Non-Spoiler Review
Well now! After the disaster that was Fantastic Four II last Friday, I cut out of work early yesterday to view this puppy...and, in the end, the payoff is there.
1408 is based on same-titled short story by Horror Emperor Stephen King. Starring John Cusack as “Mike Enslin” - a skeptical divorced middle-aged author, it is the fast-paced tale of a man who finds himself trapped within the confines of a presumed “weird” hotel room, while researching the latest in a string of smarmy non-fiction opuses on haunted establishments.
1408 is directed by Mikael Hafstrom and written by Matt Greenberg, Scott Alexander, and Larry Karaszewski.
The early highlight of the film is Mike's confrontation with Samuel L. Jackson’s wonderfully performed Hotel Manager, who lays out 1408’s expository prologue with style, relish, and creepy gravitas.
After that, Mike’s hotel room stay becomes not only a journey into the mystery that is 1408, but an examination of his own soul...and his own demons.
Yes, at times the themes and visuals in this flick touch upon familiar ground...a couple of old Twilight Zone episodes spring to mind, a season one episode of Star Trek The Next Generation, and, of course, King’s own “The Shining.” However, I found that these nit-pics are more than made up for by 1408 walking its own path, separate from the recent maze of splatter-punk and torture-porn R-rated films that have filled the big screen slate of late.
Ultimately, it is the strengh of Cusack’s acting that makes this flick work so well. It is really a one-man show. This thespian, stuck inside a large amount of screen time, all by himself, sinks his claws into our interest (as viewers), and never lets go.
I give this movie, four out of five cans of diet cherry vanilla Dr. Pepper.
Mike out
This post was last modified: 06-23-2007, 09:17 PM by Mike Hanson.