Product: The Dead Zone [VHS] (1983)
Rating: 4.0
Intriguing Character-Driven Film
Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken), a young teacher, has been in a coma for the last five years as a result of a car accident. When he suddenly awakens, he finds that the world around him has completely changed. The love of his life, Sarah Bracknell (Brooke Adams) has married another and he has received the dubious gift of second sight. Johnny finds that when he touches another person, he can see their future. Distraught and unable to bear the ramifications of his gift, Johnny retreats into himself and lives alone in a small town in the country. He tutors children in his home to make ends meet and tries to avoid physical contact when at all possible. However, as opportunities to use his gift come up, Johnny finds that he cannot resist. First there is the rapist/murderer, then there is the young boys' hockey team falling through thin ice, and finally there is an obsessed politician (Martin Sheen). In the end, Johnny must make the choice between doing what is right or continuing to endure his bleak, loveless life...Director David Cronenberg did a wonderful job adapting this Stephen King novel. It is not a horror story like many of King's books are, but a wonderful story about a man's inner landscape. Christopher Walken was fabulous as the self-tortured lead character and I felt that I knew exactly what he was going through, even though he never said anything. He was also ably supported by other actors, including a conflicted Brooke Adams as his love interest and Martin Sheen as a characteture of a smarmy politician who takes kissing babies to a whole new level. Shot almost entirely in a bleak, gray, cold winter, the settings were perfect for this film and really let you focus on the characters. A wonderful movie to curl up at night with.