Jacob's 31 Days of Halloween - Day 5: Misery

Misery

The last time I saw Misery was around 5 years ago, so I was due for a rewatch of  this classic dramatization of a famous person’s worst nightmare.

Writer/director Rob Reiner is also responsible for films like This is Spinal Tap, Stand by Me, Princess Bride, and A Few Good Men, none of which have anything in common other than being stone-cold classics. In a way, it’s this lack of a trademark that is Reiner’s trademark- he always allows the story to be told without any fancy directorial flourishes- and Misery is as straightforward as they come, which in a way is what makes it so special. Act one is barely over by the time the credits have finished rolling- ending with Sheldon being dragged out of his crashed car by Wilkes- and the movie then takes its sweet time in act two, allowing the tension to build and build until it’s practically unbearable.

Another thing I realized is how much I like Buster (the town sheriff played by Richard Farnsworth) as a character. His bickering banter with his wife is delightful, and his curiosity about the case is so grounded and believable it’s impossible not to be on his side. Even though he is the light side of the story, cutting back to him still furthers the film’s tension because he’s always so close to finding out where Sheldon is being held captive. His last couple of steps to finding Sheldon are certainly a stretch, but it’s forgivable due to what ends up happening to the sheriff.

The design of Wilkes’ home also deserves a shoutout, because it’s not the creepy old decrepit home that’s so common in horror films. Much like the interior of the Bates house in Psycho, what’s terrifying about Wilkes’ home is that it’s basically any grandma’s house. There are some ceramics and dolls, as well as a surprisingly incriminating scrapbook, but there’s no spiderwebs or mold or anything like that. It’s the context and the seclusion that make it terrifying.

As with all of Reiner’s films, the star of the film is the story and the characters, brought brilliantly to life by a great screenplay by William Goldman and the wonderful cast, mainly James Caan and the role made iconic by Kathy Bates. If you’ve never seen it, now is the perfect time.