Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2962 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-07-28
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Special Edition, Colour, Subtitled, Dolby
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 103 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Based on the chilling bestseller by Stephen King, Misery was brought to the screen by director Rob Reiner as one of the most effective thrillers of the 1990s. From a brilliant adaptation by screenwriter William Goldman, Reiner turned King's cautionary tale of fame and idolatry into a mainstream masterpiece of escalating suspense, translating King's own experience with obsessive fans into a frightening tale of entrapment and psychotic behavior. Kathy Bates deservedly won an Academy Award for her performance as Annie Wilkes, an unbalanced devotee of romance novels written by Paul Sheldon (James Caan), whose books provide Annie with a much-needed escape from her pathetic life and her secret, violent past. After Annie rescues the injured Sheldon from a car accident, she seizes the opportunity to nurse her favorite writer back to health, but her tender loving care soon turns to terrorism as she demands that Sheldon write his latest novel according to her wish-fulfillment fantasies. From this point forward, Misery percolates to a boil as equal parts mystery, thriller, and cleverly dark comedy, with the helpless author pitched in deadly warfare against his number one fan. While Bates carefully modulates her role from doting kindness to sympathetic loneliness and finally to horrifying ferocity, Caan is equally superb as the celebrated author who must literally write for his life. It's essentially a two-actor film, but Richard Farnsworth and Lauren Bacall are excellent in supporting roles as they investigate the writer's mysterious disappearance. Frightening, funny, and totally irresistible, Misery was such a hit that some of Bates's dialogue entered the popular lexicon (particularly her nagging reference to Caan as "Mister Man"), and its nail-biting thrills remain timelessly intense. --Jeff Shannon

Synopsis
Romance author Paul Sheldon (James Caan) longs to be rid of Misery, his plucky heroine of seven novels. She has delivered him fame and fortune and recognition beyond the average writer's dreams, but she is also interminably linked to him. Determined to escape an eternal role as pulp novelist, he kills her off in the eighth novel and heads to his New England cabin to work on his own Great American Novel. 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. From the brink of death, he is rescued from the snow by Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), who just so happens to be Misery's self-professed biggest fan. At first, she nurses him back to health in her remote cabin, telling him the roads and phones are damaged by the storm, fawning over his literary accomplishments. However, things change when she purchases his eighth Misery book and reaches the point of Misery's death. Annie's psychotic underbelly swiftly surfaces as the unfortunate author is held clandestinely captive in her home. 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. The film features an excellent turn by Caan and an Oscar-winning performance by Bates.

Customer Reviews

It's more than great--it's perfect
Misery is an exceedingly good adaptation of the original novel by Stephen King. The novel features one of King’s most tightly-wound, increasingly suspenseful tales, and this movie faithfully brings the novel to life on the big screen. Paul Sheldon, America’s best selling writer, creator of Misery Chastain and chronicler of her romantic and human struggles and successes, has just finished writing a “serious” novel he hopes will give him the stature he desires. On his trip home with the manuscript, a fierce blizzard causes him to lose control of his car. Annie Wilkes, his number one fan, finds his car at the bottom of a hill, pulls Sheldon out of it, and takes him home to nurse back to health. As Sheldon begins to adjust to his new surroundings, he is increasingly bothered by his caregiver’s erratic mood swings. He soon finds himself a virtual prisoner in her house, essentially unable to move with his two mangled legs. When Annie reads his brand new book, she is exceedingly unhappy with it. When she gets the newly published Misery Chastain novel and finds out that her beloved Misty is dead, she begins unleashing her fury on Sheldon and insisting he resurrect Misty in a new novel written especially for her. All this time, the small mountain town’s husband-and-wife police force search for any sign of the missing author (albeit halfheartedly). Eventually, Sheldon realizes escape is something only he can achieve for himself.

James Caan is quite good as Paul Sheldon, but Kathy Bates simply is Annie Wilkes. Her performance as this complicated, mentally disturbed super-fan broods over this entire movie, making it the riveting thriller it is. Lauren Bacall, in what is an overlooked but rather amazing casting coup, lends her talents to the movie in the role of Sheldon’s literary agent, while Richard Farnsworth and perennial King favorite Frances Sternhagen round out a truly excellent cast. King actually held out on this project until such time as it could be placed in the more than capable hands of director Rob Reiner. King had a special affection for this particular story, and he was not going to allow a second-rate adaptation of it to come to the big screen.

The suspense of this story is basically psychological in nature, but there are two scenes of far more physical suffering. The hobbling scene is memorable to say the least, and another incident toward the end introduces a little blood to the film, but overall this is a movie that all lovers of suspense and human drama can appreciate. There are a lot of bad movies based on terrific Stephen King stories and novels, but this movie captures the powerful magic of the original novel as effectively as any King movie ever has.

A Chilling Tale... (4.5 stars)
Based on the horrifying novel by Stephen King, "Misery" is a disturbing and frightening thriller that will leave you feeling numb and breathless by the time that the end credits start to roll. Filmed very similar to Hitchcock films, the movie starts slow and seems innocent, until you start to realize that you're in for a very rough ride.

Paul is a very successful writer of the "Misery" novels. After finishing writing a novel that was solely for himself, he gets caught up in a terrible snowstorm and gets into a serious car accident. He surely would've died if it had not been for his number one fan, Annie, rescuing him from his car and nursing him back to health while his fractured legs heal. Just when he thinks he's the luckiest guy in the world, he slowly starts to learn that Annie just might not be that much of a wonderful person, especially when it comes to a point where she's literally holding him hostage in her house in the middle of nowhere. Paul used to write for a living... now, he must write to save his very life.

The directing and screenplay of this film was very well done. I have not read the book, so I can't really comment if the movie stays true to the book. I also really liked the music in it, which reminded me of "Psycho." Kathy Bates is truly remarkable at playing a psychotic fan with nothing to lose. As you see her more and more in the movie, you feel her slowly slipping into insanity that will scare the hell out of you. Although this movie is not gratuitously violent, when the violent scenes do happen they are very intense and almost hard to watch, so be warned. Be prepared to see something very gruesome and painful--I won't give away the part, but chances are you already know what happens from some of the parodies of this movie.

All in all, this was a great thriller that kept me at the edge of my seat the whole time. You will feel disturbed and uneasy by the time it's all said and done. If you're a Stephen King fan, or you just like a good thriller that never lets go, "Misery" will do just the job for you.

Misery is the best medicine!
Having last seen Misery when it was released in the cinema in the UK, I had almost forgotten how fantastic it was. I have just re-lived the experience on video, and would wholly endorse it all over again.

The action starts when best-selling Paul Sheldon author (brilliantly played by James Caan) is rescued from a car crash by ex-nurse Annie Wilkes (even more brilliantly played by Kathy Bates. Which should be good news. However, when Annie - Paul's number one fan - realises that he has killed off her favourite character (Misery), what follows is very bad news. What follows is sheer physical and mental torture which is felt 100% by the viewer on Paul's behalf.

This film, which is basically a two-hander, manages to grip one's attention from the start and hold it to the very end. The most unnerving parts are not necessarily those containing physical violence, and there is very little in the way of conventional horror; what is most frightening is the gradual revelation of Annie's cruelty, and the desperate efforts on the part of her 'patient' to work his way round it.

If you like your horror flavoured with a large dose of psychological trauma and a pinch humour, you'll love being a victim of Misery.