Misery (1990) is a psychological horror thriller directed by Rob Reiner from a screenplay by William Goldman, based on Stephen King‘s 1987 novel. After a car crash in a blizzard, the novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is rescued by his self-proclaimed “number one fan,” the former nurse Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates). Her care quickly turns into captivity. Bates, then a stage actress little known to film audiences, won the Academy Award for Best Actress. That makes Misery the only film based on a Stephen King novel to win an Oscar.
At a glance
| Release date | November 30, 1990 (US) |
| Director | Rob Reiner |
| Writer | William Goldman (screenplay) |
| Based on | Misery (1987 novel) by Stephen King |
| Starring | James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagen, Lauren Bacall |
| Runtime | 107 minutes |
| Rating | R (US) |
| Budget | $18 million to $20 million |
| Box office | $61.3 million |
| Franchise | Standalone film; part of the wider world of Stephen King adaptations |
Plot summary
Paul Sheldon is famous for his Victorian romance novels about Misery Chastain, a series he has come to hate. He has just finished a serious new manuscript at his usual retreat in Silver Creek, Colorado. While driving to New York, he crashes his car in a blizzard. Annie Wilkes, a former nurse, pulls him from the wreck and takes him to her isolated farmhouse. He wakes up with broken legs and a dislocated shoulder. Annie says she is his “number one fan” and promises to care for him until the roads clear.
Her moods soon start to swing wildly. When she reads the newest Misery novel and discovers that Paul has killed off her heroine, she reveals that no one knows where he is. She forces him to burn his new manuscript and sets him up with an old typewriter to write a book that brings Misery back to life. Paul plays along while secretly exploring the house, stockpiling painkillers and trying to work out a way to escape. Meanwhile, the local sheriff, Buster (Richard Farnsworth), keeps investigating Paul’s disappearance.
Spoiler section: the ending
Paul finds a scrapbook showing that Annie was once tried over the deaths of infants at a hospital where she worked. When she learns he has been out of his room, she “hobbles” him by breaking his ankles with a sledgehammer. Buster finally tracks Paul to the house, and Annie kills him with a shotgun. Paul agrees to finish the book, then sets fire to the manuscript in front of her. In the brutal fight that follows, he kills her with an iron doorstop. Eighteen months later, walking with a cane, Paul still sometimes sees Annie in strangers.
Production and behind the scenes
Castle Rock producer Andrew Scheinman read the novel on a plane and recommended it to his partner, Rob Reiner, who had already adapted King’s work with Stand by Me. Reiner brought in Goldman, his collaborator on The Princess Bride. The biggest change was the hobbling scene. In the novel, Annie cuts off Paul’s foot with an axe. Goldman wanted to keep it, but Reiner insisted she break his ankles instead. Goldman later agreed, writing that showing an amputation would make audiences hate Annie instead of being drawn into her madness.
Casting Paul took a long time. The role was offered to William Hurt (twice), Kevin Kline, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Richard Dreyfuss, Jack Nicholson, Gene Hackman and Robert Redford, and all of them turned it down. Warren Beatty was interested but had to drop out because of Dick Tracy. Caan said he took the part because it was unlike anything he had played, adding that “being a totally reactionary character is really much tougher.” Anjelica Huston and Bette Midler both turned down Annie, and Midler later said she deeply regretted it. According to Reiner, it was Goldman who suggested Bates. Filming began in February 1990, with Genoa, Nevada, standing in for Silver Creek and interiors shot at Hollywood Center Studios in Los Angeles. Barry Sonnenfeld was the cinematographer, and Marc Shaiman wrote the score.
Release and reception
Columbia Pictures released Misery on November 30, 1990. It opened in second place with $10.1 million, behind Home Alone, and grossed about $61 million in North America. Critics praised the two leads. Roger Ebert gave it three stars out of four, saying “it is a good story, a natural, and it grabs us.” Derek Malcolm of The Guardian called Bates “inspired casting,” and Vincent Canby of The New York Times called her performance “genuinely funny” as well as frightening. Variety was cooler, calling it “a very obvious and very commercial gothic thriller.” It holds an 86% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 75, and audiences gave it an “A−” CinemaScore. At the Academy Awards, Bates won Best Actress.
Legacy and influence
Annie Wilkes ranked No. 17 among the villains on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Heroes & Villains list in 2003. The hobbling scene placed No. 12 on Bravo’s The 100 Scariest Movie Moments in 2004. King has named Misery one of his ten favorite adaptations of his work, in his 2009 collection Stephen King Goes to the Movies. He has also named Annie his favorite of all his characters. A Broadway stage version ran from 2015 to 2016 with Laurie Metcalf as Annie and Bruce Willis as Paul. Metcalf received a Tony nomination.
Trivia
- Annie hates swearing and uses childish substitutes like “cockadoodie” and “dirty bird,” which makes her sudden rages even more unsettling.
- Annie’s favorite musician is Liberace, and three of his recordings are heard in the film.
- Junior Walker and the All Stars’ “Shotgun” plays just before Paul’s car crash.
- Billy Bob Thornton auditioned for the role of Buster’s deputy and was offered it, but the part was cut from the film.
- Lauren Bacall plays Paul’s literary agent, who meets him for lunch in the final scene.
- Paul’s car in the crash is a Ford Mustang.
Related links
- Annie Wilkes (character)
- Stephen King (author)
- Rob Reiner (director) and William Goldman (screenwriter)
- Kathy Bates and James Caan (cast)
- The Shining (1980) and It (2017), other major Stephen King adaptations
- Psycho (1960), another landmark of psychological horror
