it turns into a vanity project that only answers questions for you. They’ll call it pretentious, and that’s what all filmmakers fear, but if it can’t even answer questions for him, then what good is it?
Coppola’s experience in the woods and swamps of the Philippines to make his Vietnam War epic changed his worldview, but perhaps the finished product of his film never answered the questions he sought. Thankfully, “Apocalypse Now” is hardly pretentious.
Director Fax Behr constructs a story from Eleanor Coppola’s documentary footage that truly gets at Francis’s psychological complexity. It’s a chronological retelling of the over 200 days they spent filming, beginning with the origins of “Heart of Darkness” as a film. Orson Welles wanted Joseph Conrad’s novel to be his first film. When the budget was too vast, he made “Citizen Kane” instead.
Coppola tried again before making “The Godfather,” but no studio wanted to deal with the ties to Vietnam. The script was again shelved for years. But after the success of both “Godfather” films, he had directorial freedom and financed $13 million himself. After 10 days of filming, he made the first hard choice and fired his then lead actor, Harvey Keitel, replacing him with Martin Sheen. Sheen was so much his character that it altered his personality. He later suffered from a severe heart attack and was read his Last Rites by a non-English speaking priest.
Coppola also juggled a collaboration with the Philippine military, his $1 million contract with an overweight, difficult and unprepared Marlon Brando, a typhoon that killed 200 local residents and the construction of a massive temple with the help of hundreds. The Gods seemed to be against this film, and Coppola’s hubris flied in his undying defiance to it all.
He really does not come across as entirely rational or sympathetic here. His requirements for a scene inside a luxuriously dream like French home (later cut from the theatrical version, but now available on Redux) sound petty when he requires that red wine be served at 58 degrees, and when all of the things that would make it perfect are not met, he shows his true personal anger and frustration.
“Hearts of Darkness’s” behind the scenes moments are so evocative of “Apocalypse Now,” such as in the caribou slaughter scene or in the infamous shot of a flair being shot high into the dark sky, and yet some of it can seem self-indulgent, complex and vague without meaning or direction. These feelings are perversions of themselves. They conflict at every turn, and so do the ambitions of “Apocalypse Now.” It’s a miracle of embattled ideas and personalities.
What’s impossible to now know is the media firestorm that circled around this project in the 1970s. Today, news would have spread much quicker, been much more fierce and may have killed the project sooner, but Coppola’s fiasco was unheard of. He was not a David Lean, Alfred Hitchcock or Cecil B. Demille. He was a new kid on the block, even if he had won Oscars just before, and this smacked of pretension beyond any.
This film also helped spread misleading rumors about the “actual ending” to the film, in which it is believed that in another version, Kurtz’s entire complex explodes. A still of this image exists in the credits of “Apocalypse Now,” and this film has marvelous footage of the actual set being demolished, but it was merely a necessity captured on film and not scripted.
“Apocalypse Now” is a masterpiece. It is one of my all-time favorites, but could it really be were it not for all this struggle? Often it is true that from great pain or great passion springs great art, and “Hearts of Darkness” embodies all the love and rage that went into this miracle of cinema.
“Prometheus,” “The Dark Knight Rises” and “Brave” are all on my list of the most anticipated movies of Summer 2012.
I’m not going to lie; 2012 has been a surprisingly good year for movies thus far. I’m behind on the indie and foreign critical darlings that may show up on a few best of the year lists come December, but if this trend continues for the mainstream fare, we might just have one hell of a summer.
And yet, there are no doubt movies that frankly look terrible. It would be easy to just rave about the few I’m genuinely interested in, but I can’t exactly hold my tongue on all of them.
So just like I did last year, this is not a summer preview but a list of movies I’m actually interested in talking about.
Prometheus
Top 10 movies I’m pretty damned excited for this summer
Moonrise Kingdom (May 25)
Wes Anderson’s comeback live action film after the wonderful “Fantastic Mr. Fox” would normally have me rolling my eyes when I see how plainly Wes Anderson the trailer for “Moonrise Kingdom” is. But the cast additions of Bruce Willis, Edward Norton and Tilda Swinton to Anderson’s go-to lineup are what are so invigorating. If there’s one thing that concerns me, it has Anderson repairing with screenwriter Roman Coppola, who also did “The Darjeeling Limited,” possibly my least favorite Anderson film.
