Nicholson saves the movie

Rating: 7/10 (3 September 2006)

To begin with the film has three good scenes. Not much for a two hours movie that some people rate very high. The first good scene is the opening panorama shot which is more than good and one might think this is the right movie to sit through, unfortunately it falls down minute by minute. Based on a novel by Stephen King director Stanley Kubrik tries to tell the story of the writer Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) who takes a job in an empty hotel in winter Colorado together with his wife and son. His job is to heat the rooms because of frost damages. In the beginning (2nd scene) it is told him that a man who had the job years ago killed his wife and daughters because he couldn't stand the loneliness of the empty hotel ...
Then problems occur, not only for Jack who is going mad like the man years ago, but also for Kubrick and his co-screenplay writer. They do not find a concept to translate King's novel into a good film. They take elements out of it (Jack's son has supernatural powers) that do not work in a movie even if it is two hours long. A more coherent scenario would have been to focus on Jack and his visions. This leads to the second good scene. In one of his visions Jack meets the man who has killed his family and who was a former waiter in the hotel. This is a subtle and well written horror scene and we see that Jack is now taking this man as a model of his own behavior towards his family.
The third good scene is Nicholson's acting before Duval hits him with a baseball bat. This is brilliant acting in a furious monologue. We can also add the scene where he speaks to Duval in a closed room (interesting camera angle too).
Generally the movie is way too long and way too boring. It lacks of a good and tight concept and Kubrick's direction disappoints again.