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Directed By
Stanley Kubrick
Written By:
Stanley Kubrick, Diane Johnson
Cast:
Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers, Joe Turkel, Barry Nelson, Philip Stone, Anne Jackson, Tony Burton, David Baxt, Danny Lloyd, Lia Beldam, Billie Gibson, Barry Dennan, David Baxt, Lisa Burns, Alison Coleridge, Kate Phelps
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The Shining (1980)
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Movie Review by Jarrod
July 9th, 2007
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I have to admit that I have never really liked 'The Shining'. As much as I love Kubrick, as much as I love horror movies, as much as I love Stephen King and Jack Nicholson, I just do not have much love for this most esteemed adaptation of arguably King's best novel, though there is very little similarity between the book and the film. Therein lies part of the problem. So many liberties were taken that one must wonder if Kubrick ever bothered to read the source material at all. The basic premise and setting are all he has borrowed. Everything else is entirely his invention, which is either good or bad depending on the viewer.
The tedious opening, the introduction to the Overlook Hotel, in the Colorado mountains, where the winters are bad, the customary exploration of its cavernous hallways by the young Danny, who rides his tricycle and has more than a few encounters with the ghosts of twin girls who were murdered by their father, the former caretaker. The Hotel, of course, is evil, possessed by the spirits of its old guests and employees, sitting on top of a burial ground or some such thing, which helps to explain why it might cause people to go insane.
Jack Torrance (Nicholson) takes the job of caretaker to have some peace and quiet, to work on a new play, a few months in frigid isolation that he thinks will do him good. His wife Wendy (Duvall) and son Danny (Lloyd) begin to notice that something is not quite right with the place. Danny has telepathic powers, and perhaps a host of other mental problems, as he often assumes an alternate personality and utters redrum (murder spelled backwards) incessantly. He forms a connection with the hotel's cook, Dick Halloran (Scatman Crothers), who is away on vacation in Florida.
'The Shining' certainly is creepy and atmospheric, and eerie music just adds to the overall mood of uneasiness, but I think the film is so in love with its own visual effects and stylistic flair that it is willing to sacrifice most everything else. The first 1/3 of the movie is terribly boring, I think, and Jack's deterioration occurs rapidly and suddenly, rather than gradually, and it is not that convincing, though Nicholson, with brilliant and delightful craziness, certainly makes it appear so. His performance cannot be faulted, and I think it was probably conceived with him in mind. Duvall is excellent at looking weak and scared. The ending is completely different from that of the book, and it is disappointing, to say the least, with no real sense of closure. I mean, Jack may be dead, but the hotel still survives, what's to stop the next caretaker from doing the same thing?
And the woman in the tub. I have to mention this, because she appears in what may be the movie's most frightening and revolting scene, as Jack embraces and starts kissing what is at first a young, beautiful lady, but is really an ugly old hag whose naked body is in the process of decomposition. It is not a pretty sight. However, overall, I never thought this movie was as good or as scary as people made it out to be. I may be in the minority here.
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