Prometheus (June 8)
I’ve seen more viral trailers and TV spots than I know what to do with for “Prometheus,” and yet still the story remains ambiguous as to its ties to Ridley Scott’s own masterpiece, “Alien.” Scott is one of those legacy directors that are still churning out great product on a regular basis today, and this looks like his best in a long time. The cast has both massive nerd and cinephile cred, and it happens to come out on my birthday.
Safety Not Guaranteed (June 8)
It’ll be interesting to see Aubrey Plaza in a leading role for a change, and Mark Duplass looks like her perfect match in this quirky indie comedy where a crazed Duplass tries to enlist her to travel back with him in time.
To Rome, With Love (June 22)
Woody Allen is one of the few directors today who can get anyone he wants in his movies. His latest film rounds out his European holiday that has taken him to Barcelona, Paris, and now Rome, and he’s brought with him Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Jesse Eisenberg, Penelope Cruz, Ellen Page and Greta Gerwig. This also marks the first time Allen has acted since 2006’s “Scoop,” which alone should generate some buzz. But some mixed reviews regarding Allen’s superficial treatment of Italians have me worried we may be back in the hole of his shrug-worthy films.
Brave (June 22)
More interesting than Pixar having its first dud in “Cars 2” is Pixar having its first female lead in “Brave,” the Medieval story of a princess (although she doesn’t yet seem like a blatantly marketed Disney princess) who is adept with a bow and casts a spell to change her fate. Pixar is the best for a reason, and a part of me bets this’ll snare that “Hunger Games” audience too.
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (June 22)
It’s not easy to make the apocalypse funny without being completely lewd and ridiculous, and Steve Carell seems like the perfect casting choice to do that. I can already tell he’s got great chemistry with Keira Knightly, and Patton Oswalt in anything is a sure thing. It’s directed and written by Lorene Scafaria, whose last project was “Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist,” which I didn’t much care for though.
Beasts of the Southern Wild (June 27)
Easily the most obscure title in my most anticipated list is this visionary indie that won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance this year. It’s a post-apocalyptic story about a girl and her father living in a bathtub on the open sea and the girl’s psychological ramifications that lead her to believe she’s responsible for all of the destruction. “Beasts of the Southern Wild” looks plain beautiful too.
Magic Mike (June 29)
I LIKE CHANNING TATUM’S PECS! I mean, Steven Soderbergh has been on a roll lately. Both “Contagion” and “Haywire” were off the beat and path, and this film, about the story of a male stripper, is likewise a jock strap of a different color. If it is good, Soderbergh will have more great movies in one calendar year than any director I can think of.
The Dark Knight Rises (July 20)
Yes. Yes. Yes. No, it’s not shot in Chicago anymore, but… Yes. At the very least I’m hoping everyone forgets about seeing “The Avengers” after this.
Ruby Sparks (July 25)
“Little Miss Sunshine” is one of those movies I can instantly get caught up watching if I see it on, and Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris finally putting out another film has just made my day. Paul Dano is a struggling writer who falls in love with the female character he’s writing, and they form a relationship when she actually appears out of thin air. Looks hilarious and adorable.
The Bourne Legacy
Yeah, I’d see it
Dark Shadows (May 11)
People have been ragging on Tim Burton for doing nothing but adaptations of already creepy, weird and quirky stuff (me included), and not many people would’ve said adapting a soap opera was a good idea, but the idea of Chloe Moretz working with Tim Burton, even in a small part, seems strangely perfect to me.
The Dictator (May 16)
“Borat” hasn’t aged well, and “The Dictator” isn’t even a prankumentary, but Sacha Baron Cohen put Ryan Seacrest in his place Oscar night when he dumped Kim Jong Il’s ashes on him. I’m sold.
