Decently made, harshly edited, good cast....I have read the book so bear with me...
I have read Desperation...twice...one of my favorites but unfortunately that means my expectations for this LONG awaited film adaptation were through the roof. And once you have read the book you have a whole new set of expectations for the film counterpart. That being said it was pretty well done for being compacted into two hours (three with commercials.) Much of the real meat and potatoes of the book had to be cut to give us the basics of what Desperation was all about. It's the best King film in a long time reminiscent of his eighties and nineties classic adaptations such as It, The Stand, and even Storm of The Century. King's stories are ultimately about isolation, that feeling of being all alone in the world against a supernatural terror and Desperation captures that fairly well.Steven Weber, who I really like, joins his second Stephen King cast (the first one being the extremely well done The Shining mini-series.) Weber plays "roadie" Steve Ames. Weber is a strong actor and he could easily lead the cast but he fits in well and although his role is downplayed from the book he is a great addition to the cast. Tom Skerritt plays aging egotistical writer John Edward Marinville. Now when I saw his name attached to this role I didn't think he could do it. Marinville is a tough guy, a rough around the edges adventurer and I thought Skerritt couldn't pull it off and I will be the first to eat my words because Skerritt is excellent!! This may be one of his best roles certainly on Television. He is exactly the right person for this role. TV actress Annabeth Gish plays Mary Jackson. Her role is toned down as well from the book but still she does a lot and does well with what they give her character. She's a strong, independent female who ends up with the most terror around her but she fights her way back. I was also very hesitant about believing Ron Perlman could play the larger than life insane killer cop Collie Entragian, and again I eat my words. He is perfect!! He does look enormous and strong and completely crazy when he belts out "TAK!" Coincidentally EXACTLY how I felt about the book...I wanted Entragian to be in it more, I wanted him to last longer. He was the perfect adversary. Young TV Actor Shane Haboucha steals the show as religiously connected and enlightened David Carver. He is no stranger to acting but still this really put him at the forefront of the cast and he does very well. He holds his own against veteran Tom Skerritt on numerous occasions. Kelly Overton is kind of the scream queen of Desperation...stumbling on dead bodies and horrific scenes and belting out her petrified screams. Her romance with character Steve Ames (played by Weber) is toned down but you still get a connection between them which I think is really important to the story. Sylva Kelegian plays Ellie Carver whose best performance is after Tak takes over her body. She is good as the Mom and then the killer which shows her versatility as an actress. Matt Frewer who I immediately recognized from Honey I Shrunk The Kids, but is well known for his immense work in animation is okay as the Carver father Ralph. His role is almost non-existent, he barely has lines and any emotions he does have he comes across as whiny and scared. But for what they gave him in the role he does alright. Charles Durning plays the elder of the group Tom Billingsley and he looks the part but his character is more or less cut down to virtually nothing much like Ralph Carver. Sammi Hanratty is appropriately creepy as Pie Carver, David's little sister, murdered by Entragian but returns as a spirit to help save them all.
Mick Garris is NO stranger to King films, this being his 5th I believe?? He has done some really great work with King including the aforementioned Shining Mini Series, The Stand, and Sleepwalkers. King also actually penned the script for this TV adaptation which I am convinced saves this from being utter crap because at least King knows the characters intimately and knows what could be cut. I am sure that he would have liked to have had more included as well. What is left in is an interesting, perversive and violent horror flick that does put you in the edge of your seat numerous times. I was really surprised (not un-pleasantly about the religious undertone of the film. The characters especially David Carver talk a lot about faith and God and although King always has a bit of a religious tone to his books in one form or another this film especially really does preach a faith driven message. Some say that hurts the film I don't agree at all!! I think Stephen King is a brilliant writer and philosopher even if he doesn't mean to. I think that after reading the book it just feels so quick and adapted down to virtually nothing. It is indeed bare bones compared to the novel. I hate to compare the film to the novel but it's hard not to do especially when the novel is one of your favorites. If you don't read King but you love his films then you must see Desperation because it's a throwback to when he made really great adaptations and not the drivvle that's been appearing lately (Riding The Bullet.) Now if we could convince King and Garris to make Insomnia I'd be a happy man!! 7.5/10
score 7/10
Robert_duder 30 May 2006
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1381307/35586
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