You Dirty, Dirty Birdie... (Misery (DVD))

Name: MattRoberts

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Product:	Misery (DVD)
Date:	10/08/03 (425 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good plot , Good performances , Really does scare you!

Disadvantages: Aren't any

Stephen King’s novels have always seemed stupid to me. If any of you don’t know, I hate films that can’t happen in every day life. Take The Green Mile for instance. An awful film that left me feeling stupid. Stupid that I’d watched such a thing.

But, Stephen King seems to have taken time out of writing shit novels, and done this one, excellent novel. I never read the book, but the film I did see. The film that left me startled, shocked, amazed, and pretty scared!


Paul Sheldon – James Caan
Annie Wilkes – Kathy Bates
Buster – Richard Farnsworth
Virginia – Frances Sternhagen

Director – Rob Rein

Certificate -- 18

Duration -- 100 minutes

**THE PLOT**

I think everyone wishes they were a world famous writer. Having everyone worship you for writing such stories. Well, Paul Sheldon is a world famous writer, who writes the series of ‘Misery’ a young girl in love with two men.

After writing over eight books, he decided to kill of the character Misery he loves so. With warnings from his agent, family and friends, that it’s a silly idea, he still goes ahead with it and he kills off the most famous character in book history.

Paul, every time he writes a book, heads off to write his book in the mountains. He always goes there in the winter, when the snow is falling. After finishing his final book in the series of Misery, he checks out of his hotel, and leaves for home – New York.

In tow he has the one and only copy of the new UNTITLED Misery book. But, on the way to the airport a blizzard begins, and Paul is left being pulled of the road, and he falls off a cliff in his car.

Luckily, a driver by sees all of this, and she takes him back to her house. But, lucky it is not, because when Paul comes round, he is greeted by Annie Wilkes telling him:
“I’m your no.1 fan.”
>
Soon, Annie explains to Paul that she found him, and nursed him over the last few days,
“I found you, and I did all I could, because all the roads to the hospital are cut off. I’m a nurse you see. And I’m your no. 1 fan. I’ve read all your books. I’m your no. 1 fan. I just love Misery. I’m your no.1 fan. Any how, listen to me rambling on, the phone lines are dead so I’ll phone the hospital as soon as they’re working to send for an ambulance.”

We can see Paul’s injuries are very, very bad. He can’t move either feet, and is bed bound. Annie, feeds, bathes, and really looks after her idol. But after a couple of days into his stay, she finds the book he wrote – his latest and last…

“I couldn’t help but notice you’ve written your new book. Paul, could I read it?” Annie asked timidly.
“Sure I’d be honoured.” Paul told her. We see that this means a lot to Annie. She really seems to love his books, but there seems to be something odd about her.

Living all alone up in a farm in the middle of nowhere. She seems to tell Paul nothing about herself or her past. From the first scene when Annie was rescuing Paul from the wrecked car, the audience could tell there was something that didn’t add up, and when Annie reads the book, and realises her heroin – Paul – has killed her heroine – Misery – her true colours show…

**PERFORMANCES**

Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her alter ego Annie Wilkes. I think Kathy played her part brilliantly, extraordinary, and if I had to choose the best actress out of any film, it would be Kathy’s portrayal of Annie.

Annie is a very disturbed person. She seems to have gone mad of years of being alone, and having no one. The things she comes out with will make you gasp. One minute she’s feeding her patient soup, next minute she
’s screaming the house down and fing and blinding.

It must have been very upsetting to play her, though. Even though you wanted Annie dead, and Paul to escape, you just couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. She called her pig Misery kept a shrine in a living area of Paul Sheldon, and had each and every one of his books. She loved Paul, and just didn’t want him to leave.

If there were an Oscar for all-time best performance in a film, Kathy Bates would certainly win. She managed to make us love, hate, pity, adore, laugh and cry at Annie Wilkes.

James Caan was nominated for best actor in the Oscars, but lost. He did play his part well, and the things his character went through in that house were incredibly unbelievable.

You really believed his pain at times, and his hatred for Annie was just marvellous. I don’t think he did deserve an Oscar for his performance, but I’ll tell you it was a damn good one.

Him and Kathy Bates are probably the best-blended together characters on a film, ever. The casting was done marvellously, and because there were very little in the film, the casting had to be done thoroughly well, and they managed to succeed with this.

**MY OPINION**

This film was a true horror. You often find true horrors, but they are very rare. Scream, Halloween, I know what you did last summer, are good, but you don’t call them horrors. They are more like “he’s behind you… the only one to survive is the main character, all the friends die, but she’ll survive so she can come back in the sequel, and the prequel…”

But, Misery goes down in history as one of the scariest films. The fact that something like this can happen is scary, but seeing it, is even scarier. You really do saw ouch when he’s in pain and scream when she’s shouting. You feel you’re there in the corner watching.

You feel that you’
;re actually in the same room. That’s what the film does to you. It takes you away from the life you’re in at the minute, and then makes you forget everything and get hooked.

I think you probably know what happens in the end, but it’s a very surprising and clever end. The fact that Annie’s personality has changed throughout the film makes you wonder whether she will be able to keep him, or the cliché horror ending will happen.

I think Misery is a film everyone will enjoy. It’s not for people who like comedies, dramas, thrillers, horrors; it’s for anyone. It has brilliant elements in it, and no other film has caused such suspense for me.

And it does have a few comical elements with Annie coming out with funny things like:
“Cocky danda” “dirty birdie”, and her snorting like a pig around the room, you shouldn’t be, but you will be laughing out loud!

A real good Saturday night movie that you must NOT watch alone, like I did last Saturday night at 2:25am!


**MISERY ON DVD AND VHS**

You can buy the DVD from Amazon for £16.99, and the VHS for £7.19. This is quite expensive, but the film is so good, it's certainly worth the money!

**ALL IN ALL…**

If you’ve never seen this, then you MUST pop down to the video shop now, and rent it. It’s not your average horror, but more of a scary documentary, that will leave you never wanting to be a famous writer!

Written By: Matt Roberts.

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