", Producer Andrew Scheinman read Stephen King's novel Misery on an airplane, and later recommended it to his director partner at Castle Rock Entertainment, Rob Reiner. Paul manages to trip Annie, causing her to hit her head on the typewriter. Midler thought it was too violent. [23], Nelson Entertainment and its parent company, New Line Home Video first released Misery on VHS on July 11, 1991, and New Line re-released it in 1992, after Nelson's defunct. Plot At the end, Annie Wilkes forces her wounded victim, writer Paul Sheldon, to write another installment in the Misery franchise. Wanting to focus on more serious stories, he writes a manuscript for a new novel that he hopes will launch his post-Misery career. While feeding him, she is angered by the profanity in his new work and spills soup on him, but apologizes. . [22][better source needed], In 2009, Chris Eggertsen of Bloody Disgusting ranked Misery fourth place in his list of "10 Claustrophobic Horror Films". At first, she nurses him back to health in her remote cabin, telling him the roads and phones are knocked out by the storm, fawning over his literary accomplishments. Annie keeps Sheldon prisoner while forcing him to write a book that brings Misery back to life. Kathy won an Oscar for her performance in “Misery,” but her mother didn’t see what all the fuss was about. Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), Sheldon’s number one fan, rescues the author from the scene of a car accident. and praised the cast, especially Bates, writing that her "demented devotee in Misery is inspired casting. Misery is an American psychological horror thriller novel written by Stephen King and first published by Viking Press on June 8, 1987. Paul grabs a metal doorstop and viciously bashes her in the face, finally killing her. Upon completion, Sheldon excitedly sets out for his New York City publisher in the midst of a raging blizzard and within minutes veers into a desolate snowbank. and Other Essays, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Misery_(film)&oldid=1000640352, Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award-winning performance, Films featuring a Best Drama Actress Golden Globe-winning performance, Films with screenplays by William Goldman, Short description is different from Wikidata, Album articles lacking alt text for covers, Articles lacking reliable references from July 2020, Articles needing additional references from August 2020, All articles needing additional references, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 16 January 2021, at 01:03. She … When he finds Paul drugged in the basement, Annie fatally shoots Buster with a shotgun; she tells Paul that they must die together. Misery (1990) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. 2. One day, when Annie is away, Paul begins stockpiling his painkillers. Misery, based on King's 1987 novel of the same name, finds a novelist (James Caan) finishing his latest work in seclusion, only to get in a horrible automobile accident. While writing, Paul is planning to kill Annie, but the plan is discovered and … Goldman subsequently wrote that this was the correct decision as the visual depiction of an amputation would cause the audience to hate Annie instead of sympathizing with her madness. [12] It eventually finished with $61 million domestically. [4] King himself has stated that Misery is one of his top ten favorite film adaptations.[5]. Misery is the film based on a novel with the same name by Stephen King. Fans often regard the film as one of the best Stephen King adaption, praising the acting of Kathy Bates and James Caan. The main breaking point is when Annie finds out about MISERY… [21], The "hobbling" scene in the film, in which Annie breaks Paul's ankles with a sledgehammer, was ranked #12 on Bravo's 2004 program The 100 Scariest Movie Moments. "[16] Variety called it "a very obvious and very commercial gothic thriller, a functional adaptation of the Stephen King bestseller. Directed by Rob Reiner and starring … Soon after, Annie reads the latest Misery novel, discovers that Misery dies at the end of the book, and flies into a rage. It is a 1990 American psychological horror film. The film features an excellent turn by Caan and an Oscar-winning performance by Bates. Directed by Rob Reiner. Annie had quoted lines from his Misery novels during her trial. Annie later drugs Paul and straps him to the bed. ", Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King, The Big Picture: Who Killed Hollywood? The local sheriff, Buster, is investigating Paul's disappearance. Still, any work from Stephen King deserves a watch regardless.In a small Midwestern town, a teenage virgin becomes the target of new arrivals Mary Brady and her son, who aren’t what they appear to be. Paul crawls out of the room, but Annie suddenly attacks him once again. [6], In the original novel, Annie Wilkes severs one of Paul Sheldon's feet with an axe. [7], The part of Paul Sheldon was originally offered to William Hurt (twice), then Kevin Kline, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Richard Dreyfuss, Gene Hackman, and Robert Redford, but they all turned it down. Paul later finds a scrapbook of newspaper clippings about Annie's past. Currently, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (under the licence from MGM) re-print the film for home video. Stephen King has a modest but undeniable genius for being able to find horror in everyday situations. BETTE MIDLER TURNED DOWN THE ROLE OF ANNIE WILKES. My notion is that he starts with a germ of truth from his own life, and