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James Caan, Kathy Bates, Frances Sternhagen, Richard Farnsworth, Lauren Bacall ... see more see more... , Graham Jarvis , J.T. Walsh , Wendy Bowers , Tom Brunelle , June Christopher , Archie Hahn III , Pig: Misery , Julie Payne , Jerry Potter , Greg Snegoff , Rob Reiner , Jane Jenkins , Janet Hirshenson

Adapted from a Stephen King novel, Rob Reiner's Misery cast James Caan as a writer at a career crossroads. The film opens with Paul Sheldon (Caan) completing work on his latest novel, a break from his... read more read more... popular series of novels featuring the character Misery Chastain. He gets into a severe car accident and is saved by Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), a reclusive woman who nurses him back to health. Annie is a huge fan of the Misery novels, and she finishes reading the new one while Paul is convalescing. She becomes enraged when she discovers that Paul has killed off Misery. Annie injures Paul's foot severely so that he is unable to leave her house, and forces him to write a new Misery novel. A local sheriff (Richard Farnsworth) and Paul's agent (Lauren Bacall) both attempt to track down what happened to the missing author. Misery shot the relatively unknown Kathy Bates to stardom, winning her one of the few Best Actress Oscars ever bestowed for portraying an evil character. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

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152,311 ratings

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90% liked it

52 critics

R, 1 hr. 47 min.

Directed by: Rob Reiner

Release Date: November 30, 1990

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DVD Release Date: December 22, 1998

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Flixster Reviews (7,857)

  • stormyweather980
    October 22, 2011
    stormyweather980
    Wow, didn't know Kathy Bates had been acting this long....this and Dolores Claiborne are the best films I've seen her in...she's spectacular as the villain! James Caan is good also. Very suspenseful and full of thrills as you wonder if the famous author is ever going to escape. I... read more'm a huge fan of Stephen King movies, and this shot to near the top of the my best-of list the first time I saw it!
  • blkbomb
    October 21, 2011
    blkbomb
    Annie Wilkes: Now the time has come. I put two bullets in my gun. One for me, and one for you. Oh darling, it will be so beautiful. 

    "Paul Sheldon used to write for a living. Now he's writing to stay alive."

    Every time I watch Misery, I like it more and more. There's just so mu... read morech talent involved here. First off, there's the source material from Stephen King. Misery is one of his finest stories. Then there's screenwriter William Goldman who does a good job of writing the story for the screen. Barry Sonnenfeld as cinematographer and of course Rob Reiner. Reiner knows how to make great adaptions of King's books; Stand By Me and Misery speak for themselves. And you can't forget about two stunning performances given by James Caan and Kathy Bates(who took home an Oscar for her psycho performance). There's just too much greatness for Misery to not be good.

    As in many of King's stories, the protagonist is a writer. This time he is actually a successful one to boot. He has a long running franchise of Misery books, and he's just finished his last one. He is deciding to move on from Misery and decides to kill her off. While driving home from his regular writing spot in Colorado; he gets into a blizzard and crashes. "Luckily" for him, a nice woman, who just happens to be his number one fan, pulls him from the wreckage and takes him home. At first she seems like the nicest woman in the world, but she has an angry side and quite a past as well.

    The movie works well in many genres. At times it is just a drama, then it's a thriller and it even has moments of pure horror. There are scenes of high tension. My favorite scene is where Annie leaves the house and Paul wheels himself around the house. As he explores, we see Annie getting closer and closer to home. What will happen? Well that is just part of that high tension.

    Misery is regarded as one of the best King adaptions ever, and that claim is totally justified. Through the picture perfect pacing and the magnificent performances, we are shown the true brilliance of King's story just about as well as it could have been done. Kathy Bates plays a mood swinging psychopath to perfection. Her fits of rage are simply astounding. Caan does a good job in performance, where for the most part, he is either laying on his back or sitting in a wheel chair at a typewriter. 

