Sunday 27 October 2024

Misery (1990 Rob Reiner)

My wife's choice, a suitably scary and gruesome one, and if not a little funny.

William Goldman wrote the part for Kathy Bates, having been a fan of hers from her theatre work. (One of her performances he admired was in 'Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune'). And Reiner agreed. And it was an asset being an unknown movie actor because the audience didn't know her and therefore would be scared of her.

Casting the writer was harder. Here's a list of people who turned it down: Kevin Kline, William Hurt. Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, Richard Dreyfuss, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford. de Niro, Pacino, Hackman, Redford... Caan had been in a drugs wilderness but came to the project clean. Goldman says that he's an actor who's always on the move, and so the desperation of being stuck in a bed for months is genuine and comes over on the screen.

Robert Leighton is the skillful editor at work. He frequently teamed with Reiner: The Sure Thing, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men, The American President.

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