Unlike a lot of avid readers, I have no qualms with seeing a movie before I read the book. In fact, I find that doing this helps me enjoy both works more than if I read the book and then see the movie. I mean, the book and the movie are two different things. They're the same (basic) story as interpreted by two different people (the author and the movie director respectively).
Anyways, Misery is supposed to be one of the greatest horror/psychological thriller movies ever as well as one of the best Stephen King novel-movie adaptations ever (trumped only by The Shawshank Redemption). So when I saw it on YouTube, I naturally had to watch it.
The basic premise of Misery is that author Paul Sheldon wrecks his car in a blizzard, and is taken into the care of Annie Wilkes, his self-proclaimed number one fan. Paul is famous for his novels about a character named Misery, the namesake of the movie and Stephen King novel. Annie loves the Misery books. However, once she finds that Paul is not only writing a new, non-Misery novel but has also killed off Misery, she flies into a rage, and insists that Paul bring Misery back to life in his next book. Paul spends the next couple of weeks (or months) in Annie's care, never quite knowing if she'll greet him with a smile or a sledgehammer. He tries to escape several times, but does he ever succeed? You'll have to read/watch and see.
I thought the movie was really good. Kathy Bates really does a fantastic Annie Wilkes, but James Caan as Paul Sheldon was also quite good. I hear that the novel is even more horrific than the movie, so I'll have to pick it up some time.
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