The Intouchables (May 25)
I’m calling it right now: “The Intouchables” has Oscar bait written all over it. It’s the second highest grossing foreign film behind “The Passion of the Christ” and going strong, and it’s the saccharine story of a black man from the streets hired to care for a wealthy paraplegic. It looks like it has “Driving Miss Daisy” and “The Bucket List” rolled into one, in which case it could be absolutely terrible.
Oslo, August 31 (May 25)
All I know about this Norwegian film is that it was a Cannes competitor in 2011 and it’s one of the sleeper foreign art house movies to hit the states this summer. It’s the day in the life of a recovering drug addict and looks visually stunning.
Lola Versus (June 8)
Just about every critic officially fell in love with Greta Gerwig in “Greenberg” when she seemed like the most naturally attractive woman working in the movies today. She doesn’t look like a movie star; she looks like your girlfriend. But this movie about her bouncing back from a bad breakup is going to try and make her a movie star anyway.
Take this Waltz (June 29)
Like the “Little Miss Sunshine” team, this is another indie romance from a director who’s been on a long hiatus, Sarah Polley. Her last feature, “Away From Her,” is nothing like the young-love story of “Take This Waltz” but will likely share its spirit. Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Luke Kirby and Sarah Silverman star.
Your Sister’s Sister (June 29)
Mark Duplass is literally in everything this year. This mumblecore romance is not from him and his brother but from his previous director on “Humpday.” Duplass’s best friend Emily Blunt sends him away for a recovery weekend with her sister, played by Rosemary DeWitt, and a steamy hipster love triangle forms in the middle.
The Amazing Spiderman (July 3)
A friend of mine wondered how Andrew Garfield’s hair would possibly fit under Spiderman’s skin tight mask, but why ask questions when this is really just a remake of the original “Spiderman” with a new villain and wallpaper. I am curious to see Marc Webb’s follow-up to “500 Days of Summer” though.
The Bourne Legacy (August 3)
Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne was possibly the coolest action hero of the last decade. To replace him would’ve been a mistake. So new director Tony Gilroy, the man behind all the previous Bourne screenplays, has crafted a new story (not based on a novel) and a new hero, Agent Aaron Ross (Jeremy Renner). He’ll be interacting with all the existing Bourne characters in events before and after those of the trilogy. This and “The Avengers” will turn Renner into a bona fide star, and I’d pay good money to see Edward Norton in a villain role.
Lawless (August 31)
I would say “Lawless” is Director John Hillcoat’s feature film version of “Boardwalk Empire,” but this film has been in production hell for so long that Shia Labeouf would’ve probably been cast as Jimmy Darmody had people seen this film sooner. In fact, even this release date is tentative, so you may be going cold turkey for a little while longer.
Rock of Ages
I’m not really expecting much, but I guess it could be alright
Hick (May 11)
At this point, I’d pay to see Chloe Moretz in anything. I think she’s a terrific young actress. I haven’t heard of Director Derick Martini, but he’s notorious for being a filmmaker who earns bad press. “Hick” already has a 5.1 on IMDb. Ouch.
God Bless America (May 11)
This movie looks really bad spirited. Comedian turned filmmaker Bobcat Goldthwait, who directed Robin Williams in “World’s Greatest Dad,” directs, and he’s made a story that a lot of people even more cynical than I may relate to and find hilarious. A man wanting to kill himself because of all the horrible people he sees on TV instead chooses to kill all the people he feels deserve to die, and he makes a teenage girl his accomplice. Fun.
Hysteria (May 18)
Oh boy! It’s “Love and Other Drugs” for the 19th Century! It’s the period drama of a doctor who invents the vibrator, or here called, “The Feather Duster.”
Rock of Ages (June 15)
Do people actually like ‘80s hair metal? The jukebox musical soundtrack for the very successful Broadway production of the same name looks more like a Buzz Ballads track listing than something hip and cool. This is director Adam Shankman’s first musical since “Hairspray,” a casting choice that makes more sense than Tom Cruise singing.
