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E N G L I S H
I have always enjoyed the adaptations that have been made of literary works of Stephen King, because I grew up with them, both in movies and reading the stories, but this; this did not deserve if I wanted it to be idealized, and it seemed to me a serious fault that the suspensory plot of the original was not respected.
Netflix always fails in its productions, sometimes it doesn't and gets it right, but when it's the opposite case, the consequences reach a level, which is endangering it as the most requested streaming platform. This seems to be the kind of movies that are overrated, because as we know, if something is liked by many people does not mean it is of quality, it simply had better support and funding. That happens in all facets of art, even within this platform.
E S P A Ñ O L
Yo siempre he disfrutado de las adaptaciones que se han hecho de obras literarias de Stephen King, porque crecí con ellas, tanto en películas como leyendo los cuentos, pero esto; esto no merecía si quisiera que se idealizara, y me pareció una falta grave que no se respetara la trama suspensiva de la original.
Netflix siempre falla en sus producciones, a veces no lo hace y acierta, pero cuando es el caso contrario, las consecuencias llegan a un nivel, que va peligrando como plataforma de streaming más solicitada. Este parece del tipo de películas que son sobrevaloradas, porque como bien sabemos, si algo le gusta a mucha gente no quiere decir que sea de calidad, simplemente tuvo mejor apoyo y financiación. Eso ocurre en todas las facetas del arte, incluso dentro de esta plataforma.
Technical Data
Not to mention the production behind it, when I realized who they were, I understood many things about why this adaptation came out so bad. Starting with the production company: Blumhouse, which, although I believe that not all their productions are not all bad, I think they would have opted for better and functional ideas. We also have Ryan Murphy among the production, this doesn't change anything either. I consider Murphy to be an overrated average director. None of his productions have managed to fascinate me, maybe the recent series about Jeffrey Dahmer, but it hasn't left me hooked either. I don't hold him in high esteem as a filmmaker, everything he does gradually loses interest for me until I forget it.
The director of Mr. Harrigan's Phone, his name is John Lee Hancock; I don't know him and in reviewing a bit of his film career as a director, I haven't heard of or seen any of the films he's directed either. It's like he just appeared out of nowhere. This man was the screenwriter for this film, based on the short story of the same name by Stephen King, which it seems he wouldn't have understood, as his vision is further removed from the genre of the original work.
In the cast we have Jaeden Martell as Craig, known for his performance in the horrible remake of It, a film as bad as this one, although with some good points that can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Then we have Donald Sutherland as Mr. Harrigan, a living movie legend, and I must say, his performance was one of the favorable ones, because only two were good. Kirby Howell-Baptiste as the teacher Ms. Hart. Joe Tippett, as Craig's father, among other actors not worth mentioning much.
The film was distributed by Netflix with a running time of 105 minutes. It was released earlier this year on October 5.
Ficha Técnica
Ni hablar de la producción detrás, al darme cuenta de quienes eran, entendí muchas cosas de porque esta adaptación salió tan mala. Empezando por la empresa productora: Blumhouse, que, aunque creo que no todas sus producciones son del todo malas, pienso que hubieran optado por ideas mejores y funcionales. También tenemos a Ryan Murphy entre la producción, esto tampoco cambia nada. Considero a Murphy como un director promedio demasiado sobrevalorado. Ninguna de sus producciones ha logrado fascinarme, quizás la serie reciente sobre Jeffrey Dahmer, pero tampoco me ha dejado enganchado. No le tengo mucha estima como director de cine, todo lo que él hace pierde paulatinamente el interés para mí hasta olvidarlo.
El director de Mr. Harrigan's Phone, se llama John Lee Hancock; no lo conozco y al revisar un poco su carrera cinematográfica como director, tampoco he escuchado o visto ninguna de las películas que ha dirigido. Es como si hubiera aparecido de la nada. Este hombre fue el guionista de este filme, basándose en el cuento corto homónimo de Stephen King, el cual parece que no lo hubiera comprendido, pues su visión está más alejada del género de la obra original.
En el elenco actoral tenemos como papel protagónico a Jaeden Martell como Craig, conocido por su actuación en el horrible remake de It, película tan mala como esta, aunque con algunos puntos a favor que se pueden contar con los dedos de una sola mano. Luego tenemos a Donald Sutherland como el Mr. Harrigan, una leyenda del cine viviente, y debo decir, que su interpretación fue una de las favorables, porque solo dos estuvieron bien. Kirby Howell-Baptiste como la maestra Ms. Hart. Joe Tippett, como el padre de Craig, entre otros actores que no vale mucho la pena mencionar.
