This film is terrible and overrated because it's "Kubrick!"...

Rating: 2/10 (23 March 1999)

I have a running argument about "The Shining" with a friend who has a varied and keen appreciation of film. He does not, however, see many "horror" films (if that's what "The Shining" is), and does not like or read Stephen King. Which brings us to the point: I think "The Shining" is a great novel, a truly scary entry in it's genre. Like many King novels, it is about wasted people who become vessels of or for evil. That may sound silly, but try comparing "Dolores Claiborne" (also an excellent film) with "'Salem's Lot" or "The Dead Zone" or "Gerald's Game", and you'll find there's more there than just sharp teeth or things that go bump in the night. "The Shining" is, in its simplest form, the study of a man who is a failure at everything he does, including becoming an alcoholic. This is not a paean to King, however, or to suggest that he's a misunderstood Shakespeare. There is more to his novels than a serious reader or filmgoer would suspect, and Kubrick leaves most of the meat of this story out of the film.
My friend and I also disagree about how one reviews a film based on previously published material, and whether the original source must be invoked in comparison. Regardless of one's bias to that particular issue, Kubrick fails on both fronts here. (I believe it is a valid comparison to review both film and original source.) I found "The Shining" to be miscast (Shelley Duval????), poorly acted (Duval and Nicholson, who is just over the top), and poorly adapted for the screen. The Scatman Crothers character is made superficial (all that way JUST for an ax in the chest), the development and attempts at denial of Torrance's encroaching madness are barely sketched, the heroic and suffering role of Wendy is replaced by Duval's whining, the hilarity of Danny talking to his finger (the now famous croak "REDRUM!") still amuses me, and the subtle horror of the novel is replaced by the ridiculous "Elevators of Blood" scene. I've seen much better psychological horror films ("The Haunting", "Daughter of the Mind") and better raw horror films ("Night of the Living Dead", "Halloween", "Prince of Darkness"), and this film is just BAD.
I believe "The Shining" receives good reviews because "Kubrick!" directed it and "Jack!" plays a loony in the lead, but it just doesn't cut it. It is well-filmed and has some good scenes and lines. But, if it's not a horror film, then what the hell type of film is it? I'm also a big Kubrick fan, and although his career peaked with "A Clockwork Orange", his later efforts (excluding this one) still have merit. If you disagree with what I've written, then read the novel and see the much better TV film adapted by King (even though he wrote in a hokey ending).