then takes it as far as he can into the macabre and the bizarre. Sheldon's plucky heroine of seven novels has delivered Sheldon fame and fortune and recognition beyond the average writer's dreams, but she is also interminably linked to him. [8] Warren Beatty was interested in the role, wanting to turn him into a less passive character,[9] but eventually had to drop out as post-production of Dick Tracy extended. He discovers that she was tried for the deaths of several infants, but the trial collapsed due to lack of evidence. Regions Streaming: United KingdomSleepwalkers was surprisingly not based off any works by Stephen King. Director Rob Reiner's adaptation of Stephen King's novel is an eerie tale of obsessiveness and isolation. © Copyright © 2000 - 2020 Stephen King - All Rights Reserved. Why Misery is now an underrated Stephen King masterpiece In 1990, Misery was a big deal. Annie's psychotic underbelly swiftly surfaces as the unfortunate author is held clandestinely captive in her home. I fell asleep on the plane and had a dream about a popular writer (it may or may not have been me, but it sure to God wasn't James Caan)...[20], In 2003, Annie Wilkes was ranked #17 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains list. Reiner eventually invited writer William Goldman to write the film's screenplay. Eventually someone suggested James Caan, who agreed to play the part. Bates' performance drew widespread praise from critics and won her the Academy Award for Best Actress at the 63rd Academy Awards, making Misery the only film based on a Stephen King novel to win an Oscar. Eighteen months later, Paul, now walking with a cane, meets his agent, Marcia, in a restaurant in New York City. Goldman loved the scene and argued for it to be included, but Reiner insisted that it be changed so that she only breaks his ankles. The film's score was composed by Marc Shaiman. Marcia asks if he would consider a non-fiction book about his captivity, but Paul—who suffers psychological trauma from the experience—declines. Famed novelist Paul Sheldon is the author of a successful series of Victorian romance novels featuring a character named Misery Chastain. "[18] Vincent Canby of The New York Times praised Kathy Bates' performance, calling it "a genuinely funny performance as the mad Annie, as gaudily written in Mr. Goldman's screenplay as it is in Mr. King's novel."[19]. DID YOU KNOW? Adapted from a Stephen King novel, Rob Reiner's Misery cast James Caan as a writer at a career crossroads. © Copyright © 2000 - 2021 Stephen King - All Rights Reserved. Paul regains consciousness and finds himself bedridden with broken legs and a dislocated shoulder. A 25th anniversary edition DVD and Blu-ray was released on September 8, 2015 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and MGM Home Entertainment. It eventually finished with $61 million domestically. While traveling from Silver Creek, Colorado to his home in New York City, Paul is caught in a blizzard and his car goes off the road, rendering him unconscious. However, things change when she purchases his eighth Misery book and reaches the point of Misery's death. In actuality, the figure he saw is a waitress, who tells Paul that she is his number one fan. "[10] According to Reiner, it was Goldman who suggested that Kathy Bates, then unknown, should portray Annie Wilkes.[11]. [15], Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a rating of three stars out of four, stating that "it is a good story, a natural, and it grabs us. The film was later re-released on VHS again by Polygram Video and on DVD on December 22, 1998 by MGM Home Entertainment. [5] In his 2000 memoir called On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, King references the movie adaptation of the book, saying: In the early 1980s, my wife and I went to London on a combined business/pleasure trip. "[17] Derek Malcolm of The Guardian gave it a positive review, writing that it "plays enough tricks on us so that we don't ever treat anything quite seriously and Goldman's script has enough good lines and situations to keep one interested in exactly what is coming next." As Annie rushes to save it, Paul strikes her with the typewriter and they engage in a violent struggle, with Paul stuffing her mouth full of the burned novel in retaliation, and suffering a gunshot wound to the shoulder from Annie's revolver. The next morning, Annie forces Paul to burn his new manuscript. "[13] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating to reviews, the film has a score of 75 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan) has plans to make the difficult transition from writing historical romances featuring heroine Misery Chastain to publishing literary fiction. Based on King’s 1987 novel of the same name, Misery tells the story of a successful but disgruntled romance novelist, Paul Sheldon (James Caan), who has just written the final book in his … When he is well enough to get out of bed, she insists he write a new novel titled Misery's Return, in which he brings the character back to life. The two discuss his first post-Misery novel, and Marcia tells him about the positive early buzz. [14] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale. Paul's Prosthetic Legs. Meanwhile, a wily small-town sheriff (Richard Farnsworth) circles in.... Director Rob Reiner's adaptation of Stephen King's novel is an eerie tale of obsessiveness and isolation. Misery grossed $10,076,834 on its opening weekend, finishing second at the box office behind Home Alone.

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