Not At All Impressed

Rating: 4/10 (28 June 2007)

Being a big Stephen King fan,and particularly of this short story, I was really looking forward to this movie. Yes, Cusack portrayed the cynical world-weary side of his character quite well, but his descent into mental instability while in room 1408 was like watching an old silent movie actor. Every action and emotion was exaggerated to the point of silliness, hasn't Hollywood heard of the phrase, 'less is more'? The over-the-top acting was combined with really cheesy effects - I mean, blood seeping through the walls? And coming out of the sink? What was with all the water? I thought at one point I was watching 'Titanic'! This film could have been done so, so much better. All the psychological subtleties of King's story seemed to have been abandoned in pursuit of shallow effects and un-shocking shocks.