Misery (1990) --My take on the movie with spoilers!

 

PLOT: A famous author is saved from a woman after he gets into a car crash. The woman is his number one fan.

You should never meet your hero. But should you meet all your fans? Especially the ones who are obsessive?

Misery was a novel written by Stephen King that was published in 1987.

It was later adapted into a movie that released in 1990 and starred James Caan and Kathy Bates.

The movie was an instant success and won Kathy Bates an oscar and a golden globe.

Of course it was well-deserved. Kathy Bates completely molded herself into the character of Annie Wilkes. Even when she is having a normal conversation with Paul (James Caan), you can see the craziness in her eyes.

That's how good her acting is. James Caan does full justice to Paul too.

However, the one thing that stands out in the movie is how closely adapted it is to thr book. This is just any book lover's dream, to have a book they adore turn into a movie that doesn’t disappoint them.

The casting also works in favor of the movie.

For those who have read the book several times, like me, the hobbling scene may seem like a relief compared to what actually happens in the book.

Also, that is thankfully the only violence Annie subjects Paul to.

MISERY Plot

Renowned author Paul Sheldon has finally typed the last word in his latest manuscript. He celebrates with a glass of Dom Perignon and cigarette.

He finishes off and gets into his car, eager to get back home and submit the manuscript to his agent.

Along the way, he gets caught in a blizzard and his car skids off the banks and flips.

We see Paul bleeding and barely able to hold onto his consciousness.

Luck comes in the form of a person who manages to break open the door, drag him out, and perform CPR on him.

The person then picks him up like a sack of potatoes and walks away.

When Paul comes to, he sees an IV  drip bottle. In the background he hears a woman's voice saying, "I'm your number one fan".

Paul seems used to hearing people call themselves his fan so he just nods away.

The woman introduces herself as Annie and also that she was a nurse. She explains that the roads are closed because of the storm and also that the phone lines are down.

She shows Paul the extent of his injuries. His shoulder has been dislocated that was popped back in. Both his legs are fractured and swollen. But not to worry, Annie has made perfect splints for him.

Over the next few days, Paul is fed, bathed, given pain killers, and at times, even have his beard shaved.

Annie sure is a saintly woman. So kind, and caring.

But is she?

One fine day, Annie very sweetly asks him if she can read his manuscript. Although Paul has his reservations about who can even touch his manuscript, he tells Annie that she may considering she saved his life.

Annie is a huge fan of his Misery novels that are romance-based stories of a character called Misery Chastain. But Annie is a fan of Paul so she wants to read his latest novel which is untitled.

In the Misery novel, the book was called Fast Cars.

Paul even tells Annie that she may suggest a title for the book. Annie is all modest when she says that as if she could do that.

She reads the novel and then some time later, comes to him looking hesitant. Paul urges her to dispel criticism, suggesting he could take it.

Annie loves the writing but she isn't a fan of the heavy use of profanity. Paul defends his manuscript saying he has created characters that speak like that on the streets.

Annie blows up saying she has never done that and gives out names of the people she knows and rants about how she never used profanities in her daily conversations. Even as she is going on a rant, not once does she use a really bad word.

Paul is taken aback by her outburst but then she apologizes and he understands that she needs to blow off some steam.

Annie goes off for a while and when she returns, she is in a better mood. She has gotten the latest Misery novel: Misery's Child.

Annie is super excited and feeds Paul but this time he doesn't gobble up his painkillers. He starts stashing away the pills inside his mattress.

One night, Paul awakens to find Misery watching him. She is beyond pissed off. He killed off Misery! How could he!

For a long time, Paul had been trying to get rid of Misery because he wanted to write serious books. This he does against his agent's advise who reminds him that the Misery novels put braces on her daughter's teeth and sent her to college.

Paul isn't ready to relent. As far as he is concerned, Misery is dead.

Well, not for Annie. She screams at him and then reveals she never called his agent or anyone else. No one knows he is here. Before leaving, she tells him that should anything happen to her, he wouldn't survive either.

Paul is unsure what to feel. Annie goes off and Paul uses this time to use the hairpin Annie had dropped, to unlock the doors.

In the novel, Paul knew how to do this as he researched it for his latest novel that was based on a kid who grew up on the streets.

Paul unlocks the door and goes about the house, trying to escape in the wheelchair Annie got for him. Along the way he sees a scrap book called Memory Lane, and also her figurines which he almost drops. He places the penguin back on the table but we can all see he put it in the wrong direction.

He finds a store where he pockets a sheet of painkillers.

He tries the door. Too many locks. The phone doesn't have anything inside it. The kitchen door is hard to get to and locked too.

He hears Annie's car and rushes back to his room. He is covered in sweat and when Annie comes, he quickly places a hand over the sheet of painkillers showing.

He begs her to give him some painkillers before putting him in bed. She obliges and he quickly hides the painkillers.

He notices Annie is in a happy mood and she explains she finally understands her destiny. She has to show Paul the right path.

She brings in a barbecue pot and his new manuscript. To his horror, he realizes he is being told to burn his manuscript.

Paul lies about there being a second copy. Dozens, in fact. Annie is smug as she tells him that she is his number one fan, remember? When she learned that he was staying at a nearby lodge to do his writing, she had been keeping an eye on him and following him. 

It wasn't chance that she came upon Paul and the car. She had been following him.

She explains she has watched all his interviews and therefore knows that he only makes one copy of his manuscript as part of his superstition.

