Mr. Harrigan's Phone

Starts out a a good drama/thriller type movie then continued on for about half of it. Got to know the characters, sets things up pretty well, all is good so far. Then the thriller part ramps up some and it gets more and more exciting. Up until that point I thought it was pretty good.

Then it kinda turns into a coming of age film. Nothing wrong with those types of films but it felt really strange here.

Then it flips back to the drama/thriller.

Then it ends kinda...meh.

The whole movie feels like its trying to shove a message in our face about being attached to our cell phones too. I dunno it just gave me a really bad weird vibe to it.

Such good acting. It is slow, but you become invested in the characters early enough to stay interested. Donald Sutherland did AMAZING. Every time he was on the screen you wanted to watch him. It's been a while since he was so captivating on screen. It is deep and has an underlying message which may irritate people, but I agree with that message so I related to the movie well. Cell phones/Smart phones aren't always the best use of our time, or the healthiest option for our own minds. They have become addictive and overused in our society to the point that people can no longer think objectively. I don't like that the mom was never really explained.

It was surprisingly simple what they did with this novella adaptation, and Stephen King's at that. The 'King of Horror' penned an anthology titled "If It Bleeds" (published, 2020), and "Mr. Harrigan's Phone" was one of its offerings.

John Lee Hancock did remarkable work on direction and screenplay for this Netflix production. That old Stephen King magic prevailed, and helped ensure a literary flair was present throughout the story and around its characters.

I could see this movie getting buried (pun intended) by fans and sundry if it was any other script than one from the mind of King. The movie had a relaxed pace, and contained nothing truly horrific. The suspense was strong, though. Also, Donald Sutherland's voice and performance held it all together.

Javier Navarrete's musical scoring wonderfully complemented the work of the editing and sound effects teams. John Schwartzman's cinematography was amazing. Production design by Michael Corenblith, set decoration, and art direction did great work as well. Daniel Orlandi's costume design was minimal.

Donald Sutherland stole every scene he was in, and was the most intriguing character in "Mr. Harrigan's Phone". Aside from Stephen King's involvement, the main reason I saw this movie was because they cast the unmatched Sutherland in the role of the titular character. That man has screen presence for days, and is one of my favourite yesteryear stars. Also, his character's mansion was spellbinding in its own right.

Jaeden Martell's take on Craig was a blend of vulnerability and conviction. He did great work in the role. His younger version, played by Colin O'Brien, was good.

Victoria Hart, played by Kirby Howell-Baptiste, was interesting. Cyrus Arnold as Kenny Yankovich was a right royal &^%$, and hit all the right provocative notes. Craig's dad, played by Joe Tippett, was good. The phone store clerk, played by Alex Bartner, was notable. Edna Grogan, played by Peggy J. Scott, was amazing. Hers was a criminally under-rated performance. All others did good work in "Mr. Harrigan's Phone" streaming now on Netflix.

Simple takes and steady storytelling dictated the flow of this movie. Powerful dialogues and a literary 'show don't tell' style also helped make it memorable. The sustained mystery of whom Craig was communicating with if not the by-then-deceased Mr. Harrigan and how repercussions came to those who justly deserved it made the movie engaging. In classic Stephen King style, the ending of this movie was left open to interpretation.

Just finished watching and was pleasantly surprised. I didn't think that Mr Harrington's Phone would be a good enough storyline to be brought to the big-screen but, evidently, it has. The people moaning about it not being scary are way off. The short novella was really good but it was more of a drama like the movie. The movie does differ on some aspects of the source material and I don't know why it did as it worked perfectly fine in the writing. All I'll say is, don't expect horror. You'll not at one single point be scared, but the book never tried to be. It's just down simply as horror as that description goes down well with movie descriptions and Stephen King.

I found Mr. Harrigan's Phone unique. Modern psychological drama; tech horror, I guess. At first, you are guided through very slow-paced storytelling about Craig and his relationship with Mr. Harrigan. This part of the plot is character development. After a turning point near the last third of the story, the horror sets in.

Although Steven King wrote the original short story, this is not a horror movie, even though the movie tries to keep the horror tone throughout its whole length. This movie is about character development and knowing how to deal with death and hard times.

I find this movie to be a worthy adaptation of the short story. However, the story itself is probably not King's best.