REVIEW: Misery (live action movie)

Misery is a horror movie adaptation of Stephen King's book of the same title.

Review:

Paul Sheldon is tired of writing his massively popular Misery Chastain books. He'd like to start writing the kinds of things that win awards, so he kills Misery off in his latest book and then starts working on something fresh and new. He's just finished that book and is on his way from a hotel in Colorado to deliver the manuscript in New York when he crashes during a snow storm and is rescued by Annie Wilkes, a nurse who proclaims herself his #1 fan.

Paul has injured both legs, and Annie tells him that the phones will be down for a while due to the storm. In a show of thanks, Paul lets Annie read his newest manuscript, and she's outraged by its profanity, which she thinks is beneath Paul. Things only get worse when she reads his final Misery book and learns that he's killed off her favorite character. Annie forces Paul, trapped in her home by the snow and his injuries, to write a new Misery book that brings her back to life.

It's been ages since I last read the book, and although I'm pretty sure I'd seen this movie before, it had to have been equally as long ago, because I barely remembered anything about it other than that James Caan and Kathy Bates were amazing in it.

One major thing I'd forgotten: how much humor was worked in via the scenes involving the sheriff and his wife/deputy. Rather than feeling out of place, the humor lulled me into a false sense of security that made the last half hour or so of the movie hit a lot harder than I expected.

Kathy Bates was perfect as Annie, a deceptively cheerful and prudish "Christian" woman who was hiding a deep well of murderous craziness behind her smile. Paul got a few initial glimpses of what was hiding below the surface - her out-of-proportion rage as she ranted about Paul's use of profanity, her reaction to his request for a different kind of paper, etc. - but there wasn't really a lot of gore or violence until much later. From a modern horror standpoint, even that wasn't as bad as it could have been. Only a little of the hobbling scene was on-screen, and the gore was limited to blood (and possibly some eye stuff that I couldn't watch because I can't deal with eye stuff).

The tension was still top-notch, though, and even though I remembered enough of the story to know how things would turn out, I was still incredibly anxious for Paul during the few times he ventured outside his room while Annie was out. 

This is a classic "unhealthy side of fandoms" story that still holds up.