Since he is typing on a typewriter, there is no cloud or autosave features. The perks of modern technology. So yes, imagine putting your heart and soul into a manuscript only to have to burn it because one person didn’t like it.

Nevertheless, Paul is in a position where he must agree to do whatever to survive. Burn the manuscript. He has the brain and talent to write it again or write something else.

He burns it and is almost happy when the flames cause the curtains to burn. Annie brings in a bucket of water to extinguish the fire. She takes away the smoking pile of manuscript away.

The next day, Annie has a surprise for him. She sets up a writing table for him and gifts him a Royal typewriter with a broken 'n' and Eaton papers.

Paul decides to make a fuss about the paper and shows off his knowledge on typing paper. He types the word smudge and shows Annie that the paper isn't ideal for typing his next Misery novel that is to be dedicated to Annie.

Annie tries it out herself and is cross. You can see it on her face.

She drops something heavy on his lap causing him agony as she goes off again to get him his precious Bond paper.

Paul leaves his room again and decides to snoop into the Memory Lane book. When he reads all the articles about Annie being responsible for the death of babies, he freaks out and goes into the kitchen to get a knife.

Annie returns and he hides the knife under the mattress.

Annie gives him the paper. She's got three sheaves of them. Paul has to write a long novel for her.

Paul tries to hide the fact that he hasn't been taking his painkillers so that his mind doesn't feel fuzzy and he can focus.

That night, Annie is watching him again and before Paul can react, she injects him. When Paul comes to, he finds himself restrained on the bed.

Annie talks about the time miners were hobbled so that they wouldn’t steal diamonds. We know what's coming up next...

Annie prepares him and before Paul can try to reason with her, Annie tells him that she has known all along that he has been snooping around. The penguin. That dammed penguin wasn't kept in the right direction. She also found his knife and her hair pin.

She picks up her sledge hammer and breaks both of his ankles. Ouch!

Paul recovers and sets out to work on Misery's return. After his initial attempt is rejected. He rewrites the  novel to Annie's liking. Finally, he gets it right and he's on his way to to writing a novel that will be dedicated to a psychopath.

Meanwhile, Paul's agent has realized he is missing and contact the sheriff who along with his deputy slash wife, investigates the case.

He is so close to seeing the unturned car but now isn't the right time to find Paul. He still has to be further tortured by Annie.

For weeks, Paul hasn't been found, and in Memory Lane, Paul does find clippings of articles on him.

Paul tries to appease Annie by asking her out for dinner where he tries to spike her wine with the painkillers he opened and got the powder out of. Annie, who is usually so composed, picks that moment to spill her wine. Paul's face is drained as he realizes his plans have been foiled.

He works on the novel, ignoring the fact that Annie has named her prize pig after the character.

It is weeks now and finally time for him to be found.

As Annie mentions, the winters have become shorter because of something with the ozone layer. This was in the nineties.

Imagine the winters now...

MISERY Ending Explained with Spoilers

Snow gives way to rain.

Annie grows depressed and talks about offing herself. And Paul too.

Paula manages to get her to stop thinking about killing herself.

Again, we see Annie depressed but there is something in her eyes... great acting again.

Eventually the sheriff notices Paul's car when he is in a helicopter and the snow has melted.

He investigates the car and deduces that someone has broken the door to pull Paul out. He remembers a certain line from Paul's novels that he and his wife are reading for investigative purposes.

The line stays with him.

He has heard it before. Or read it.

He goes to the library and sure enough when Annie was arrested, she had used the same line about there being a higher voice whose justice mattered more.

He goes to the store and asks if Annie has bought anything unusual. Yes, she has. Typing paper.

But what about extra food? Did the store owner not notice she has been buying a little extra food?

The sheriff goes to see Annie who is a pleasant host. He just about leaves having found nothing when Paul makes a noise.

Once the sheriff had come, Annie had injected him with drugs and thrown him into the basement.

The sheriff goes to the basement, sees Paul and then before he can recover from his shock...kablaam!

Annie shoots him.

She is about to shoot Paul and get over with the whole thing when he convinces her that he needs to be alive in order to give Misery back to the world. He is so close.

Annie agrees.

Paul works on his novel and on his muscles too.

Times goes by and Paul's shoulder is pretty much healed and he can carry the typewrite over his head.

One day, he calls Annie and informs her to get his celebratory drink and cigarette. He has already hidden a can of lighter fluid when he was in the basement.

Annie is excited and serves him his superstitious celebratory drink and cigarette.

Paul doesn't use the match to light his cigarette. Rather, he lights up a paper to burn the manuscript that has been soaked with lighter fluid.

Annie jumps to put out the fire on her beloved manuscript only for Paul to bash her head with the typewriter.

But Annie isn't going to stay down that easily. She has a gun, remember?

She shoots him in the shoulder but as he manages to crawl away, Annie jumps atop him. Paul sees a pig figurine and uses it to bash her in the head again.

She collapses right on top of him. She's finally dead.

Eighteen months have passed and Paul is walking with the aid of a walking stick. He meets with his agent who congratulates him on the release of his new novel, Not featuring Misery, of course.

She asks him to consider a non-fiction novel based on what he faced when he was held hostage in the psychopath's lair.

Paul won't think of it. He's still seeing Annie everywhere. He sees her approaching him with cake and is startled only to find that the woman is a waitress who claims to be his number one fan.

Paul keeps it together but you can see that inwardly, he is freaking out.

The movie ends with Paul being shown to be severely traumatized.

This is one of those movies you simply need to add to your list.

A great movie with great actors.

Scare Scale: 4.5/5