King fans need not fear

Rating: 9/10 (24 May 2008)

One of the hardest things Hollywood tries do to is take excellent stories and/or books and bring them to the silver screen, and in my experience, it seems they have the hardest time with the works of Stephen King. The readers want to see the story played out before them just like they envisioned it when they read the story, but that experience is different for everyone--what matters most is if the story plays out as the author envisioned it, and from what I've read, Mr. King gave this his seal of approval, which is the main reason I wanted to see it. And I'm so glad I did. So many of Hollywood's versions of King's works have missed the mark, because he put so much depth into each of his characters, no matter how minor they may be, and each subplot has so much detail, there's no way one of his full-length novels can be properly condensed into a 90-minute movie--the best one can hope for is a mini-series on HBO or Showtime. When it comes to his short stories, however, it seems that sometimes even 90 minutes isn't enough to encompass the full scope if the story King wants to tell us. This movie has fully grasped the finer points of the story and properly sifted the wheat from the chaff, keeping the best parts and retaining the meat of the story. And the ending--OH. MY. I can see Mr. King hearing someone reading it to him and going, "THAT'S how I should have ended it!" while smacking himself in the head. I love a movie that kicks my butt, and this one did--royally.