Misery- FIlm Response

Misery is a thriller written by Stephen King and adapted for the screen by Rob Reiner (director) and William Goldman (Screenwriter). It is the story of a writer, who after being caught in a blizzard, is kidnapped by a psychotic fan who forces him to write new works.

I enjoyed the film, as it had an engaging storyline which was made more memorable by the performances of the cast, especially Kathy Bates’ portrayal of Annie Wilks. The main character Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is an author who has just drawn his famous series the ‘Misery’ novels to a close. He becomes very vulnerable when he is kidnapped, and Caan’s portrayal of his character’s struggle is believable. He is broken and frail, but he embodies this resilience as the film goes on; and it Is clear to see that he is using his initiative to try and escape. One part of the film that highlighted this for me, was how he used the powder from the pills to attempt to poison the woman keeping him hostage.

Annie Wilks was the other main character, and for me, she held much interest. She has an unknown past for the majority of the film, which when discovered is both surprising and exciting. She had the most interesting development throughout the film too. At the start, she seemed to be a loving, nurturing person, with an aura of innocence. However, we soon learn of her unyielding temper, and begin to sense that all is not right. Her repetition of the phrase “I’m your biggest fan” goes very quickly from being endearing to disturbing. She is psychotic, obsessive and extremely dark. She has  a warped morality compass, so although what is happening seems shocking to us, she believes herself to be right.

As well as these main characters, there are also some memorable supporting characters too. An example of these would be the sheriff Buster, and his wife, who take on the task of investigating Paul’s disappearance. Their plotline adds suspense to the main body of the film, as there are many moments where it seems they are close to finding Paul- building up the audience’s anticipation.

One thing that made the film so great for me was the sense that it was constantly building up to something bigger. You could see signs of unease, which gradually became clearer and clearer. This was reflected well in the micro aspects of the film such as the mise-en-scene and cinematography. For example, the dark themes were reflected throughout the film by the dark lighting which swallowed most scenes.

Another important film aspect that made the film so good, was the score and how it was used. The music was brilliant, especially since it perfectly accentuated each scene- highlighting and arousing emotions in the audience that push them to the edge of their seats.

Overall, a very engaging film which as a first time watcher; I thoroughly enjoyed.