Misery

3.67
    Misery
    1990

    Synopsis

    After stalking and saving the life of her favorite fiction author in a car accident, his manic obsessor holds him captive in her remote Colorado home then forces him to write back to life the popular literary character he killed off.

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    Cast

    • James CaanPaul Sheldon
    • Kathy BatesAnnie Wilkes
    • Richard FarnsworthBuster
    • Frances SternhagenVirginia
    • Lauren BacallMarcia Sindell
    • Graham JarvisLibby
    • Jerry PotterPete
    • Thomas BrunelleAnchorman
    • June ChristopherAnchorwoman
    • Julie PayneReporter #1

    Recommendations

    • 100

      Time Out London

      Reiner captures just the right level of physical tension, but for the most part wisely emphasises the mental duels. Terrific.
    • 100

      Time

      The actors are supported by the best kind of writerly craft and directorial technique, the kind that refuses to call attention to itself, never gets caught straining for scares or laughs. Popular moviemaking -- elegantly economical, artlessly artful -- doesn't get much better than this.
    • 83

      Entertainment Weekly

      The movie has a real kick to it. As Paul and Annie attempt to outsmart each other, Misery gets nastier and nastier. It turns into a psychotic cat-and-mouse game, and there are some genuine shocks.
    • 80

      The Guardian

      Reiner’s film, the perfect 90-minuter, is sometimes a little stretched at 107 minutes. Nevertheless it maintains its tension well, plays enough tricks on us so that we don’t ever treat anything quite seriously and Goldman’s script has enough good lines and situations to keep one interested in exactly what is coming next.
    • 80

      Empire

      There are a few holes in the plot, mainly towards the end, but from start to harrowing finish, it is blissfully apparent that Rob Reiner can indeed turn his hand to virtually anything.
    • 80

      Variety

      Casting of Caan is effective, as his snide remarks and grumpy attittude are backed up by a physical dimension that makes believable his inevitable fighting back. Bates had a field day with her role, creating a quirky, memorable object of hate.
    • 75

      Chicago Sun-Times

      It is a good story, a natural, and it grabs us. But just as there is almost no way to screw it up, so there's hardly any way to bring it above a certain level of inspiration.
    • 70

      The New York Times

      It seems to want to be a Hitchcockian kind of cat-and-mouse suspense melodrama, which demands a lot more ingenuity than Mr. Reiner or Mr. Goldman ever muster. Misery is just good enough that one wishes it were far better. The ideas are there, but they become lost in the heavy-handed treatment.

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