    While there's other King films I like more, this is still an all-time classic. Rich in character and in plot, it works like magic; putting in the viewer in the same helpless state that Paul is in. Misery is a must see.
  • fb729949618
    September 24, 2011
    fb729949618
    So one day I found Misery laying around the house, and had no clue what it was or what it was about. One of the best choices and discoveries i've ever made; what an awesome film, Kathy Bates is amazing.
  • DreamExtractor
    September 7, 2011
    DreamExtractor
    Misery is a stroke of pure horror genius. The plot is scary and keeps your attention the whole time. The cast is great, Kathy Bates is one of the greatest sociopaths performances ever. Misery is a great horror, and is one of the best horror films to this date.
  • fb100000257973100
    July 27, 2011
    fb100000257973100
    Stephen King. What can one say? He has had the most adaptions from his work, written countless novels, and even directed one film that was God Awful. But, on the adaptations, it is sad to say that most of them are just terrible (some exceptions include Carrie, The Shining, The Gr... read moreeen Mile, and The Shawshank Redeption). But, when it comes to the best, there is one that should always be on the list. This is that one film. Now, other then the aspects, there are two reasons why I say that this is one of the best adaptations of King's work. The first is that this film is scary as hell. I am not joking. Think about it like this: you are popular, all the ladies love you, but one kidnaps you and tortures you so you have to stay with her. With that in mind, this film become purely real to such a point that you feel sick due to one disturbing scene that works wonders in this film. The second reason is due to this film being, in all honesty, a love story. Not the traditional way that you find normally, but in the way that one person is in love with someone and willing to do anything for that person. In a way, the character of Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) is the perfect example of being love struck. She loves Paul Sheldon (James Caan) so much it is frightening. Now, enough of me talking, let's get to the basics. For the directing, Rob Reiner directs this film with such force you could swear that he was born for this film. Well, he did direct such films as Stand By Me (Another adaption of a King story), The American President, and The Princess Bride, so he does have a lot of great talent with this film as he brings the characters to life. For acting, the most anyone can talk about is Caan and Bates with them being the only two characters we see the majority of the time. Now, there is only one person I need to talk about and that is Kathy Bates. All I can say is that she is scary as hell in this role. She makes every celebrities nightmare come true and her performance is worthy of her Academy Award she won. Acting is, overall, impressive. For the screenplay, about 80% takes place between both Caan and Bates and the scenes and dialogue is all brilliant and natural. It is hard to find a script that is this good and, for this film, it is needed. Finally the score. This being an early work done by Marc Shaiman, I am guessing that I will excuse the low quality of the score. Now, Marc is great at composing award winning scores (i.e. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut), but this one is just not memorable at all. Kind of disappointing. But, at least there are other factors that make it all up. Overall, this is a scare film that, for once, has great performances.
  • theunknownhobo
    July 17, 2011
    theunknownhobo
    Although as a die hard Stephen King fan I felt this movie was lacking in a lot of what made the book so scary, I think for the time it was made it delivered superbly. One of my all time favourite books and I can happily say well up there in my list of favourite movies. I would al... read moreso like to add that you have never seen excruciating pain acted as superbly as it is in this bad boy! Ouch!
  • xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    July 4, 2011
    xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    Paul Sheldon used to write for a living. Now, he's writing to stay alive.

    Great movie! The story was very good and disturbing. From now on every time I see Kathy Bates on a film I'll remember her from this movie. She acted so well and psychotic that she won the Oscar for Best Ac... read moretress in 1991. I was very impress how she took it to another level completely. Kathy Bates can go from nice and cheerful to downright crazy like someone turning on a light switch. While watching James Caan suffer through the torture that Bates puts him through, you can't help but sympathize with the guy. Rob Reiner presents us with the problem, and he slowly escalates the tension and the dread that creeps over the movie. Great movie from Rob Reiner.

