mikehellens

This movie might be utterly predictable, cliched with, one suspects, unintentionally funny dialogue, but as a moving comic book it is a passable way of spending a couple of hours when you really don't have anything else to do. Hey,what do you expect - Pinter? The hokey plot borrows from any Bond movie - pick one at random - and this spy-turned-traitor business is getting real tired. However, some of the action sequences are eyecatchingly staged even when the fight scenes drag on ad nauseam, and if John Woo's trademark balletic slo-mo shoot-outs are getting a little tiresome, well there's always Limp Bizkit on the soundtrack.

Aside from the odd exception, Stephen King has rarely transfered well to the big or small screen, and along comes this little mini-series which is a by-numbers example of what actually gets lost in translation. Firstly: when these novels are adapted for the screen, fundamental elements of the plot are excised or replaced, and this is true of even the better King-flicks ("The Shining" and "Carrie" are just as guilty as pulp trash like "Needful Things" and "Cujo"). "The Tommyknockers" begins as if it's going to buck the trend, establishing the majority of the usual King misfits early on, and actually adds a little suspense by not showing its hand too early - for example, this adaptation does not make clear what's buried out back in Bobbie's farm straight away. But as the town begins to be affected by said item, it's off into it's own world, and toss the novel out the window. Granted, some of the more imaginative gimmicks the township dreams up cannot be translated to screen with the appropriate panache, especially with the meagre budget allocated to this project - but does everything need to look so cheap? Much of the dialogue at best doesn't ring true, at worse stinks. Witness the actually quite good Marg Helgenberger delivering some awful lines ("Gard, let's experience it together!") but in an offhand way that suggests that she's really aware that she's not in a Mamet play, but, Hell, let's make the best of it anyway. Any good points? Well, Joanna Cassidy is always worth watching, but an actress of her class still can't make a thrown together middle-age romance look realistic. Helgenberger and Allyce Beasley come out of it with the least mud sticking. Worst crimes? Jimmy Smits completely miscast, terrible dialogue, cheap effects, complete massacre of the source material, Traci Lords all at sea outside of a John Waters movie or skinflick ... the list goes on.

Here's a movie that haunts you long after it's over. When failed magician finally finds fame and acceptance after introducing a foul-mouthed ventriloquist's dummy to his act, his grip on reality starts to slip as the dummy takes on the dominant half of his personality. Anthony Hopkins' Corky is an outstanding study in nervous collapse, the strength of his performance almost making Fats the dummy a separate and individual member of the cast. All the performances are absolutely top-notch, especially Ann-Margret as a childhood sweetheart and Burgess Meredith as a "crusty-but-benign" (thanks, "Network"!) agent. The upstate New York setting is suitably gloomy and doom-laden, and Jerry Goldsmith's superb score strikes just the right ominous note. Highly recommended for fans of intelligent psychological horror.