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Directed By: Mikael H\u00c3\u00a5fstr\u00c3\u00b6m<\/p>\n
Starring: John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Mary McCormack and Jasmine Jessica Anthony.<\/p>\n
Score: Technical: 90, Story: 80, Acting 90, Overall Score: 86%<\/p>\n
When was the last time a movie made its audience truly question reality and their own mentality? During a summer when movie studios are relying on sequels, trilogies, and recycled plot lines to draw in crowds and make money, Dimension Films is doing just the opposite with 1408. The movie is the latest adaptation of a horror\/thriller\/suspense novella by author Stephen King that grabs hold of the viewer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sanity and doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let go.<\/p>\n
Sensing that 1408 would follow in the successful footsteps of other King adaptations, including Carrie, Salem\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Lot, and The Shining, Dimension hyped the movie up whiling advertising it, using the actors to their advantage. John Cusack, who stars as supernatural writer Mike Enslin, and Samuel L. Jackson, as the Dolphin Hotel manager Gerald Olin, helped advertise the movie; for example, in the weeks prior to the movie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s June 22 release, Cusack visited the shows Live with Regis and Kelly and The Late Show with David Letterman, and both actors visited The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, who praised the plotline.<\/p>\n
The plot centers on Mike, who recently lost his daughter Katie, played by Jasmine Jessica Anthony. He is estranged from his wife Lily, played by Mary McCormack, as he travels to allegedly haunted hotels across the country to do research for his latest book. He finds himself drawn to the notorious room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel in New York City, to prove that it isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t haunted. <\/p>\n
Once he arrives at the hotel, Mr. Olin asks him not to stay in 1408, due to the almost 50 deaths that have occurred there since the hotel opened in the early 1900\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, and the fact that he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to clean up after him. Mike eventually convinces Mr. Olin to let him stay in the room, but once there, he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t find a way out, while the room forces him to face his daughter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death and his inability to emotionally move on.<\/p>\n
Director Mikael Hafstrom made the right decision in hiring Cusack, who proved his strength and ability as a lead actor in yet another genre. While he was part of the ensemble cast of 2003\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s thriller Identity, he was convincingly able to move the plot of 1408 forward as the lead actor. In many scenes, he was able to convey the emotions of a father in mourning, and deal with his own childhood, even though he was the only actor on screen. Also, in a matter of minutes, he made the audience believe that Mike underwent a revelation of doubting the validity of the subject matter that made his books famous to believing in it and trying to escape from the room that tested his sanity.<\/p>\n
The audience will most have doubts of whether the hotel really does exist. While at home in California, Mike receives an anonymous postcard, warning him not to enter room 1408. However, it seems as though he never heard of the haunted room before, or even the hotel, even though he lived in New York with his family. He never researched the room or the hotel for any of his previous books, even though several have been best-sellers, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in demand by readers to write more. Also, he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t try to find out who sent him the postcard, or even question who sent it. <\/p>\n
There were also plot holes in the movie that will most likely leave the audience wondering if Mike really stayed in the room. Mr. Olin tells him that the hotel staff only enters the room to clean it, for ten minutes once a month, since the hotel closed it off to the public 20 years ago. But if this is true, than how was the room modernly furnished and carpeted, and how would there be a modern fire sprinkler been installed and continuously monitored? Also, when Mr. Olin gives Mike the key for the room, it is a regular key, and not an electronic keycard, because he said electronics don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work inside the room. But the room\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s television, clock radio, and phone, as well as Mike\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cell phone and laptop computer, all work inside.<\/p>\n
Overall, 1408 lives up to previous adaptations of Stephen King\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s works that have done well at the box office, as it relies on psychological twists, rather than overt violence. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an actual story to it, and it makes the audience think about what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going on, rather than just having them stare at blood and gore. During its opening weekend, it debuted in the number two spot at the box office and made $20.6 million, exceeding its expectations of $12-18 million. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also the first thriller or horror movie since Disturbia to be successful at the box office this year. While it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rated PG-13, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not suited for children, as there is some sexual content, profanity, smoking, and alcohol. <\/p>\n
Review by Karen Benardello<\/p>\n
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