    In this darkly humorous thriller, James Caan portrays Romantic novelist Paul Sheldon, famously renowned for his trademark character, the film's namesake 'Misery' Chastaine. shortly after finishing his latest book, he drives of back to New York from the Silver Creek lodge. After a while, his car swerves off the icy road in a blizzard. In the car, he has a flashback in which he is talking to his agent (portrayed by Lauren Bacall) about his last Misery book. He is rescued by nurse Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) who takes him back to her house for two days and reveales that she is his number one fan, hence the infamous quote "I'm your number one fan". When Annie asks if she can read his new book (in manuscript form) she proves to be more than a little eccentric when she lashes out in a fit of rage over the swearing in his book. When she leaves the room he seems fraked out and looks like he wants to leave quickly. The next day, Annie brings home a copy of the final Misery book and over the days reveals how many pages she has read. During which, she introuces him to her pet sow, Misery.

    The following night, she nearly kills him over the fact that he has killed Misery in his final book, tells him that she never called the local hospital (which she said she had) and threatens to kill him if anything happens to her. He immediately tries to escape but fails. The next day, Annie seems happy and tries to persuade him to burn the manuscript to which he seems reluctant. Later, she reveals she wants him to write a new book in which Misery comes back to life. When he sees a hairpin on the floor, he has an idea to buy time, he asks Annie to buy some different paper because his current paper smudges, to which she responds with another fit of rage. Whilst she is out shopping, Paul uses the hairpin to unlock his bedroom door and escape. However, he soon finds out that the front door is locked as well. He makes a visit to her living room and medicine closet. In the living room he accidentally knocks a small ceramic penguin off the table and puts it back the wrong way (this will become important later). He also realises that Annie's phone is a fake one, cancelling his chances of contacting the outside world. In the medicine closet, he takes some of the pills the Annie had been giving him for his fracture. He also tries to escape through her back door in the kitchen but cannot open it (I forgot to mention that he was bedridden for a few days and currently in a wheelchair). Soon, he hears Annie returning and immediately races back to his room. Fortunately, he gets back to his room in time just when she opens the door. She gets him back into bed and gives him a notepad and his pills (which he pretends to swallow).

    The following night, he saves up a lot of powder from the pills. In the morning, an argument starts between Paul and Annie about the book, which escalates into a humorous fit of rage about her growing up in Bakersfield watching chapter plays. Meanwhile, the local authorities find Sheldon's '65 Mustang buried in the snow. When Annie reads some of Paul's new manuscript she responds happily. Paul requsts that Annie have dinner with him to celebrate Misery's return. At the dinner, Paul makes a toast to Misery's return but asks if she has any candles. Whilst Annie is looking for them, Paul puts the powder in her wine. When she returns she almost makes the toast but drops her drink in the process, ruining Paul's plan.

    The next scene shows a line of clips of Paul writing the book. In the last clip, Annie gives him his pills and talks about committing suicide. When she leaves the house, he goes out of his room again and reads her scrapbook. It includes many newspaper clippings, revealing that she killed her father, her college roommate and many patients in hospitals. He grabs a knife from the kitchen and wheels himself to his room. Later, he awakens to the sight of Annie as she forcibly sedates him. In the morning, she ties him to the bed and reveals that she knows that he has been out of his room (the scrapbook, the ceramic penguin, the hairpin). Then, she 'hobbles' him (puts a block of wood betwen his feet and hits them with a sledgehammer)

    In the next scene, 'Buster' the local sheriff sees an emotional outburst in the town and researches her history. Later, he pays a visit to her house to look around. When he leaves, he hears a noise and goes back inside to find Paul in the basement and is shot by Annie. When she says she wants to kill him then herself, he requests finishing the book first. later, he is writing the book and requests 3 things: a cigarette, matches, and Dom Perignon champagne. When Annie returns, he also requests two glasses. whilst she is out of the room, he pours flammable liquid onto the manuscript and burns it, which escalates into a brawl resulting in Annie's death.

