Misery

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Buy This Item Misery by MGM (Video & DVD)  Available from Amazon  $13.99  on 11-14-2008     A "heart-stopping psychological thriller" (Joel Siegel) this Academy AwardÂ(r)-winning* film is "one of the best horror movies" (Time) ever. Adapted from a Stephen King story by OscarÂ(r)-winning** screenwriter William Goldman (All the President's Men) and directed by Rob Reiner (A Few Good Men), this chiller starring Kathy Bates (Titanic) and James Caan (The Godfather), is "a Hitchcockian kind of cat-and-mouse" (The New York Times) gameplayed between two cunning mindsone as sharp as a tack and the other as blunt as a sledgehammer. Novelist Paul Sheldon (Caan) doesn't remember the blinding blizzard that sent his car spinning off the road. Nor does he remember being nursed back from unconsciousness. All he remembers iswaking up in the home of Annie Wilkes (Bates)a maniacal fan who is bent on keeping her favorite writer as her personal prisoner for the rest of his "cock-a-doodie" life! *1990: Actress (Bates) **1969: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; 1976: All the President's Men Reader Reviews "Misery" opens with author Paul Sheldon (James Caan)suffering from writer's block. He tells his agent,the ever-stylish Lauren Bacall,that he's going to take a breather in Colorado. In a freak accident, Sheldon's car ends up in a ditch... and he finds himself being "nursed" by Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) Annie introduces herself worshipfully,saying,"I'm your number #1 fan!" Wilkes begins as sympathetic&kind,but also creepily idolizing Sheldon. He finds himself in the same situation as Scheherazade in the Thousand&One Nights,he must tell the story of Misery Chastain to stay alive. There is paranoia&growing horror. One sympathizes with Sheldon's captivity&his longing for freedom. Wilkes goes from devoted,doting fan to horrifically obsessive. In the meantime, the town sheriff,Buster (Richard Farnsworth) goes to search for Sheldon,using his cheesy romance novels about Misery to solve the mystery. In the classic,"Sunset Boulevard",faded diva Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) embodied the dark side of celebrity. In "Misery",Wilkes embodies the dark side of fandom. She seems cheesily all-American with her love of Liberace (complete with shrine) and her Spam meatloaf. She is a fundamentalist who thinks God called her to "save" Sheldon&Misery Chastain. At the same time, her obsession is deadly. "Misery" is suspenseful&well-crafted. There are plenty of twists&turns,such as when Sheldon finds Wilkes' "Memory Lane" scrapbook. The ending will keep you guessing. "Misery" hurts so good.

Misery Available from Amazon Price: $13.99 Updated on 11-14-2008.

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