Savages (July 6)
Even from the trailer, “Savages” looks cliché, ridiculous and visually exhausting, just like Oliver Stone’s last mess of a movie, “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.” Stone’s been off the deep end as a filmmaker for a number of years, and I’d be lying if I said I’m still curious to see what he does next.
Ted (July 13)
Is having animals or things that shouldn’t be able to talk act normally in the world just Seth Macfarlane’s thing? The teddy bear Ted has a voice that’s a blend of Peter and Brian, and I don’t need any movie that feels, sounds or looks anything like “Family Guy.”
Neighborhood Watch (July 27)
Could “Neighborhood Watch” be the new classic teen comedy that’ll make an obscene amount of money? Maybe. Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer directs. At least it’s not “Paul Blart 2.”
Total Recall (August 3)
I somehow have fond memories of watching the original, absolutely balls to the wall ridiculous and campy “Total Recall” when I was younger. This version by the director of all the “Underworld” films potentially looks no fun at all.
The Campaign (August 10)
No trailer for this yet, but how are we going to deal with two manchilds, Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, in the same movie? Director Jay Roach finally looks to be combining his penchant for directing cerebral, HBO political dramas (“Game Change,” “Recount”) with his penchant for stupid comedies (“Austin Powers,” “Dinner for Schmucks”)
Hope Springs (August 10)
I said that Meryl Streep really needs to stop doing characters and be a normal woman again in a movie. But you know what? She really needs to stop working with awful directors like Phyllida Lloyd and the man behind “Hope Springs,” David Frankel.
The Odd Life of Timothy Green (August 15)
I really must be a sucker for indie bait from good directors, because the premise of “The Odd Life of Timothy Green” actually has a lot in common with “Ruby Sparks,” only this whole movie has been Disneyfied. The trailer has at least 20 seconds of shots of a kid with arms wide open beaconing the heavens, which is hilarious.
Sparkle (August 17)
“Sparkle” is basically “Dreamgirls,” only a remake and not based on a real life Motown group. The cast features a bunch of R&B pop idols of today, like Jordin Sparks and Cee Lo, but its real pull is the new work of the late Whitney Houston.
Premium Rush (August 24)
Did you know Joseph Gordon Levitt actually crashed through a taxicab rear window and got 31 stitches in his arm while filming this movie? If an action movie with a bike messenger is really as interesting as this behind the scenes video is, then I’d see it.
Battleship
Oh dear god
Battleship (May 18)
It’s ridiculous to say “Battleship” is based on a board game, like “Pirates of the Caribbean” is really “based” on a Disney World ride. It probably would’ve made immensely more money if it was just called “Navy Explosion.” Regardless, it still looks like a worthless “Transformers” retread.
Men in Black III (May 25)
Are the original “Men in Black” movies actually good? What was the last genuinely good thing Will Smith’s been in? Has a movie other than “Toy Story 3” with a “3” on the end of it ever been good?
Snow White and the Huntsman (June 1)
Oh yeah, screw “Mirror Mirror,” because we need a dark version of “Snow White.” That Disney cartoon was really getting dated. Better just make it into “Lord of the Rings” and cast Bella Swan and Thor.
That’s My Boy (June 15)
Ugh. Adam Sandler, go away. And why did you have to take Andy Samberg with you?
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (June 22)
I’ve never seen a trailer of this movie where people didn’t laugh their heads off at the title. But it’s based on a graphic novel and done by the guy who did “Wanted!” Yeah… and?
G.I. Joe: Retaliation (June 29)
See, I don’t know why more ninjas don’t have sword fights on the sides of cliffs. It makes perfect sense.
The Expendables 2 (August 17)
As I was watching trailers before “The Avengers,” “The Expendables 2” was the only one that didn’t have a ridiculous amount of CGI and was actually grounded on planet Earth. It almost makes me want to see how ridiculous it is for that very reason, but then, no.
“This intergalactic energy cube ain’t big enough for the six of us,” “The Avengers” says with a forceful tone as it struggles to conceal a smile.
