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:

The film was originally written to air as a two part miniseries but the ABC Network chose instead to show the entire film on one evening in a three hour time slot.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When David is walking through the police station going from room to room, about halfway into the movie, you can see the outline of his mike under his shirt on the left side.

Quotes:

Cynthia Smith: Are you going to smoke that or gum it to death?
Steve Ames: Eh... I quit. I still urge to keep the practice though.

Movie Connections:

References The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Soundtrack:

Good Lovin

Truly awful writing

The storyline is intriguing at first, but ends up ridiculous -- bordering on laughable -- by the end.

The real problem with this film, though, is the writing. I really felt for the actors, because at first I thought the acting was terrible, but I soon realised there isn't an actor in the world that could have made that script work. This is surprising given it was written by King, but then I guess it goes to show writing novels and writing teleplays are two very different things.

I quite liked the score in parts, and I can see why the sound editing was noted, but as a film I would not recommend it.