Writer Paul Sheldon is in for the fan encounter of a lifetime when the obsessive Annie Wilkes saves him after a car crash. Novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan) finishes up his latest book at Colorado's Silver Creek Lodge. He leaves, only for a snowstorm to hit that causes him to crash. His body broken, Paul flashes back to when his publishing agent Marcia Sindell (Lauren Bacall) told him he made a mistake in killing Misery, the main character in his book Misery's Child. Paul, sick of writing the character, says he'd have been stuck writing her stories forever if he hadn't killed her, then leaves the write the book he finished moments ago. As Paul loses consciousness, and a person breaks his door to get him out. He wakes up covered in scrapes in someone's house, with an IV in his hand. Calling herself his #1 fan, his rescuer says they're just outside Silver Creek, and that he has been asleep for two days. She introduces herself as Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), a nurse, and gives him painkillers, then with time removes the IV. Annie explains that he's not in a hospital because the roads are out and the phones are down. As time passes again, she reveals she had to pop his shoulder back into his place, and that both of his legs have fractured bones. Showing him the mangled legs, she tells him to not move them, as she could hear the bones moving, saying she'll get him to a hospital once the roads are clear. Marcia calls Silver Creek's sheriff, Buster (Richard Farnsworth), worried because he never called her despite checking out of the hotel. Buster tells her no one has reported anything but puts Paul into his "filing system" of post-it notes on the wall. He asks his wife Virginia (Frances Sternhagen) about the blizzard, and she recalls it having been on the same day Marcia said Paul checked out. While shaving Paul's face, Annie reveals it wasn't entirely coincidence that she found him; though she happened to see him while driving home, she in fact knew he'd be up in the lodge writing his book, so she occasionally goes to watch his cabin. He calls her kind for her words about his books and calling him a genius, assuring him that the roads and phones should be fixed soon and in the meantime she'll keep trying for help. Before leaving, she asks if she can read his manuscript. He agrees, pointing out how she saved his life after the wreck. He tells her it's currently untitled and suggests she come up with the title after determining what it's about, which she says she couldn't do. Buster meets with the lodge's manager, who says nothing was odd about Paul's exit, as he liked for things to work out the same every time he visits. Later, as Annie feeds Paul soup, she hesitantly decides to approach him with a critique of the book: she dislikes the constant swearing. He points out that the characters are based on the way he grew up and everyone talks the way they do, and Annie suddenly snaps that he's wrong. Ranting about it, Annie spills the soup, and blames him. She immediately regains her composure and apologizes, saying she just loses it sometimes. He nervously says it's fine, and and his eyes go wide as she says she loves him, correcting herself that she loves his mind and writing before leaving the room. Buster and Virginia, meanwhile, drive up the road where Paul crashed, and he notices a broken tree. He investigates the area but gets stuck in the snow, and turns back a short distance from Paul's snow-covered car. As they get back in their car to leave, Annie drives by, with the unsuspecting sheriff none the wiser about what she's doing. Annie returns to her house, showing Paul that she's bought his newest book. He becomes suspicious realizing, the road is open, but she says only the ones in town are. She continues that she called the doctor and was told Paul doesn't need the hospital if he doesn't have an infection, and that they'll get him when the roads are open. This makes Paul more suspicious, so she says her own phone isn't working, but the ones in town are. She tries to read the book, but he interrupts, saying that his daughter will be worried. Disappointed, she claims the agent said she'd call his daughter, but he'll have to wait for tomorrow to talk to her. Annie continues caring for Paul, gushing about his book; she compares it to the Sistine Chapel ceiling; and introducing him to her pet pig, Misery. Annie later shares with Paul the story of how she got into his books: her husband left her and she began working harder at the hospital. She says she's sure she'll immediately restart his newest the minute she's done. They discuss marriage as she takes a jug he peed into, and she decides she needs to leave so she can read the rest of the book. She returns that night, however, and explodes at Paul after learning that Misery died in childbirth. He points out that this was common and her spirit lives, but Annie screams that she wants Misery, not her spirit, calling him a murderer. He says she just slipped away, making Annie angrier, and she again says it's his fault, smashing a table against the wall above his head. Having decided she was wrong about Paul, Annie decides to avoid him for a bit and reveals she never called anyone. She leaves, warning that he'll die if she does. With her out of the house, Paul drags himself out of bed to the door, only to find Annie has locked it. Marcia calls Buster again and he assures her they're working with other police forces and the FBI. Virginia learns the last charge to Paul's credit card was to the hotel. Annie returns to find Paul on the floor, so as she has calmed, she helps him back into bed. She explains that sometimes she doesn't think clearly, mentioning it happened when she was on a witness stand, so she asked God about Paul and was told he has come to Annie so she can "show him the way." She has therefore decided he needs to get rid of his manuscript, bringing it in on a grill and dousing it in lighter fluid before handing him some matches. He lies that his agent already has copies, so it doesn't matter, so she tells him to prove it by burning the manuscript. Showing her true obsessive knowledge, Annie says Paul only makes a single copy of his works because he did so with his first, thinking no one would buy it, and he is superstitious. This is also why he always returns to the lodge; a story he told someone 11 years prior. He suggests she simply let him keep it for himself, and he won't publish it, but she says his mind will never be free as long as it exists. She is ultimately able to convince him by squirting