Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Stephen King's Misery novel was turned in to a movie. Of course it was natural for me to want to check the movie out. I am a big fan of Stephen King and had read the long novel. Stephen King is often horror obsessed in his stories. This is meant to be more of a thriller. Even though I prefer horror movies. Misery surprised me, it was made so well that I found it to be way better then the book was.

Who plays it it?

There are some great actors and actresses in Misery. James Caan plays a Paul, an author of a book series called Misery. An amazing Cathy Bates as Annie, a crazed fan of Paul's. These are our two main characters of the movie. There are also many other good actors and actresses. Lauren Bacall, Graham Garvis, Richard Farnsworth, Jerry Potter and more. The acting is done very well. Kathy Bates played an unbelievable role that earned her a cfca award, a Golden Globe award and other nominations for her performance as Annie.

What is the plot?

The plot is great. Paul, the author is rescued after a car crash that leaves him stranded and his leg broke. He is rescued apparently by his biggest fan, who turns out to be more in to his work then he could ever imagine which could lead to his own Misery!

Are there more details?

There sure are a lot more details to get in to. First of all this movie was based on the novel like I mentioned already. It was directed by Rob Reiner who is an incredible and well known director. This movie was put out in 1990. So it is old, but not classic old. The run time for the movie Misery is 107 minutes in time. It is put out by Castle Rock Entertainment.

Can we go further then the plot?

I can give you a great many details in to this story. However, I would recommend that if you have not seen it and plan to, that you be aware that this review from this point on contains many spoilers. Although I will try not to spoil too much, it tends to happen when you describe a movie that you really liked.

Moving on from the plot. Paul has become stranded and seriously injured after an accident. A woman, Annie comes to his rescue and takes him to her home. She gives him some pain killers, food and pretty much plays nurse to him. All the while she never calls a doctor, or lets anyone know that he is there at her place. At first Paul thinks that Annie is just a nice person who had stopped to do the right thing and help him out. However, it is not very long before he finds out that his #1 fan is a crazy lunatic.

It is winter, Paul is trapped with this mad woman in her home out in the mountains. He could scream but no one would hear him, he could run but he is injured. He at one point tries to escape, but Annie fixes that by placing a block of wood between his ankles and smashing them with a sledge hammer, leaving him with broken ankles and unable to walk. Yes, she is a lunatic for sure.

He does make other attempts but is not successful at this stage of the game. In fact she seems to know everything he is going to do before he does it. The whole movie she is obsessed with him making a new Misery novel. She gets him a type writer and paper to work with. He does as she asks. She is dying to find out what happens in the story. He says that she can not see it until she is done. Later on he will do the unthinkable with it, that Annie will just be pushed over the edge, more so then she was before. Who knew she could be even more crazy?

A few times she is questioned by a cop who also happens to know her. He says that Paul's car was found. She does not let on in the least way that she knows what happened and that the famous author is right there in her house, and the cop does not suspect anything is out of the ordinary at first. So he leaves and she continues to torture Paul the rest of the way through.

Will Annie get to see Misery play out in a new story? Will Paul escape Annie's hold on him in the mountains? Is there death in store for one or both of our main characters? These are the questions that I will leave you to ponder. I refuse to say anymore because I would be pretty much giving the whole story away, and I do not want to spoil it any more then I have so far. Although I have to say that I left out most of the best parts.

I surely was not going to spoil a movie completely that was so edge of the seat fun to watch. I have watched it several times since the first time. It was one of the best movies that I have seen that was based on a novel written by Stephen King. I still can't get over how real the characters were.

How are the video, sound and special effects?

They are great. The video and sound are clear. There is no skipping or flaw with the DVD. There is nothing much to say about special effects though. It is not like this was a gore movie or anything either.

Do you recommend Misery?

Yes I do. This movie had me wondering each second what Annie would do to Paul next, if that dumb cop would wake up and see what is in front of him own eyes and if one of Paul's tricks or attempts to leave would really work. Again I won't spoil it by letting you know what ends up happening. But I will say that I was awaiting the end the whole time and yes it was a great thriller movie. On a horror level, it wasn't exactly scary. But it was thrilling, suspenseful and different from any other movie being put out at that time and era.

The movie Misery contained some of the best acting I have ever seen done. I loved the violence being done by a woman. You do not see that very often in movies like this. It is usually a Strong man taking over a weaker woman. This is a nice reversal which makes the movie even more fun to watch. This movie does have some vulgar language and is pretty violent, so I would not recommend it for a child of any age. But for an adult, this is one of the best movies there is based on Stephen King novels.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age