Yes it is a classic, but so is also the book...

Rating: 7/10 (14 January 2006)

I suppose I'll join the group of people who've read the book before seeing the film and who's a great of Stephen King's novels, so I suppose you may get a hint of where I'm heading. "The Shining" as a book is a masterpiece, probably the best King novel out there one can get if you would ask me. The film however suffers from, as more or less all films based on novels do, a lot of "keys" that I think is really important for the whole plot. I won't give any spoilers here, but Mr. Kubrick, whose works I adore, gives his own interpretation of the novel and he has a few tricks in his pocket for you here in case you believe that you've read the book and that'll leave you out of surprises - well you're wrong. Jack Nicholson (Jack Torrance in the film) makes a crazy performance here and if anyone should be closed within rubber walls, he's the person for it. He makes his role perfect and he succeeds in spreading psychotic vibes. I'd really like to make this a bit of critical spoiler, but I won't, so I sum things up with that I recommend reading the book before seeing the film. Yes, the film is a classic and I like it for sure, but so is also the book who I love. Kubrick's done as well as he possibly could I believe, it is hard to squeeze these 500 pages into 140 minutes without having to cut much of the plot or reorganize things, so this is a masterpiece itself (but once again, so is also the book). 7/10.