Misery (1990)

Want to see it?

Seen it?

0
1
2
3
4
5
Rate this movie.

Buy it now on DVD

Starting at $15.22

Want to buy it?

Write a review

Discuss it

Add to lists

Recommend it

Get recommendations

Watch trailer

Directed by Rob Reiner.

Starring Lauren Bacall, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagen, James Caan.

Watch trailer

Adapted from a Stephen King novel, Rob Reiner's Misery cast James Caan as a writer at a career crossroads. The film opens with Paul Sheldon (Caan) completing work on his latest novel, a break from his popular series of novels featuring the character Misery Chastain. He gets into a severe car accident and is saved by Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), a reclusive woman who nurses him back to health. Annie is a huge fan of the Misery novels, and she finishes reading the new one while Paul is convalescing. She becomes enraged when she discovers that Paul has killed off Misery. Annie injures Paul's foot severely so that he is unable to leave her house, and forces him to write a new Misery novel. A local sheriff (Richard Farnsworth) and Paul's agent (Lauren Bacall) both attempt to track down what happened to the missing author. Misery shot the relatively unknown Kathy Bates to stardom, winning her one of the few Best Actress Oscars ever bestowed for portraying an evil character. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

[more]

Reviews and discussions

Re:Suburban Nightmare
by SkyPilot in Serialicious

liked it.

"I didn't see the Shia LaBeouf-in-a-suburb remake of Rear Window, it's called disturbia, but I thought that was an interesting twist. No one's going to believe a sixteen-year-old delinquent on house arrest. " [More]

Suburban Nightmare
by mercurial in Serialicious

liked it.

"Some of the scariest, and funniest, movies featuring serial killers have been those located in the "normal" surroundings of suburbia. Here's my tentative list: 1.) Scream - Butchering buxom high-schoolers for their lack of knowledge of horror movie trivia. Fun times. 2.) Serial Mom - Kathleen Turner as a June Cleaver-esque suburban housewife that just so happens to be obsessed with serial killers and begins her own fun-filled foray into the field she's so fascinated with. 3.) The 'Burbs - Suburban gossip mongers believe their new neighbors are serial killers. Cameo by Corey Feldman makes this a winner. 4.) Mr. Brooks - Respected community man moonlights as a psychopath. Yay. 5.) Freeway - Keifer Sutherland escapes the monotony of his suburban life and perfect wife (played amazingly by Brooke Shields) by crusing the freeway for nubile young girls to terrorize. Finding out what's in the man's shed is more than reason enough to watch the film. 6.) Arsenic and Old Lace - Two of the swe ... " [More]

Re:Top 5 Antagonists
by mercurial in Top 5

liked it.

"Top 5 Antagonists: Human1.) Dazed and Confused - O'Bannon - Ben Affleck's character takes the cake as the biggest a**hole and eventually gets what he deserves.2.) Mutiny on the Bounty - Captain Bligh - Sadistic and unflinchingly evil, Captain Bligh is undoubtedly one of cinemas most hated antagonists.3.) What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? - Jane - Bette Davis oozes nastiness from her caked on makeup to her hoarse, smokers voice.4.) Se7en - John Doe - The unseen serial killer in this film intensifies the terror and dread the viewer feels throughout this film, even more so when he reveals himself and his final acts of brutality.5.) Groundhog Day - Phil "like the groundhog!" Connors - Bill Murray is incredibly noxious for most of the film as a jaded weather man forced to relive the same day over and over again.Runner's Up: Strangeland, Misery, All About Eve, Man Bites Dog, Lemony Snicket's, Dogville Top 5 Antagonists: Supernatural / Science Fiction1.) The Wizard of Oz ... " [More]

