Good though inconsistent

Rating: Null/10 (28 May 1999)

"The Shining" has a powerful cult following of both Kubrick-philes and horror buffs. Although I found the movie to be very entertaining at times, and enjoyed Nicholson's performance, I find it overrated and a B+ movie at best.
First off, Kubrick's use of music is spectacular as always. As in "2001: A Space Odyssey," Kubrick used pre-existing classical/art music for 95% of the film's score. This music is perfect for the movie; subsequently Penderecki and Bartok have been endlessly imitated in horror/suspense flicks.
Secondly, the set is grand and effective. With Kubrick there is no question that the decor, color schemes, etc. are significant and revealing, and though I won't go into them here, several analogies can be drawn between the set and the rest of the film.
And, of course, we have Nicholson. I can't think of anyone else who could have pulled off the role so convincingly. At times the dialogue is clunky and choppy (as he berates his bat-wielding wife, for example) and would be painfully poor in the hands of most any other actor. (I suspect Jack added many small improvisations to his performance.) And when he's given the meaty stuff he knows just what to do with it.
As mentioned above, at times the dialogue could be much better--most of the conversations between Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, pre-stir-craze, have an intensely artificial feel to them, making it difficult to believe these characters are married. Having read the Stephen King book I'm aware of the tension between them as a result of Jack's alcoholism, but nevertheless the interaction felt wrong to me.
And the movie is TOO LONG. The actual length is not so important as the pacing within this duration. After this movie ended I felt as if I'd seen a 4-hour movie, not a 2.5-hour one. Had it been done really well I wouldn't have noticed the length. There are boring, slow periods, but these are overshadowed by the movie's excellent suspense sequences--mostly.
I enjoyed the movie a lot but would not put it on a pedestal.