lighter fluid all over him as she gives a speech about God, and he watches frustrated as the flames consume the paper, with Annie putting it out in her typical lighthearted nature. Buster and another cop suddenly fly in with a helicopter, getting Paul's hopes up, but the writer is crushed as the chopper simply flies on by. While the two eat, Paul decides to start collecting his painkillers, using his fork to dig a hiding hole in the mattress. Paul finally becomes well enough that Annie brings him a wheelchair, and surprises him with a typewriter she expects him to use to write a new manuscript, Misery's Return, in which he somehow brings Misery back, and it will be dedicated to Annie. Annie leaves to get him some paper, and Paul notices a bobby pin on the floor. He agrees to write, but asks that she return to town to get the kind of paper he uses, showing that, despite the paper she bought being expensive, ink smudges on it. He tiptoes around her anger, saying he wants her to be a part of the whole process, but she still becomes irritated, saying he's being picky. Annie loses it again, saying she does everything for him and gets no thanks. While agreeing to get the paper, she demands appreciation and slams the paper down onto Paul's still-injured legs before leaving. Once she's gone, Paul retrieves the bobby pin and unlocks his door. The front door is also locked, so he tries to phone, but realizes it's empty inside. Searching the living room, he accidentally knocks over a penguin figurine, and though he puts it back, it's now facing a different direction. He sees a small area dedicated to him in the room, then in a nearby closet finds her medical supplies. He hides a pack of painkillers in his pants, properly making the remaining pills look the way they did before. Annie is on her way back, and Paul, noticing another door, is forced to crawl through a small walk space, only to find the door locked. He sees a knife set on the counter, but hears Annie return. He manages to get back into his room and lock it before she gets in, barely covering the visible pills. Annie notices that Paul is covered in sweat, so he lies that he's just been sitting there suffering the whole time. She wants to get him into bed, but he demands his pills first, convincing Annie with a sad expression, allowing him to hide his packet. She returns with his pills and brings up the issue of her temper again while putting him in bed, but he shrugs off her actions. She leaves him a pad of paper in case he gets any ideas for the book, and once she's gone, he spits out and hides his pills. The police find Paul's car in the snow, and though they tell the media he most likely froze to death, Buster notices marks on the car door from Annie's help and realize someone got him out. Back at Annie's house, Paul uses a piece of paper from his notepad to create a packet he pours the powder from his pills into. He then tries to write the book Annie demands that he scrap it and only keep in a gravedigger named after her. She compares his writing here to a show from when she was a kid: "Rocketman." One week ended with Rocketman trapped in a car going off a cliff, then the next had a "previously on" section where he escaped before going over the edge. Paul stares in bewildered nervousness after she momentarily snaps again, then agrees that this kind of writing is cheating. She explains that the ending of his previous book had Misery in the ground already, so the his idea of an "experimental blood transfusion" couldn't work. After noting that he'll have to start with her being underground, she leaves. Time passes and Annie loves Paul's new story, in which a convoluted way of keeping Misery alive also reveals her to have royal heritage. She gushes about the story as he refuses to give her any spoilers, then is stunned and accepts when he asks if they can have dinner together. Over at the police station, Buster shows up with all of Paul's books, having decided to at least read his books if he can't find him. That night, Paul puts on an act of appreciation to keep Annie happy, making small talk. He suggests a toast with wine, asking if she has any candles to improve it. When she leaves, he picks up her glass and pours in the powder he collected from his pills, but his heart sinks when she returns and accidentally spills her drink. Paul gets to work writing the book, with the days going by as he writes more chapters and Annie reads them. He also works out by lifting the typewriter, but whenever Annie returns, he returns his right arm to its sling. Finally one rainy night, Annie comes in halfheartedly. Puzzled, Paul asks what's wrong, and she explains that rain sometimes depresses her. She continues that she now loves all of him but knows he couldn't possibly love her, and will want to leave once the book is done and his legs are better. He says he wouldn't because he likes it there but she knows this isn't true. Revealing a handgun, she says she sometimes wants to use it and decides to go; she might put bullets in it. Once she leaves the house, Paul again escapes his room and gets one of the knives to finally kill Annie, while elsewhere Buster makes a note of a line in one of Paul's books. While returning to his room, Paul finds Annie's scrapbook with news clippings about him. He looks through it and finds other articles about the deaths of Annie's husband, a top nursing student, and a veteran pediatrician, along with success for Annie. Once Annie became the head of the maternity ward, there were several infant deaths, and she ended up behind bars, suspected of murdering the children. Paul returns to his room and practices how he'll attack Annie, but when she comes home she goes upstairs to her room, so he stashes the knife under his mattress. He wakes up at one point in the stormy knight just before Annie drugs him, then straps him to the bed. When he wakes again, she reveals she knows he's been getting out; she says her penguin figurine always faces South, and she produces both the knife and bobby pin. Annie tells Paul about a punishment for miners who stole jewels in the Kimberly Diamond Mines: to ensure they could still work but not run away, they'd be hobbled. After placing a wooden block between Paul's feet, Annie ignores his pleas and smashes each foot with a sledgehammer, breaking his ankles. With Paul now crippled, his chances of escaping have plummeted, but Buster begins to pick up the scent of Annie's trail. I had never seen this movie until recently, but it's one I'd always wanted to see because of the reputation it had as great horror.
