With a massive literary output, but little consensus on quality or even favorites among Stephen King’s work, two things both fans and non-fans can agree on: ONE, the most acclaimed film adaptations of his work come out of his short stories/novellas, and TWO, his devilishly clever set ups often as not paint him into a narrative corner he can’t get out of. (Particularly so on his longer horror novels.) So, what a smart idea to take these two items into consideration when developing this film, a truly superior King adaptation. Taken from a novella (√); and burying its turn-out-the-lights ending (√) by reversing the running order of it’s three acts so that Act Three (‘End of Days’) comes first, followed by Act Two (spontaneous celebration of life thru dance, think symphonic scherzo), and finally, Act One, with major themes & character motivation sketched in as an orphaned boy finds life’s balance (sweet/sour; sadness/joy; dance/accounting) thru his grandparents. (We're being purposefully vague here as the film plays better left in discovery mode.) Efficiently directed by Mike Flanagan (something of King’s house director these days*), if a bit studio bound in Act Two. Well designed & cast, Mark Hamill gets a real acting role for a change as Grandpa, and a career-defining turn from Tom Hiddleston as the mysterious ‘Chuck’ everyone talks about.* All ending with a rare sense of satisfaction for a King project.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *So much so, King entrusted Flanagan with DOCTOR SLEEP/’19 (not seen here), a close relative to THE SHINING/’80, the Stanley Kubrick adaptation King disparages.
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY/LINK: *Speaking of turns, CHUCK confronts us with the question of who’s the more surprisngly good dancer: Tom Hiddleson here or Mads Mikkelsen in DRUK/’20? https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2021/02/druk-another-round-2020.html
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