(10/16/2003) This big-screen adaptation of Stephen King's classic novel is a mixed bag. First of all, forget Anthony Michael Hall... Christopher Walken is the definitive Johnny Smith. His performance in this film merits four stars all by itself. The movie effectively captures the atmosphere of the novel: Johnny's alienation from society, his sense of loss. The problems with this movie are mainly structural.

For one thing, the movie did a poor job of handling Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen), who was more of a major character in the novel. Stillson is way too intriguing a character to simply be shunted aside until the second half of the film. The part of Sarah Bracknell was totally miscast. Also, they chucked the engaging opening of the novel in favor of a more bland introduction, with Johnny and Sarah riding some rinky-dink roller coaster and Johnny suddenly getting a headache. In departing from the start of the novel, the filmmakers miss out on a few important plot points, like Johnny's childhood accident or Johnny's run of luck (all bad, as it turns out) on the Wheel of Fortune at the fair. You never get a sense in the movie that the two main characters have any real chemistry. And much of the novel's dark wit is lost because there is very little mention of Johnny's culture shock when he wakes up.

However, there are also many things that the movie does right, the casting of Dr. Weizak and Sheriff Bannerman in particular. The Castle Rock sequence is particularly chilling, and quite faithful to the book (allowing for the necessary sacrifices in backstory).

Anyways, the bottom line to all the long-winded rhetoric you just read is I would recommend "The Dead Zone" on the strength of Chris Walken's performance alone. ****/5 stars

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Created May 05, 2009 at 10:21pm • Submit your own review...