Product Description

A "heart-stopping psychological thriller" (Joel Siegel) this Academy AwardÂ(r)-winning* film is "one of the best horror movies" (Time) ever. Adapted from a Stephen King story by OscarÂ(r)-winning** screenwriter William Goldman (All the President's Men) and directed by Rob Reiner (A Few Good Men), this chiller starring Kathy Bates (Titanic) and James Caan (The Godfather), is "a Hitchcockian kind of cat-and-mouse" (The New York Times) gameplayed between two cunning mindsone as sharp as a tack and the other as blunt as a sledgehammer. Novelist Paul Sheldon (Caan) doesn't remember the blinding blizzard that sent his car spinning off the road. Nor does he remember being nursed back from unconsciousness. All he remembers iswaking up in the home of Annie Wilkes (Bates)a maniacal fan who is bent on keeping her favorite writer as her personal prisoner for the rest of his "cock-a-doodie" life! *1990: Actress (Bates) **1969: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; 1976: All the President's Men

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8749 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-08-01
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 107 minutes

Amazon.com
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

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.

"It's more than great. It's perfect."
Finally a special edition of Misery! This has been previously released on Region 2 DVD but this is the first official Region 1 release. Kathy Bates won a much deserved Best Actress Oscar for her performance. This is one of Stephen King's best and while there are a few humorous moments most notably through Kathy's dialogue, the horror and suspense never fizzle in any way. This is one of the best horror/suspense pictures out there and should be in any fans collection for multiple viewings. Here are the special features:

DVD Features:

Region 1

Keep Case

Widescreen - 1.85

Audio:

Dolby Digital Surround - Spanish

Dolby Digital 5.1 - English, French

Subtitles - English, Spanish - Optional

Additional Release Material:

Audio Commentaries - 1. Rob Reiner - Director

2. William Goldman - Screenwriter

Featurettes - 1. "Misery Loves Company"

2. "Marc Shaiman's Musical Misery Tour"

3. "Diagnosing Annie Wilkes"

4. "Advice for the Stalked"

5. "Profile of a Stalker"

6. "Celebrity Stalkers"

7. "Anti-Stalking Laws"

Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer

2. Original Theatrical Teaser

Misery - Collector's Edition
On October 2nd, 2007, MGM released Misery - Collector's Edition on DVD. This DVD edition features a newly remastered video and audio. It has been said that this is a brand new never before released on DVD print of the film. The film is presented in its orignal aspect ratio of 1.85:1, a fullscreen version is not offered on this edition. This edition features 2 audio commentaries, both are bland and don't offer much in the way of info. There are many silent spots and isn't really worth the listen. It also features 7 featurettes, only one worth actully checking out. The 'Misery Loves Company' featurette talks to the actors and filmmakers about how this film came to be. Other features on this disc are 2 theatrical trailers. Personally I feel they skimped on the bonus material and had they given this release a little more time then it would have been a much better release. But I would recommend picking this up if you own the previous edition based on the updated video & audio alone.