The Mist «
R, 127m. 2007
Cast & credits: Thomas Jane (David Drayton), Marcia Gay Harden (Mrs. Carmody), Laurie Holden (Amanda Dunfrey), Andre Braugher (Brent Norton), Toby Jones (Ollie Weeks), William Sadler (Jim Grondin), Jeffrey DeMunn (Dan Miller), Alexa Davalos (Sally), Nathan Gamble (Billy Drayton). Written and directed by Frank Darabont based on a novel by Stephen King.
If "The Mist" were not based on a short story by Stephen King, I’d have figured the plot was thought up by a group of studio executives desperate for an instant box office hit no matter how lousy the idea is executed.
On the list of movie star ratings, four meaning superior and one star meaning poor, "The Mist" is an average two-star horror film that’s really a one-star movie in disguise thanks in part to the unexpectedly shocking climax that left me disgusted, disturbed, and irritated. I cannot remember a film I had seen that left me more upset.
It wouldn’t have been enough if those studio executives had come up with the idea about a deadly mist that leaves a group of local townspeople trapped inside a supermarket for days. Since the story was thought up in the mind of Stephen King, this is a movie that literally defines the phrase, “I am going to throw in everything but the kitchen sink.” Now that I think about it, I believe there was a sink somewhere in the back of that supermarket.
To quote the line John Belushi’s Jake Blues said in "The Blues Brothers" (1980) as he and his brother evaded the Chicago Police recklessly driving through a shopping mall, “This place has got everything,” so too does "The Mist." We are treated to sights of what could vaguely be seen as giant tarantulas, huge fireflies with noses and stingers as long as a 12-inch ruler, and a pair of large tentacles that we never quite find out what they are attached to.
Trapped inside the supermarket are a group of townspeople that include a God-fearing woman (Marcia Gay Harden) who among many things religious, talks of how they have a Judas in their midst. Amongst them is a devoted father and movie artist (Thomas Jane), who along with his son, (Nathan Gamble), just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
We meet a skeptical neighbor (Andre Braugher) who is willing to accept their situation as anything but God’s wrath. Last but not least is a nerdy grocery clerk named Ollie (Toby Jones) who it just so happens, knows how to fire a gun and has all the best lines when the situation warrants it.
“You can’t convince some people there’s a fire even when their hair is burning,” he says. “Denial is a powerful thing.”
"The Mist" could have been the equivalent of those silly big budget star-studded disaster movies ("The Swarm"-1978, "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure"-1979 to name a few) of the 1970s producer/director Irwin Allen churned out which steadily got worse as the decade wore on. Screenwriter/director Frank Darabont ("The Shawshank Redemption"-1994) proves he is above all that. He delivers a screenplay that is about as serious as a near fatal heart attack as the characters discuss notions about the end of the world and make unsettling suggestions of human sacrifice in hopes God will let them live for just one more day.
Yet, however, I cannot help but laugh at some of the lines said. In a time where most people are concerned with such useless movie trivia as wanting to know the final body count of those killed or how many times the four letter “F” word is said, "The Mist" goes down as the first horror film where I want to know how many times the phrase or the word, “the Mist” is uttered. Cases in point are these lines: “The end of times has come. Not in flames, but in mist.” “What do you know about this mist?” “David, there’s nothing out there. Nothing in the mist.”
When I saw "The Mist" opening day before Thanksgiving last November, the auditorium for the first noon showing was almost packed to the point there was plenty of audience participation. I could hear people “oohing” and “ahhing” at the sights of all these creatures, none of whom we ever get a very good look at thanks to “the Mist.”
They often laughed and cheered for much of those two hours when some of the type-casted, self-conceited characters met particularly grisly deaths. I almost felt like joining in. I could not believe, for example, that for a group of townspeople trapped inside a local supermarket as a result of a deadly mist, not one of them considered using a few cans of Raid to fend off the giant fireflies.
That all came to a crashing halt in the film’s final ten minutes, which I won’t reveal. I know those who embraced the film though will attempt to argue that the point of the climax to this bleakly depressing production is the idea of, “If only” one had waited just a few minutes longer, then things would have turned out all right.
I don’t mind movies that end on a sour note. I have seen plenty of pictures over the years that briefly left me emotionally distraught like "Schinder’s List" (1993), "Titanic" (1997) or "The Perfect Storm" (2000). Almost every film, however, I have seen that ended tragically, I have always found something positive to be drawn from it. The 9/11 passengers for example all perished when they tried to wrestle their hijacked plane from the terrorists at the end of "United 93" (2006). But on a positive note, the passengers may have saved hundreds more lives.
I go see movies to be entertained. When it comes to horror films, it’s to encounter the thrill of being scared. There is nothing entertaining or scary about "The Mist." One person was so visibly upset with the climax she walked out. Everyone else was just dead silent as the end credits rolled. That is quite a drastic change for an audience who for almost two hours often cheered and laughed.
