Some good moments destroyed by length

Rating: 5/10 (11 October 2009)

A bunch of people in Maine are trapped in a supermarket by a mysterious mist that seems to have covered the entire region. It also seems that there are monsters in the mist that kill--but where did the mist and the monsters come from? And will the people ever escape?
This was based on a Stephen King novella which I've read a few times. The novella is overlong but good with some really gruesome sequences. The movie has the same problem--it's overlong but nowhere near as compelling as the novella. The script is just simply boring. The people talk on and on and ON about the same things again and again. After a while I started fast forwarding through the dialogue parts because they were so dull! Also Marcia Gay Harden is a superb actress but she gives one of her worst performances here. She's always preaching and is supposed to convince people that God is punishing them--but she continuously has a blank look on her face. Where's the emotion? I didn't believe her for one second.
On the plus side Thomas Jane and all the other actors are superb in their roles. Also the film has a few gruesome sequences--they're strong and really work on you. However all this can't change the problem that the film is too long and boring. Also the ending was needlessly depressing. Read the novella instead. I give this a 5.