“You got that kid killed, and I got his f***ing blood on me!” – David Drayton
Synopses
David Drayton, a commercial artist is painting in his home one night in the middle of a violent thunderstorm. He leaves to take shelter with his family in the basement only to awake the next morning to find his art studio and the painting he was working on has bee completely destroyed. While surveying the damage outside he also learns his boat house has been crushed by a neighbors tree. As he goes to exchange insurance information with him he learns his neighbor, Brent Norton he learns a tree also fell on his property and crushed his car.
The two of them, along with David’s five year old son Billy head into to town to get supplies and resources while the power is down. On the way there they pass several military vehicles speeding down the highway. Once the arrive at the store a strange mist starts to engulf everything outside. A local named Dan miller comes running, in front of the mist bleeding from the nose saying “something is in the mist.”
Jeff’s Review
Based on a 1980 novella by Stephen King, the Mist might be the most frightening film based on King’s work. It was directed and written by Frank Darabont who also adapted King’s the Shawshank Redemption and the Green Mile. Both of those movies are numbers one and two on my all time favorite movie list. So I had very high expectations about this movie before hand.
I had never read the book so I came to the story fresh with no preconceived notions of what to expect. Sometimes it hurts when you know the story from a book seeing the movie. I probably would have enjoyed “I am Legend” better if I did not view the movie wanting to see Richard Matheson’s vampire novel on screen.
So coming in blind, what I saw shocked and scared me. Darabont succeeds in making a very terrifying monster movie. And yet at the same time, an interesting movie about people’s natural reaction to fear.
Having seen the movie, I did go out and read the book and the film was fairly faithful to the original story, changing a few things for dramatic and story telling purposes. One major change was the ending of the movie. It is completely different then what King penned in his novella. Darabont wasn’t sure if King would like it or not and was apprehensive about showing it to him, but to his delight King loved it. King went as far as saying:
“Frank wrote a new ending I love. It is the most shocking ending ever. There should be a law passed stating that anybody who reveals the last five minutes of this film should be hung from their neck until dead.”
I of course will obey Mr. King and just say after viewing the movie’s ending it laterally left me speechless. It is something you did not see coming and will make you think for a long time to come about what you would do if ever faced with a similar situation.
Cast
- Thomas Jane as David Drayton
- Marcia Gay Harden as Mrs. Carmody
- Laurie Holden as Amanda Dumfries
- Andre Braugher as Brent Norton
- Toby Jones as Ollie Weeks
- William Sadler as Jim Grondin
- Jeffrey DeMunn as Dan Miller
- Frances Sternhagen as Irene
- Alexa Davalos as Sally
- Nathan Gamble as Billy Drayton
The cast did a magnificent job. Thomas Jane is remarkable as a David Drayton and he almost did no get the role, as the studio did not want him at first. Luckily for us, everything got straightened out. I was also really happy to see Jeffrey DeMunn as he is one of my favorite actors. He has been in a number of Stephen King movies, including Shawshank and Green Mile. But m favorite role of his was in King’s miniseries, “Storm of the Century.” His role here in the Mist was small, but he was brilliant every moment he was on camera.
Suggestions and Ratings
The movie is rated R for violence, terror, gore, and language. At just over two hours long this movie is perfect movie to watch with all the lights off and a big bag of popcorn on your lap. Seriously, you are doing yourself a disservice if you watch this movie with the lights on. So turn them off and prepare yourself for a terrifying night! Four out of four stars.
Obama, Clinton and McCain will be on American Idol tonight. They will appear separately in Idol’s annual fundraiser special “Idol Gives Back.” 
Jeremy Bonderman will get Detroit’s first win of the season tonight. The start of major league baseball has been a living hell in Detroit for the past two weeks. This will all end tonight.
