The Stand
The one quality about Stephen King that seems most consistent with his work is that while he possesses the ability to actually come up with some amazing stories and concepts, it is usually in his execution of telling these stories that he can generally come up a bit flat, something which can be redeemed ironically in the film versions of his work by other writers and directors who successfully adapt any given story of his into a good or even great movie (prominent examples include Kubrick with The Shining, Darabont with Shawshank Redemption and Cronenberg with Dead Zone). The one real exception at least in regard to Kingâs early work was The Stand, an incredible 1000+ page supernovel which during the writing process King would describe as being âmy own personal Vietnamâ but the depth and scope of the final product would stand as a testament to his inherent talent that at times was wasted on some of his more âfast foodâ horror entries. Possessing a very wide range of characters and arguably the most memorable villain whom he ever came up with, the story rapidly took on a life of its own with literary fans who clamored for years for a film adaptation, one which King was finding himself taking great pains to pare down to a filmable length with little to no success until the offer was finally made to adapt it instead into a TV miniseries in 1994, one which King agreed to albeit much of the original language and content had to be altered in order to conform it to the standards and practices of network TV censorship at the time. It goes without saying that King as a literal screenwriter would prove to have a tin ear for onscreen dialogue, often giving his characters little platitudes to say that would never be uttered by somebody in real life. But under the reliable directorial hand of one Mick Garris (a favorite of Kingâs whom he had handpicked for this assignment), a steady and enjoyable effort would come out of this particular adaptation which when watched today without commercial interruption clocks in at a hefty 6 hours long. But Garris as director displays a scenic eye for the material, setting the mood and atmosphere brilliantly whether it be in depicting the unbridled carnage of a society breaking apart at the seams or in the peaceful, death like stillness of a world long since gone and now only populated by those chosen few who have managed to survive the initial outbreak only to now deal with a threat much worse, a singular leader on the opposite side from them who may or may not be plotting their destruction. The opening scene displays both the calm and disarray at once as a red alert at a military installation leads to the sentry at the guardhouse (Ray McKinnon, who in time deftly graduated from always playing wimps to characters of some intensity) defying orders and fleeing the base with his family knowing that the red alert could only mean one thing: that the deadly, top secret virus being developed there has somehow been released. The escape itself, while successful, turns out to be futile as both he and his family succumb to the killer virus before crash landing at a gas station in a small Texas town. Despite the military effort to quarantine the town, the virus (with a communicability level of 99%) spreads like wildfire across the country and around the world, killing off the entire population except for a small number of survivors whom (depending on how you look at it) are either blessed or cursed with the burden of not only choosing which side and which out of the two powerful leaders to follow (presumably based upon either the good or evil nature of the individual person which determines how strongly they are drawn to whoever they gravitate towards) but also in rebuilding society at least to the point where there is something of a working structure in place. The film benefits greatly from knowing that a story with an epic nature like this one requires an equally large, all star A list cast, with truthfully the two lead characters being the two leaders of each religious movement, starting with Ruby Dee as the 106 year old little old black lady prophet Mother Abagail and despite the landmines presented by Kingâs sloppy writing, Dee manages to bring a ton of dignity to the role, it being that Abagail is meant to represent the side of the Judeo Christian God (and Jesus Christ) and scenes showing the character by herself talking to God (and even questioning His tactics) come off as being very well played by any acting standards. On the other side of the coin is the infamous Randall Flagg, a legendary bad guy who has appeared in other King novels and adaptations and seems to serve as an all purpose Devil / Antichrist figure for him. Cast in the role is Jamey Sheridan, a veteran TV / character actor who thankfully has everything required for playing the role down perfectly save for one thing beyond his control: Flagg is such a mythical figure amongst King fans that the casting almost DEMANDS a major, big name actor to give him that little something extra (reportedly Christopher Walken was heavily in the running) and the fact that King purposely chose a lesser known actor makes it his creative decision first and foremost. Regardless, in terms of talent, charisma and swagger, Sheridan remains the original and most likely definitive version of the character for generations to come, with the only drawback in the performance (again from King) is in giving Flagg a few too many wisecracks and one