Misery (1990) on Netflix
Novelist Paul Sheldon crashes his car in a Colorado blizzard. He wakes with broken legs in the remote home of Annie Wilkes, a nurse who calls herself his number one fan.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb7.8/10269,372 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes90%
Trailer
Plot summary
Paul Sheldon writes Victorian romances about a heroine called Misery Chastain. The books sell well, but he has grown to hate the series and wants to write serious fiction instead. He has just finished a new manuscript at a cabin in Silver Creek, Colorado, and is driving toward New York City when a blizzard sends his Mustang off the road. Annie Wilkes finds him and takes him to her isolated house in the mountains. He comes to bedridden with a dislocated shoulder and broken legs. Annie, a nurse, says she is his number one fan and will look after him until the storm passes and the phone lines are restored. Her behavior disturbs him.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Misery (1990)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Eleven actors passed on the part of Paul Sheldon: William Hurt turned it down twice, then Kevin Kline, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Richard Dreyfuss, Jack Nicholson, Gene Hackman and Robert Redford all said no.
- Anjelica Huston and Bette Midler were both offered the role of Annie Wilkes, and both of them turned it down. Midler would later say that she deeply regretted this decision.
- Bates's Academy Award for Best Actress win made Misery the only film based on a novel by King ever to win an Academy Award.
- Billy Bob Thornton auditioned for the role of Sheriff Buster's deputy and was offered it, but the part was cut from the film before release.
SPOILER
In the novel Annie Wilkes severs one of Paul Sheldon's feet with an ax. Goldman loved the scene and argued for it, but Reiner insisted she only break his ankles; Goldman later wrote that was correct, as an amputation would make the audience hate Annie rather than sympathize with her madness.- Three recordings by Liberace, named as Annie Wilkes's favorite musician, are featured in the film, as is "Shotgun" by Junior Walker and the All-Stars, which plays before Paul's car accident.