    18 months later, Paul is seen in a restaurant with his agent, refusing to write a book about his experiences. He mistakes a waitress for Annie in a haunting vision as she repeats Annie's line: "I'm your number one fan".
  • jennifxu
    April 30, 2011
    jennifxu
    I think the book was better, but Kathy Bates does a sharp job looking all menacing and everything.
  • ajv2688
    April 10, 2011
    ajv2688
    An absolutely brilliant Stephen King movie to start off the 90s. The acting is perfect, the story is both suspenseful and scary, and Reiner just did a fantastic job with this movie. It's a classic, I highly recommend it.
  • BEACHBUNNI
    October 23, 2010
    BEACHBUNNI
    Rob Reiner did an amazing job with this movie !!
    James Caan, plays the part of the tortured writer,Paul Sheldon,whos car goes off the road,where he would of been left to die,if he had not been rescued by his biggest fan Annie,played by Kathy Bates,who plays such a completely b... read moreelievable part as the psychotic obsessed fan of his.
    Misery is a chilling thriller which kept me glued to my seat !!
    loved it!!!

View All Misery Reviews

Critic Reviews

Richard Schickel
October 14, 2008
Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine

Popular moviemaking -- elegantly economical, artlessly artful -- doesn't get much better than this. Full Review

Variety Staff
September 25, 2007
Variety Staff, Variety

Bates has a field day with her role, creating a quirky, memorable object of hate. Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
September 25, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

A skillfully pared-down (if psychologically thin) horror thriller. Full Review

Vincent Canby
May 20, 2003
Vincent Canby, New York Times

Misery is a blunt instrument that fractures the kneecaps more often than it tickles the funnybone. Full Review

Rita Kempley
January 1, 2000
Rita Kempley, Washington Post

A weak handshake of a movie, it is slightly repellent -- hardly gripping, much less knuckle-whitening. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

It is a good story, a natural, and it grabs us. Full Review

Owen Gleiberman
November 30, 1990
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

Kathy Bates has a gift for playing cheerily hostile, paranoid misfits. Full Review

Kelly Kessler
January 2, 2011
Kelly Kessler, Common Sense Media

A quality film of suspense and manipulation. Full Review

Christopher Smith
September 27, 2009
Christopher Smith, Bangor Daily News (Maine)

Director Rob Reiner creates an atmosphere of tense horror wrapped around rich dialogue ("Cockadoodie dirty birdie!"), and in the process, he gets sterling performances from Caan and Bates. Full Review

Chris Laverty
September 8, 2009
Chris Laverty, Clothes on Film

Kathy Bates brilliantly portrays Annie as someone with absolutely no sense of her own monstrosity. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Facts

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    • Annie Wilkes: Oh, Paul. What a poet you are.
    • Paul Sheldon: Do you remember for all those years, nobody ever knew who Misery's real father was, or will they ever be reunited? It's all right here. Does she finally marry Ian, or will it be Winthorne? It's all right here.
    • Annie Wilkes: Paul you can't!
    • Paul Sheldon: Why not? I learn it from you.
    • Waitress: I just wanted to tell you I'm your number one fan.
    • Annie Wilkes: Oh god I love you!
    • Annie Wilkes: I DON'T WANT HER SPIRIT! I WANT HER, AND YOU MURDERED HER!
    • Paul Sheldon: No I didn't.
    • Annie Wilkes: WHO DID?
    • Paul Sheldon: No one did! She just died! She... she... slipped away!
    • Paul Sheldon: SLIPPED AWAY! SLIPPED AWAY? SHE DIDN'T JUST SLIP AWAY! YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT! YOU MURDERED MY MISERY!
    • Annie Wilkes: She can't be dead, MISERY CHASTAIN CANNOT BE DEAD!
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Misery Trivia

  • What was the name of the author Kathy Bates held captive in the movie Misery?  Answer »
  • What did James Caan knock of the table,which led to Kathy Bates realising he had been out of his room,in the film Misery  Answer »
  • In which film does james caan star as an author held against his will by actor kathy bates?   Answer »
  • which one of stephen kings novels was the first to win an academy award  Answer »
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