There's a hole in the 'Bucket'
by usesoap in usesoap Blog

liked it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"After a second-half career slump, director Rob Reiner has taken great pains to critic-proof his latest film, “The Bucket List.” “I'll pair two of America's best-loved elder actors, give them oddly endearing eccentricities, saddle them with a terminal illness, but show how they learn to LOVE LIFE!!!” he says (exclamation marks are a necessity here).So when a critic attempts to lay into the film for being rote and pandering, he or she will be derided for besmirching the actors' good names and callously drubbing those dealing with cancer.Well, bring on the hate mail. This is “Wild Hogs for the septuagenarian set (“Mild Hogs?” “Terminal Hogs?”), and it is a TV dinner of a film – everything spooned out in carefully measured proportions, pre-packaged and cold, without a hint of spice or surprise.The two ailing leads are a cantankerous old wisecracking coot and a gentle, grounded guru who are both diagnosed with the b ... " [More]

movie year countdown #17 - 1990 ...
by Risselada in Risselada Blog

liked it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"This blog entry is part of my “movie year countdown”. To read more about that check out my first Spout filmblog entryMiseryI heard this was pretty famous for being torturous and hard to watch. The hard to watch part is mostly probably because of the "hobbling" scene. The hardest part for me to watch actually was when she made him burn his book. But otherwise I found the movie to be more exciting than frightening.But I didn't find it that frightening overall. Actually it was a bit goofy at times. I almost thought some of the acting and especially the camera directing and choreography was inspired by Evil Dead II. Is was silly and I was laughing at times. And it was hard to tell if that was intentional or not. Yes Anne Wilkes is supposed to say and do silly stuff, but it's supposed to ultimately reveal how frightening she is. Certainly the silliness did contribute to the horror at times, but many other times it diffused it.Then again, I think i ... " [More]

Re: REMAKES & BOOK ADAPTATI ...
by lukasblu in movie_maniacs

loved it.

"How about a few stephen king books/short stories?(some original book/short story titles where changed when made in film)movies based on S. King books i liked are : Misery, Green Mile ,Stand by me and Hearts in AtlantisAmy tan books that was made into a movie :the Joy Luck Club; this movie was great!Books that i read and did not like the film version:Bridges of Madison CountyDid any one see Perfume : the Story of a Murderer (2006)? Was not highly impressed with this movie,some scenes were just outlandish,and there was barely any scare/suspense factor in this movie that i hoped it to be or as advertised to be;I am curious about checking out the book this film was based on though,it seems quite an interesting tale. " [More]

Re: it
by lukasblu in suspense-thriller-mystery-horror

loved it.

""Stephen King write great books but I've yet to find one of the movies based on his books that is at all interesting. " you are right mostly on that. With the exception of Misery (1990);just about evereyone i know that have seen seen misery liked it just like me. Although, i have never read the book so i do not know how it compares to the book. A couple of memorable quotes from that movie i love is "you dirty birdy" and " I am your number one fan".Stephen king did write some non-horror books/short stories which i thought became pretty good movies(again, i never read the books and the movie name might be different from the original story by s.king).They are:Stand by Me (1986), The Green Mile (1999), and Hearts in Atlantis (2001)( this flick did not get good critical appraise,but i liked this flick)I actually saw stephen king once when he performed in a band called "Rock Bottom Remainders" with other famous authors in the miami book fair .He was pretty cool;they played a bun ... " [More]

Movie year countdown viewing pr ...
by Risselada in Risselada Blog

liked it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Here’s the dilemma. I have a list of well over three thousand movies I want to see saved on IMDB. I have a subscription to Netflix and recently every time I return a DVD it has been an extremely arduous task to make the decision as to which movie I should see next. In an effort to narrow down my choices and make the process of choosing slightly less overwhelming I have devised a system, almost a bit of a game for me. Here’s how it goes.For my first film selection, I have narrowed the options down to only films that were released in the year 2006. Then after I have watched that movie, my next selection would have to be a film released in 2005. Then I would see a film from 2004, then 2003, etc. The process of deciding is still laborious, but actually quite a bit more exciting. (I'm going by IMDB as my source for release years)I have already been making a list and have also already begun watching the films. I decided this might be a good time to start fooling ... " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

liked it.

A stark departure from director Rob Reiner's nostalgic coming-of-age tales Stand By Me (1986) and When Harry Met Sally (1989), Misery (1990) adeptly juggled agonizing suspense with cartoonish freakishness. Based on a Stephen King story, the film was generally well-liked by both audiences and critics, though it doesn't strive for the depth of Martin Scorsese's similar The King of Comedy. It does, however, allow for a restrained but offbeat performance from the previously little-known character actress Kathy Bates. Her compellingly deranged Annie is the film's centerpiece, and she won an Academy Award for her work. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide

Tags: obsession , stalker , based-on-a-book , writer , fan-devotee
View all