Stephen King's Desperation (2006)

A Miniature Version Of THE STAND (Sort Of)...

I really like about 75% of DESPERATION. It starts off w/ a wonderfully insane performance by Ron Perlman (Hellboy himself!) as the homicidal sheriff / demon of the small town of the title. He's very fun to watch! Then, we see the gathering of the forces of good (Steve Weber, Annabeth Gish, Charles Durning, et al) who must face down this beast. There is solid evidence that we are in for an epic battle, a reworking of THE STAND in microcosm. Tension builds, weird things happen, and lives are lost. All is well until we get to the conclusion of the story. That's when the proverbial wheels fly off. I mean, there's all this build-up, all this "coming supernatural showdown" stuff for the first 90 minutes or so, then- Pfffftt! A big fizzle at the end. I would love to have seen the final conflict between prayer-boy and Tak! It could have been spectacular! Instead, we get an explosion and THE END. Sort of like getting spinach for dessert! Blecch! Still, it's worth watching just for Perlman... December 4, 2008

Aztec devil, Chinese, dogs, a mine, and a possessed Ron Perlman...for your viewing pleasure

Great group of actors...who each gets enough time/lines to create a character. First act great, involving, with beautiful desert scenery. Second act slows down a bit. Ending weak and unsatisfying. I enjoyed this film for what it was. October 12, 2008

Stephen King Movie

I have always been a huge fan of Stephen King his books that have been made into movies are generally true to the book and therefore I am never disappointed. Working with Amazon is easy and a pleasant experience. August 9, 2008

Pathetic.

Before I begin the onslaught of how truly awful this was, I wanted to see thie first review of this maybe for a eye shot of adrenaline to get the fingers working, and I really needed a laugh, this "Dr. Dolphin" character (Top 1000 Reviewer) giving Desperation FIVE STARS...hahhahahahahahaahahha, (oh my gut, oh, oh, stop, stop, hahaha) Quote: "The acting: This is what makes the movie." NO, NO, please believe me the acting did not make anything, but you wanting to howl. Oh wow and I thought it was interesting seeing African Americans walking around in Bethel, Maine last summer, indeed this is the formidable icing on the cake.

You want blood, sweat and tears on a review, and not to mamsy-pamsy it to the masses on amazon to get 100's of helpful votes, wherein a person dissents from the majority: then here you go. 2006's 'Desperation' like many amazing king novels which are just absolutely butchered (Tommy Knockers, The Stand, Needful Things, The Dark-Half, etc.), 'Desperation' starts out interestingly enough, I guess. I mean on the lonesome road from nowhere to somewhere in the middle of the land that God forgot, we can place the wooden, and absolutely untalented Henry Thomas (E.T.) in a vehicle, with a conversation that was so unmotivating, I thought, "wait, wait, this has to be a Stephen King based movie." The two carry on this horrible relationship through the first twenty minutes of the movie, and you are praying to your own personal God that either one of them gets mauled to stop the insanity. Ron Pearlman plays this overacted, possessed cop, and during his interactions with the unknowing travelers, his face becomes more grim, as the possession slowly eats away at the cocoon. (see friends, this entity takes control of the host body, and slowly, evidentally eats away at it, therefore each new body finds more feed, that being the unknowing travelers.)

I thought perhaps the superb Tom Skerritt (Picket Fences, Contact, A River Runs Through It) [to name my favorites] could help the overacting and pathetic dialog, while holding on to some semblance while an ensemble forms in the local town of Desperation's police station. It doesn't. It tries to, but what movie doesn't try overtly to become cohesive. The grounding is formulaic, and it's petty. Ok, so let's go back to that acting made the movie comment by doctor death there. Amazing? To whom, Helen Keller? Shane Haboucha, playing the young boy David in the film, who suffers tremendous loss, did a really good job, as he UNDOUBTEDLY carried the entire film, however his acting was pushed, rushed and so scripted, there was no emotional creativity in the least. (His crying scenes were as paltry as Culkin trying to be something other than Kevin McCallister)

Desperation is what you scream out during the last scenes of the movie, because the name is fitting considering how rancid the cutting is. I wont give anything away, but the ending in itself is enough to make most film lovers drop their jaws in horror at exactly why the director would allow such complete absurdity in a film, and a voiceover that you thought would be from a man behind the curtain who you aren't supposed to pay atttention to. While it had its moments, it never found a leg to stand on from the opening scene. (Argento anyone?)

AWFUL, but an extra star because the boy did give it a go. April 6, 2008

True to Novel

This movie, like only a few others was true to the original novel. If you are a Stephen King fan. Enough said December 26, 2007

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