1408 April 24th, 2010
Originally Written 07/02/07
I saw 1408 on Friday night too. I was curious how that would work, and it turned out to be one of the few decent adaptations of a Stephen King work, and I think it might actually be better than the original. I listened to the audio-book version of the story and it didn’t do a lot for me. The idea was interesting, but since it was more an non-descript evil presence in the room, rather than it being haunted, it didn’t quite work for me. Some of things that happened in the room were too absurd and I couldn’t take it seriously, which is too bad, since many times King can make even odd-sounding things scary, but Everything’s Eventual was an uneven book of stories.
The film still had it’s goofy as well absurd moments, and there were times when the audience was laughing at it. However, they gave some personification to the presence in the room, to make it easier to relate to, and that worked fairly well. John Cusack was also a perfect choice for the jaded writer who’s fallen from grace and who gets his world view shaken by the events in the room. He’s starting to show his age, but he still has grace and charm and he was the right age for this part. The movie also expanded upon the character’s back-story from the book, which made it more interesting. Finally, Samuel L. Jackson was great as the hotel manager. He was only in a few scenes, but he had a great and entertaining presence when he was on-screen. The film isn’t perfect, and it’s not the best, but certainly better than a lot of the other Stephen King adaptations. I’d say it made for an okay Shining lite.