Misery 1990 by AverageMansReviews

Misery 1990 by AverageMansReviews

Review Time

Warning: there is flashing effects/colourful effects/stabbing/shooting/torture/dislocating/breaking/vehicle crash/biking/slavery/reference to suicide

Watch out for the penguin: briefly; Paul Sheldon [James Caan:] he is a famous novelist, he has a successful series of books called "Misery" in fact he has just finished writing the ninth and final instalment in the series, but tragically he accidentally finds himself in a car accident, but luckily enough he gets rescued by the individual, by the name of Annie Wilkes [Kathy Bates:] she is a nurse that assists Sheldon to get back on his feet and just so happens to be his number one fan, which I am absolutely sure nothing will or can go wrong... But then again on the odd occasion I have been known to be wrong.

Generally speaking: the framework, pacing and storyline/script; I have to be honest I found the framework and pacing of this 107 minutes film incredibly slow; it does get better the more you watch of this film, but man to begin with it is so slow; it does so much better when it speeds up a bit, I must say even though it does somewhat speed up it isn't ever going to be the most quickest anyway as a straightforward film, because if you were to speed things up, you would also knockout the environmental aspect of this location; meaning we are trapped alongside Sheldon in this house for the vast majority of it, but later on in the film we do also have time moving montages to speed things up and these slot in perfectly with what they were going for in this project. I am not a fan of without giving too much away the closing stages of this project such as what happened next? And then they 18 months later thing.

Art and action; we have some excellent snowy scenery, which can be used as a great palate cleanser for all of the violence, but to begin with we have a car accident.

Character developments, comedy, performances and action; Wilkes is clearly a damaged human being, but sometime later for one moment Wilkes shows that she has possibly been through rejection, which may be years ago started her on this journey to be completely nuts and don't get me wrong is completely nuts [I am making reference to the scene where she just very much puts Sheldon's pills on his table and has a little discussion but very much wants to leave his room at this time,] Sheldon has been in an horrific car accident, by now it has very much dawned on him that Wilkes is unstable, so he has got to get out of here. We have two pairings, obviously Wilkes/Bates and Sheldon/Caan and now Richard Farnsworth as Sheriff Buster and his wife Frances Sternhagen as Deputy Virginia: they are on the case to find Sheldon, even though they may be getting up there in age, there is comfortably enough to indicate that they are still having intercourse as for one example even on the job Deputy Virginia is trying to engage the slow escalation of romantic intent, where her husband has to remind her at work you are not my wife, you are my Deputy or something to that effect and finally we even have the one of the Producers/Director of this project Rob Reiner as an uncredited a helicopter pilot alongside our Sheriff Buster. Bates' performance is masterclass in how to portray a character that it is unhinged; someone that means well, quiet and reserved, but when pushed can and will release Cerberus from within her and is quickly as he came, he can disappear or just to keep you on your toes she can do is simultaneous connection or both of calm, but also releasing great anger and furious wrath with a sledgehammer; Bates is Wilkes, Wilkes is Bates she makes this role her very own legendary and iconic. Meanwhile Caan as Sheldon is very much the anchor to this partnership as in survival, strategy and escape and trying not to irritate Wilkes long enough to achieve this; both of these performances individually or together are irreplaceable and then we have Sheriff Buster separately or together with his Deputy/wife doing their part which also has on reflection excellent chemistry as well.

This film receives: 9/10, this film is excellent; as I have previously stated in one way or another this film does have problems, but because of Bates or/and Caan, because without Bates this project would have an unfillable a void to fill, but their partnership is crucial and legendary to the success and legacy of this project, I also went to the cinema with the person I watch some of this content with, if you ever have the opportunity to see this film on a cinema screen it is very much worth going to see. This film unsurprisingly has some awards accredited to its name such as 7 Winners which include but not limited to Academy Awards, USA 1991 Oscar Best Actress in a Leading Role Kathy Bates and 10 Nominees which also include but not limited to Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA 1992 Saturn Award Best Actor James Caan