It definitely lives up to the hype, and it's easy to see why Kathy Bates won an Academy Award for her work as Annie. She speaks in such an innocent way that it completely contrasts to her violent temper as she gives off a motherly nature even as she screams her head off. It also adds dark comedy to hear her at these moments, as her dislike for cursing leads to her saying more censored phrases while ranting, like when she screams that Rocketman wasn't in the "cock-a-doody car." Having such a seemingly nice person be this violent psychopath makes the situation all the more terrifying, with the classic thinking that it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for. Annie seems so unassuming; Buster doesn't even bother to ask her about Paul throughout his search, and she doesn't do anything that rouses suspicion for a time. Whenever she's not just being nice or exploding, Annie talks in a creepy, monotone voice that makes her sound like HAL 9000 or other robots. It really shows the cold nature that she hides with her caring facade, showing through after moments of violent passion. In a way, her nursing knowledge makes her scarier with this personality, because despite saving Paul, she also knows ways to just damage him and keep him kidnapped, sedating him and using her knowledge of hobbling. Paul shows a great deal of intelligence after being kidnapped, knowing when he needs to go along with Annie's feelings to prevent her from losing it. His plan to stockpile his pills to drug Annie was smart and took a lot of patience; it's just unfortunate that he was unable to get it to succeed. Of course the reason Annie ultimately hobbled him was because he failed to put her penguin back properly, but he still did his best to always make it appear he hadn't gotten out, always re-locking his door and making the pills look untouched. It was also good that, in the times he did get out, he never got tunnel vision by solely looking for an immediate escape. Whenever he found doors that were locked, and he couldn't pick, he immediately left them and looked elsewhere, which allowed him to find the knife and the pills. I was honestly surprised that Buster was also smart overall, and actually dedicated in his efforts to find Paul. Usually in this kind of situation where the main police force is in a small town, the officers are bumbling and ignore all kinds of signs. Of course he did miss Paul's car during his search, but this would make sense considering that, aside from the broken tree limb, the fresh snow had completely coated the vehicle. He still always made efforts to continue the investigation, searching everywhere and getting other police forces involved, though it seems silly that he didn't bother to ask anyone, like our lovely Annie Wilkes, if they had seen Paul. Buster notices seemingly small signs of what truly happened, with the limb being a good clue about Paul's accident, and the dents on his car door as great evidence that someone helped the broken writer. The makeup is great throughout the film, really selling that Paul was in the car accident, and slowly improving his appearance over time. Even later in the film, when he has been with Annie for at least weeks and his face has mostly healed, he has a single scratch remaining on his nose. Now I haven't read the original Stephen King novel, but one commenter on the Misery Fandom page said the book is a lot darker, with Annie actually cutting off Paul's foot and killing an officer who comes using her cross necklace. As it is, though, I'd say the movie is plenty terrifying, full of tension as Annie could snap and attack Paul at any moment for any perceived transgression. Especially tense are the scenes where Annie is gone from the house and Paul leaves his room, as you know she could get back at any moment and he would have to get back into his room, making sure everything looks right, and lock his door again. Misery is a fantastically tense horror movie and Kathy Bates especially shines by giving us the unnerving presence of the secretly psychopathic Annie Wilkes.
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AuthorI love the entertainment side of things. Video games, tv shows, superheroes and movies are my passion and I'd love to get the news out for things I enjoy. My contact page has links to my social media, so if you enjoy what I have to say, likes, shares, comments, and follows are always greatly appreciated! Archives
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