La película fue distribuida por Netflix con una duración de 105 minutos. Fue estrenada este mismo año el 5 de octubre.
Plot and opinion
I have no problem with the story, in fact I found it very interesting, so it is a pity that they did not know how to expose it at the height. A boy named Craig, gets a job reading literary works to one of the richest elders in his town (the film does not explain very well why this happens). Mr. Harrigan is known by many people to be a stern and firm man. He is hated by many and loved by few, however, in this film I saw none of those negative aspects of his personality, and if they manifested, they were almost unnoticeable.
Craig reads to Mr. Harringan until one day the old man dies. At his funeral, Craig leaves Mr. Harringan's phone in his coffin, so that somehow, perhaps, he can continue to communicate with him in the afterlife since the boy misses him so much and liked spending time with him. I don't know, this plot didn't seem solid enough to me to do something like this, for a moment I thought 'catalepsy'; it would have been more interesting, but nothing like that happened.
After this, Craig starts calling Mr. Harringan's number and leaving voicemails, until he gets a return message from the old man's cell phone and it scares the hell out of him. I tell all this about the plot because it's not a spoiler, it appears in the trailer and in many synopses as well. Craig begins to suspect that Mr. Harringan's spirit is communicating through his cell phone and committing illicit acts for him.
Well, as I said earlier, I like the story, it has a lot of potential to become a horror film, and that was the main problem with this film. It didn't feel like a horror film, it felt like a drama film, with a supernatural element in the middle that only came and went a few times. The characters and their interaction with the environment, did not seem to be coupled. I felt neither empathy, nor contempt. It didn't make me feel anything.
The only performances I can save, are those of Kirby Howell-Baptiste and Sutherland, the rest were so bad or frivolous that they seemed more like furniture in the set design. Not to mention that boy scorcher: Kenny, played by Cyrus Arnold, who appeared in some scenes to annoy the protagonist, but for no apparent reason, he just did it for the sake of it. It was obvious that the character had problems, but... they weren't even able to dig into that part of his psychology to better understand his strange behavior.
Then, in the movie they criticize smartphones, like in the middle and at the end, which confused me because I didn't know if this whole movie was really an attack on cell phones and social networks, and if so, they did it very badly, since they would have touched on that background in a more functional way. It would have been better if the supernatural element of the story had been followed, but we only have snippets and a very 'family friendly' story that doesn't inspire you to continue watching it.
Trama y opinión
Con la historia no tengo ningún problema, es más me pareció muy interesante, por lo que es una pena que no la supieran exponer a la altura. Un chico llamado Craig, consigue trabajo leyéndole obras literarias a uno de los ancianos más ricos de su pueblo (la película no explica muy bien el por qué sucede esto). El señor Harrigan es conocido por mucha gente por ser un hombre severo y firme. Es odiado por muchos y amado por pocos, sin embargo, en este filme no vi nada de esos aspectos negativos en su personalidad, y si se manifestaron, fueron casi imperceptibles.
Craig le lee al Señor Harringan hasta que un día el anciano muere. En su funeral, Craig deja el teléfono del Señor Harringan en su ataúd, para que, de alguna forma, quizás, seguir comunicándose con él en el más allá ya que el muchacho lo extraña mucho y le gustaba pasar tiempo con él. No lo sé, este argumento no me pareció lo suficientemente sólido como para hacer algo así, por un momento pensé en la ‘catalepsia’; hubiera sido más interesante, pero nada de eso ocurrió.
Después de esto, Craig comienza a llamar al número del señor Harringan y a dejarle mensajes de voz, hasta que recibe un mensaje de vuelta del celular del anciano y eso lo asusta mucho. Cuento todo esto de la trama porque no es un spoiler, aparece en el tráiler y en muchas sinopsis también. Craig comienza a sospechar que el espíritu del señor Harringan se comunica a través de su celular y comete actos ilícitos para él.
Bien, como dije anteriormente, la historia me gusta, tiene mucho potencial para convertirse en un filme de terror, y ese fue el problema principal con esta película. No parecía un filme de terror, sino de drama, con un elemento sobrenatural de por medio que solo iba y venía en contadas veces. Los personajes y su interacción con el entorno, no parecían estar acoplados. No sentí ni empatía, ni desprecio. No me hizo sentir nada.