liners in order to make him into more of a âhipâ horror villain much like Freddy Krueger when Sheridanâs portrayal of Flaggâs basic elements suits everything just fine. But the rest of the cast (and the beloved characters they inhabit) props everything else up exactly right. Gary Sinise as Stu Redman is the perfect Everyman who rises to the level of being the natural leader of Abagailâs flock; Molly Ringwald (a long way removed from her John Hughes salad days) is an acceptable love interest for Sinise as Frannie Goldsmith; Laura San Giacomo as the beautiful yet tortured Nadine Cross alternates between teasing seductress and terrified quasi victim; Miguel Ferrer brings impressive dramatic weight to the role of Lloyd Henreid (Kingâs openly stated favorite character and a favorite of many of the fans), Flaggâs second in command who stands behind his leader even as his proximity to Flagg gives him untold insight into the precariously unstable nature of his leadership; Corin Nemec as the nerdy yet duplitious Harold Lauder (described in the book as a fat kid but portrayed here as a skinny geek) still manages to bring a level of empathy to such an unlikable character; Matt Frewer as the unforgettable Trashcan Man gets the nuances just right, that being of a guy who is neither good nor evil but since he suffers from an untreated and destructive mental illness, finds himself easy prey for Flaggâs manipulations even as ironically it is him (and not any of the good guys) who in the end winds up carrying out the âWill Of Godâ; Ray Walston as the old man Glen Bateman (whom it turns out King envisioned in the role back when he first wrote the book) turns in excellent work here as the fervently healthy skeptic who questions everything including the word of God Itself as preached by Abagail (although he still always does the right thing); Rob Lowe (who was such a fan of the book that he took a pay cut and campaigned to be cast for his role here) playing against type as the deaf mute Nick Andros, a sort of savant who nonetheless is implied might carry the same sort of insightful prophetic powers as Abagail herself, scores big by taking his own ego down several notches to present himself here as a character who is mainly defined by his modesty; really only Adam Storke in the very key role of Larry Underwood strikes out amongst the major players by doing a bad impression of Bruce Springsteen (who inspired the character) throughout the film and (given the fact that his own career never took off) finds himself being carried in his scenes by the other actors for the most part. Smaller roles include appearances by Bill Fagerbakke (who also survives bad writing) as the mildly retarded Tom Cullen, Rick Aviles, Shawnee Smith (as sexy as sexy can be playing an unrepentant bad girl), Max Wright, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the imposing Monster Shouter, John Landis (âI thought there were going to be whores.â), Sherman âBub The Zombieâ Howard, Joe Bob Briggs, Kathy Bates, Ed Harris nearly stealing the show in a handful of early scenes and King himself as what amounts to being The Village Idiot in Abagailâs home base of Boulder, Colorado. The film thankfully withholds judgment as it pertains to which side of the political spectrum (liberal vs conservative) are drawn to either Flagg or Abagail, choosing instead to put forth the theory that inherent evil is blind to any political ideology as Abagailâs side is shown openly accepting atheists (such as Loweâs Andros) along with the hardcore Christian types while Flaggâs minions include several obvious criminal elements (like Ferrerâs Lloyd as well as Avilesâ Rat Man) along with several authority figure types who seemed to have joined up simply because they enjoy playing the role of authority figures. Itâs also notable in the way that Abagailâs Boulder faithful (despite living in a new world with new rules) still adhere to mostly traditional standards up to and including monogamy almost to the point where they come to resemble a bunch of stiffs while Flaggâs people in Vegas seem like theyâre not afraid to party and have a good time (although Flagg doesnât hesitate in stringing somebody up if they turn out to be a useless junkie) although identifying the moral boundaries put in place becomes a bit blurred at times (even though Flagg is respected and recognized as their leader by most Vegas women, itâs also apparent that theyâre afraid of him and might even find him a bit creepy). The end game of course, is Abagail sending her top 4 guys on foot towards Vegas to face off with Flagg without any weapons or even any intention of showing any malice, simply depending on their faith in God that they will be protected all while Flagg faces his own series of setbacks that seriously shakes up his world, rightfully so since even though it appears that Flagg has a âpsychic twinkleâ that allows him to see what others canât, it is actually what he does NOT see that brings about his own undoing (having his radar jammed by God so to speak so that His followers can find a way to win). That idea (having complete and total faith in God in order to defeat and overcome pure evil) is ultimately the most potent one of all that King had originally come up with in his novel, one that is successfully carried over here and makes this one of the better adaptations of his work and certainly the best one to suffer the stigma of having found life through being made as a network TV productionâŚ
9/10