©11/27/07
R, 127m. 2007
Cast & credits: Thomas Jane (David Drayton), Marcia Gay Harden (Mrs. Carmody), Laurie Holden (Amanda Dunfrey), Andre Braugher (Brent Norton), Toby Jones (Ollie Weeks), William Sadler (Jim Grondin), Jeffrey DeMunn (Dan Miller), Alexa Davalos (Sally), Nathan Gamble (Billy Drayton). Written and directed by Frank Darabont based on a novel by Stephen King.
On the list of movie star ratings, four meaning superior and one star meaning poor, "The Mist" is an average two-star horror film that’s really a one-star movie in disguise thanks in part to the unexpectedly shocking climax that left me disgusted, disturbed, and irritated. I cannot remember a film I had seen that left me more upset.
It wouldn’t have been enough if those studio executives had come up with the idea about a deadly mist that leaves a group of local townspeople trapped inside a supermarket for days. Since the story was thought up in the mind of Stephen King, this is a movie that literally defines the phrase, “I am going to throw in everything but the kitchen sink.” Now that I think about it, I believe there was a sink somewhere in the back of that supermarket.
To quote the line John Belushi’s Jake Blues said in "The Blues Brothers" (1980) as he and his brother evaded the Chicago Police recklessly driving through a shopping mall, “This place has got everything,” so too does "The Mist." We are treated to sights of what could vaguely be seen as giant tarantulas, huge fireflies with noses and stingers as long as a 12-inch ruler, and a pair of large tentacles that we never quite find out what they are attached to.
Trapped inside the supermarket are a group of townspeople that include a God-fearing woman (Marcia Gay Harden) who among many things religious, talks of how they have a Judas in their midst. Amongst them is a devoted father and movie artist (Thomas Jane), who along with his son, (Nathan Gamble), just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
We meet a skeptical neighbor (Andre Braugher) who is willing to accept their situation as anything but God’s wrath. Last but not least is a nerdy grocery clerk named Ollie (Toby Jones) who it just so happens, knows how to fire a gun and has all the best lines when the situation warrants it.
“You can’t convince some people there’s a fire even when their hair is burning,” he says. “Denial is a powerful thing.”
"The Mist" could have been the equivalent of those silly big budget star-studded disaster movies ("The Swarm"-1978, "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure"-1979 to name a few) of the 1970s producer/director Irwin Allen churned out which steadily got worse as the decade wore on. Screenwriter/director Frank Darabont ("The Shawshank Redemption"-1994) proves he is above all that. He delivers a screenplay that is about as serious as a near fatal heart attack as the characters discuss notions about the end of the world and make unsettling suggestions of human sacrifice in hopes God will let them live for just one more day.
Yet, however, I cannot help but laugh at some of the lines said. In a time where most people are concerned with such useless movie trivia as wanting to know the final body count of those killed or how many times the four letter “F” word is said, "The Mist" goes down as the first horror film where I want to know how many times the phrase or the word, “the Mist” is uttered. Cases in point are these lines: “The end of times has come. Not in flames, but in mist.” “What do you know about this mist?” “David, there’s nothing out there. Nothing in the mist.”
When I saw "The Mist" opening day before Thanksgiving last November, the auditorium for the first noon showing was almost packed to the point there was plenty of audience participation. I could hear people “oohing” and “ahhing” at the sights of all these creatures, none of whom we ever get a very good look at thanks to “the Mist.”
They often laughed and cheered for much of those two hours when some of the type-casted, self-conceited characters met particularly grisly deaths. I almost felt like joining in. I could not believe, for example, that for a group of townspeople trapped inside a local supermarket as a result of a deadly mist, not one of them considered using a few cans of Raid to fend off the giant fireflies.
That all came to a crashing halt in the film’s final ten minutes, which I won’t reveal. I know those who embraced the film though will attempt to argue that the point of the climax to this bleakly depressing production is the idea of, “If only” one had waited just a few minutes longer, then things would have turned out all right.
I don’t mind movies that end on a sour note. I have seen plenty of pictures over the years that briefly left me emotionally distraught like "Schinder’s List" (1993), "Titanic" (1997) or "The Perfect Storm" (2000). Almost every film, however, I have seen that ended tragically, I have always found something positive to be drawn from it. The 9/11 passengers for example all perished when they tried to wrestle their hijacked plane from the terrorists at the end of "United 93" (2006). But on a positive note, the passengers may have saved hundreds more lives.
I go see movies to be entertained. When it comes to horror films, it’s to encounter the thrill of being scared. There is nothing entertaining or scary about "The Mist." One person was so visibly upset with the climax she walked out. Everyone else was just dead silent as the end credits rolled. That is quite a drastic change for an audience who for almost two hours often cheered and laughed.
©11/27/07
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