Joss Whedon’s superhero movie equivalent to The Travelling Wilburys fully knows how impossible it is to squeeze all of these massive folklore figures into one film. So when the whole serious side starts to cave and just gets silly, Whedon is there with a zinger to run with the moment.
“The Avengers” is a fun and smart movie in doses, one that surprises and dazzles when it isn’t talking your head off. Continue reading “The Avengers”
Airing some last minute skepticism about “The Avengers” before the movie premieres and some frustration with Marvel.
Look, I’m seeing “The Avengers” tonight at midnight, and my thoughts will definitely be completely changed after its two 2:20 runtime. I will be able to judge the movie as a movie and not by its ravenous fans.
But I’ve been bitching about this movie for too long with no one listening, so I had to get my thoughts down on paper at some point before this evening.
If I’m not on the same page of enthusiasm for “The Avengers,” it’s because I haven’t bought into Marvel’s ad campaign for the last three years. Yes, “The Avengers” is the final product of a massive hype machine that Marvel has executed perfectly since Day 1. Continue reading “Why I’m bitter about ‘The Avengers’”
Rob Reiner’s Misery lacks the psychological depth of Stephen King’s novel.
I’d like to see “Misery” remade today with a cute comic book fangirl holding Alan Moore or Stan Lee hostage or something. I think just doing that alone might open up the story to more of a discussion of obsession and fandom than Rob Reiner’s film does, or perhaps for that matter Stephen King’s novel.
The film is famous for Kathy Bates’s marvelous ability to flip a switch between feelings of serendipity and sadism, but it never uses its full potential to explore the psychological realms of depth that must be going through these two characters’ heads.
The story is well-known, namely because it is a strong one, and “Misery” is nothing if not a well made, genre thriller. Paul Sheldon (James Caan), a famous author of trashy romance novels, gets into a nearly fatal car wreck and is rescued by his number one fan, Annie Wilkes (Bates). She nurses him back to health but makes clear before long that she will keep him in her small, reclusive home until he rectifies the troubling ending to his latest book.
But ultimately, this punishment is too one-dimensional. Paul has done nothing wrong, so this is not a morality tale. And Annie is just an insane serial killer with an unhealthy obsession. The movie doesn’t ask why she singled out Paul’s Misery novels, and it doesn’t even seem like she is some perverse mastermind with sinister motives to hold him there from the very beginning. She’s only driven by passion and nothing specific. I most wondered about the dinner scene where Paul attempts to poison Annie by pouring medicine in her wine. She spills her cup and pours a new glass, but was that an accident, or did she know what Paul was up to? The movie is vague, and never leads us to believe that Annie is anything more than what’s on the surface. It’s less Hitchcockian and more the story of someone trapped in an unfortunately macabre situation. Maybe that’s King-ian. I wouldn’t know.
I kept wanting to know what was going through Paul’s mind. We see him by himself a lot, but he doesn’t share his thoughts with us the way he might through internal monologues in a book. I would bet that being forced to write a new Misery novel after he has cast off the series would be some kind of torture, but the movie shows him cranking it out in a montage in a determined escape attempt.
Part of the reason I asked myself such questions is because Reiner’s camera forces us into a heightened sense of awareness from the get go. The film’s first shots are extreme close-ups of a cigarette and a bottle of champagne, and a simple Google search will show just how many starkly centered images of Bates’s face are everywhere. Except none of it has a deeper meaning. None of it clues in to suspense the way Hitchcock might with such blatantly obvious shots.
“Misery” doesn’t seem like it’s made by a man who is out of his element, even though Reiner’s previous films included the romantic comedies “The Princess Bride,” “The Sure Thing” and “When Harry Met Sally” and the fake rockumentary “This is Spinal Tap,” but he also doesn’t seem like the master director that would best fit a story as psychologically dense as King’s.
I’d like to see “Misery” remade today with a cute comic book fangirl holding Alan Moore or Stan Lee hostage or something. I think just doing that alone might open up the story to more of a discussion of obsession and fandom than Rob Reiner’s film does, or perhaps for that matter Stephen King’s novel.