Desperation (2006) (TV)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Mick Garris

Writers (WGA):

Stephen King (novel)
Stephen King (teleplay)

Release Date:

23 May 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

In this town, there are no accidents.

Plot:

When a sheriff arrests a writer, a family, a couple, and a hitchiker and throws them in a jail cell in the deserted town of Desperation, they must fight for their lives.

Plot Keywords:

Sheriff | Jail | Nevada | Writer | Mine

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Tom Skerritt	...	John Edward Marinville
Steven Weber	...	Steve Ames
Annabeth Gish	...	Mary Jackson
Charles Durning	...	Tom Billingsley
Matt Frewer	...	Ralph Carver
Henry Thomas	...	Peter Jackson
Shane Haboucha	...	David Carver
Kelly Overton	...	Cynthia Smith
Sylva Kelegian	...	Ellie Carver
Ron Perlman	...	Collie Entragian
Sammi Hanratty	...	Pie Carver
Ewan Chung	...	Shih
Alain Uy	...	Cha'an
Trieu Tran	...	Young Viet Cong
Tom Parker	...	Young Johnny

Also Known As:

Stephen King's Desperation (USA) (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and gruesome images.

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

USA:R | USA:TV-14 | Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:16 | Germany:16 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-15 | Denmark:15 | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Bisbee, Arizona, USA

Company:

Touchstone Television

Trivia:

On 10 December 2004, a set in the Tucson Convention Center (TCC) being used to film a mine collapse caught fire when the special effects department made a big mistake. Five people were injured, two of them enough to need hospitalization. The fire destroyed everything on the set, including all of the production gear and equipment, and the TCC sustained heavy water and smoke damage. The invitations to the premier screening said "the film that set Tucson on fire."

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Collie walks towards the wild dog and says, "They're not dangerous... ordinarily," a crew member with a utility belt is visible on the road behind the motorcycle to the right.

Quotes:

Peter Jackson: Where is everybody?
Collie Entragian: Disneyland.
[starts walking]
Collie Entragian: Come on, walk, Hayfoot.
[to Mary]
Collie Entragian: Strawfoot.
[stops walking]
Collie Entragian: You're Peter. And you're Mary. So where's Paul? I mean, how can you sing "Puff the Magic Dragon" without Paul?
[starts walking, then stops again]
Collie Entragian: Wait a minute... Peter Jackson? I LOVE "Lord of the Rings"!
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Soundtrack:

Good Lovin

For anyone who read the book before seeing the movie.

Besides a mediocre performance from Tom Skeritt this adaptation of Steven Kings 600+ page novel is up to par with some of his best big screen productions. Each scene is expertly crafted right out of the pages of Desperation (probably due to the fact that King wrote the screenplay). The police precinct including the desk and each cell seemed as if it were pulled straight from the novel itself. The characters appearances and each detail down to the smiley face on the bag of marijuana that lands Peter and Mary in the slammer were constructed with sheer perfection. If you read the book you'll notice that they changed little things to get with the times, like the hitchhikers shirt instead of being Pete Tesh is Bob Dylan, and there's a small reference towards the end to Donald Rumsfeld and Adam Sandler.

When I saw that there was going to be a TV movie version of this book I was worried because of the graphic sequences needed to do Desperation justice. I was not disappointed. The animal sequences were the most impressive, with vultures and dogs standing as an animal army together. The scene where the dogs line the road for miles was one of the eeriest animal sequences King has ever incorporated in a film (Others including: Cujo, The Night Flyer, etc.).

In my opinion no one was more suited for the role of Collie Entragian than Ron Perlman, he gave the best performance in the entire production in my opinion (not to insult Steven Webber). Though Tom Skeritt wasn't as good as he could have been, he was still the perfect person for his role. Skeritt just didn't come off as an asshole as well as he should have. Everyone else was good, down to the Chinese actors who had absolutely no lines.

In summary if you read the book you will like this movie the only thing that wasn't in the movie was the tree-house that David went to in his mind (not necessarily a bad thing). The director did great job of filling in the viewer on loose ends throughout the film, and it is a strict adaptation of the novel. I've heard critics comment on his use of left wing ideology in this screenplay but I have no idea what they're talking about, maybe I'm just not politically coherent enough to understand, but I feel that the movie deserves the recognition as a horror movie over that of political satire.

Thank you so much for reading my opinion I appreciate you taking the time of day to observe what I have to say.