The Stand is perhaps my favorite novel of all time, and I always knew that translating it to the screen - big or small - would be a pretty heavy task. Still, I followed the progress of the making of the miniseries from casting through production, up to release. One of the things that amazed me was the fact that some of the casting was so dead-on and some so far off. Nick Andros was my most favorite character in the book, and I can tell you that he was in no way, shape or form Rob Lowe - period. Molly Ringwald took on the role of Frannie Goldsmith - a strong, opinionated, outspoken, and conscientious woman - and turned her into a selfish, whiny little girl. And I do mean that every line she spoke seemed to come out as a whine. And it wasn't the dialogue, but her delivery.
Still, I think the character most ruined in the transition from novel to miniseries was Harold Lauder. Harold in the book was one of the most fascinating fictional characters of all time, in my opinion, and in the film they turned him into a stereotypical nerd who, like most "bad" characters, is portrayed entirely unsympathetically. That was so disappointing!
Of course, there were other performances that exceeded expectations. Gary Sinise was a perfect Stu Redman, and Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Ray Walston, Adam Storke, Bill Fagerbakke, and the dreadfully underappreciated Miguel Ferrer, among others, all turned in strong performances.
I suppose I should not have expected perfection - an 1,100 page novel is a hard thing to fit into 6 hours, especially on television with all the unpleasantries that can't be portrayed. And it's not necessarily a bad movie - it's just not quite the same as the book (which I still read at least once yearly). All in all, I'd say it came out as well as it could have under the circumstances - I only wish they'd thought a little harder about some of their casting choices before making them. But bravo to Stephen King for writing the teleplay himself - that alone makes it better. And I will watch this again sometime - after all, it's a way to see Stu, Glen, Larry, Lloyd, Tom Cullen, and all the others come to life outside of the novel.
