Where it is significantly elevated is in the terrifyingly convincing performance by Bates as a schizophrenic psychopath.
Comment
01/01/00
Misery (1990)
90
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:50
Fresh:45
Rotten:5
Average Rating:7.3/10
Consensus: Elevated by standout performances from James Caan and Kathy Bates, this taut and frightening film is one of the best Stephen King adaptations to date.
Runtime: 3 hrs 34 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Synopsis: Romance author Paul Sheldon (James Caan) longs for parting with Misery. Sheldon's plucky heroine of seven novels has delivered Sheldon fame and fortune and recognition beyond the average writer's... [More]
Starring: Kathy Bates, James Caan, Richard Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagen
Director: Rob Reiner
Reviews for Misery
Top CriticFrom start to harrowing finish, it is blissfully apparent that Rob Reiner can indeed turn his hand to virtually anything.
09/25/07
Top CriticThe dark duet between Paul and the frankly psychopathic Annie is played to tense perfection.
09/25/07
Top CriticReiner captures just the right level of physical tension, but for the most part wisely emphasises the mental duels. Terrific.
06/24/06
Top CriticNo review available.
10/15/03
Rob Reiner builds Stephen King's tale with clean, effortless strokes.
06/30/07
A convincing psychological thriller with a powerful performance by Kathy Bates.
08/30/04
Misery is a blunt instrument that fractures the kneecaps more often than it tickles the funnybone.
05/20/03
Top CriticIt is a good story, a natural, and it grabs us.
01/01/00
Top CriticThe result is arguably the best King novel-to-film adaptation yet, a tense character study that grows and builds and has plenty of humor, both light and dark, along the way.
01/01/00
It's a definite KEEPER!!
06/02/06
Part of the startling horror of Annie is that she is just about the last person in the world from whom you'd expect antisocial or violent behavior.
01/01/00
A weak handshake of a movie, it is slightly repellent -- hardly gripping, much less knuckle-whitening.
01/01/00
Kathy Bates brilliantly portrays Annie as someone with absolutely no sense of her own monstrosity.
09/08/09
Reiner seems to have been gambling very heavily on Kathy Bates's performance to set this film apart and make it a Reiner film. Bates was good but not that good.
01/01/00
Except for the flat, compromised ending, Reiner's smooth direction and Goldman's nicely structured script make this version of King's novella enjoyable as a horror flick and psychological thriller, not to mention Kathy Bates' superb turn as the wacko fan
10/08/07
Not only is Misery the best adaptation of a Stephen King book ever made, it's the only good one ever made!
01/01/00
A skillfully pared-down (if psychologically thin) horror thriller.
09/25/07
This is a first rate movie, one of the best of the Stephen King adaptions ever.
03/23/03
Popular moviemaking -- elegantly economical, artlessly artful -- doesn't get much better than this.
10/14/08
Top CriticLatest News for Misery
October 10, 2007:
RT's Top 50 Horror Movie List Unmasked
Halloween is a great time for three of life's essential pleasures -- pigging out on candy, dressing up in a fun costume, and watching an obscene amount of horror movies.... More...
May 17, 2005:
Bates, McDowell and Leigh to Hit the "Funny Farm"
From Cannes, The Hollywood Reporter brings news of an upcoming ensemble comedy that sounds pretty enticing: Kathy Bates ("Misery"), Malcolm McDowell ("A Clockwork... More...
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