Misery (1990)

 This is the film which won Kathy Bates her only Oscar. 

It was shocking to see her so young on film, in one of her first major roles as the deranged epic fan, Annie Wilkes, who can't believe her luck when she stumbles onto her favorite author of all-time, Paul Sheldon (James Caan) who nearly dies in a wretched car crash (overturning into a ditch during a sudden snow storm).

At first, you think she's kind, but she's actually completely evil and manipulative and desperately wants the Misery, the character to survive so she forces Paul to burn his manuscript, the only copy of the book he has (this was before the flash drive was invented) and then re-write it to appease her. It is basically a battle of the wills, though for most of the plot, Paul seems complacent, but in reality, he's just planning his next move.

Fortunately, Paul does also have a savvy and concerned agent, Marcia (the legendary Lauren Bacall) who alerts the local sheriff, Buster (Richard Farnsworth) who eventually stumbles onto the truth, only to die as a result, as Annie does have a murderous past, a maternity nurse who killed babies. Babies, doesn't get much worse than that. Still, in the end, Paul does win, though it is a bloody mess and just when you think Annie's dead, she comes back so he has to kill her again, just like in Fatal Attraction. 

Now, while it was bizarre and certainly creepy and disturbing, Bates was great (as she should have been, considering she won an Oscar for the role), but Caan and Farnsworth were great also, matching the performances beat for beat. The film needed the good performances as there so few characters in the film. Still, she was such a wretched character, the film was different to watch. Grade: B

Side Notes:

-Who knows if Annie spills her wine on purpose or if it was an accident? Paul was attempting to drug her, but his plot failed.

-Annie is truly the biggest Paul Sheldon fan, even naming her pig Misery, after the character.

-I wonder what Annie does for money, as she's clearly done time in prison, but is still able to live in the nice, albeit dated, farmhouse and keep Paul hostage. 

-Annie is probably her most deranged when she purposely breaks Paul's ankles again. 

-When you write a book, make sure you have a back-up copy.