Las únicas actuaciones que puedo salvar, son las de Kirby Howell-Baptiste y Sutherland, el resto eran tan malas o frívolas que parecían más bien muebles en la escenografía. Ni hablar de ese chico buleador: Kenny, interpretado Cyrus Arnold, el cual aparecía en algunas escenas para molestar al protagonista, pero sin ninguna razón aparente, solo lo hacía porque sí. Era evidente que el personaje tenía problemas, pero… ni siquiera fueron capaces de indagar en esa parte de su psicología para entender mejor su extraño comportamiento.
Luego, en la película hacen críticas a los smartphones, como a la mitad y al final, lo cual me confundió porque no sabía si en realidad todo este largometraje era un ataque hacia los celulares y las redes sociales, y si era así, lo hicieron muy mal, ya que se hubiera tocado ese trasfondo de otra manera más funcional. Hubiera calado mejor todo si se hubiese seguido el elemento sobrenatural de la historia, pero solo tenemos retazos y una historia muy ‘family friendly’ que no te inspira para nada seguir viéndola.
Conclusions
A terrible adaptation of a very interesting story by Stephen King, I haven't read the original work, but just glancing at the summary, I was quite intrigued. It's a shame they didn't know how to take advantage of it. That they also weren't able to fill in the gaps that are found throughout the film. Not to mention the sequence, in my opinion it goes too fast and does not end up explaining many things. I understand that it is an adaptation of a short story, but come on, there are people who make movies from novels of more than 600 pages and they are very good. Disappointing, I guess the original story is much more impacting than this, I will look for it so I won't be left with this bad digestion.
Conclusiones
Una terrible adaptación de un cuento muy interesante de Stephen King, no he leído la obra original, pero con solo echarle una ojeada al resumen, me intrigó bastante. Es una pena que no supieran aprovecharla. Que tampoco fuesen capaces de llenar los huecos que se encuentran a lo largo del filme. Ni hablar de la secuencia, en mi opinión va demasiado rápido y no termina de explicar muchas cosas. Entiendo que es una adaptación de un cuento corto, pero vamos, hay gente que hace películas de novelas de más de 600 páginas y les quedan muy bien. Decepcionante, supongo que la historia original es mucho más impactante que esto, la buscaré para no quedarme con esta mala digestión.
Written by @universoperdido. October 6, 2022
Escrito por @universoperdido. 6 de octubre del 2022
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Last night before I went to sleep, I checked netflix and saw that this one was coming out. I didn't have time to watch the trailer, I only half read the synopsis. Now, reading your post and checking its rating on filmaffinity , it looks like it's not worth watching. I'd better look for another movie for the weekend. The one recommended by Namelles and Jauregui, that's the one I'm going to look for.
I lost almost two hours of my life, but nevertheless I did this review to warn others. Too bad.
Bodies Bodies Bodies Bodies is also on my list. I just read Jauregui98's review and I'm already intrigued.
Wow, just yesterday I started watching this movie on Netflix and I had to pause it due to lack of time, although originally my idea was to continue watching it today I think after reading you I won't, mainly because at first I thought it was a fantasy movie, because of the way it started, so go figure, I guess that first wrong impression is part of what you comment about the poor handling of the story.
Any other option you recommend to watch instead of this one?
Good thing you didn't finish it, it's a waste of time. I wanted to stop it when I was halfway through, but I wanted to know if they were going to at least reveal the mystery, but not even that.
If you have Netflix I recommend 'In the Tall Grass' it's also an adaptation of a Stephen King short story with his son. It's disturbing, intriguing and with a well done scary atmosphere.
And if you like horror series, one just came out that looks promising. It's called 'The Midnight Club', I'll start watching it today.
Oh no, what a disappointment, how good that I didn't finish seeing it.
I will take your advice and see what you recommend. The series you mention I already have on the list, I think in the evening I will start watching it. Thank you very much 🤗
Based on your last words are you trying to say the writers and directors didn't impress you? I would love to know. The movie cover look really captivating, I was expecting a positive comment about the whole plot, but then thanks for being real unlike some people.
Nothing about this film impressed me. It's very boring and in the description it says it's a horror movie but you're not going to find any of that here. I blame the team behind it for making something so boring. I don't recommend it at all.