What's Wrong With 1408

Question

I like John Cusack. I like Stephen King. I liked the look of the film and there was nothing wrong with the production values.

So why doesn't it work?
I think the problem is that it was adapted from a short story.

I haven't read it, but I'm guessing they were pretty faithful to the source material and there just wasn't enough there.

The result is it's stretched thin, and you pretty much know what's coming next especially if you've seen the trailer.

The little twist at the end is just that - a little twist. The result is like a 15-minute Twilight Zone episode adapted by O Henry stretched to two hours.
I'm not against the idea of adapting short stories but they have to be opened up and augmented.
The Birds was based on a story that runs about three pages IIRC (I have read it).
Too bad. This could have been a great (if small) film. Instead... ?

Yawn.

"Anybody can direct. There are only 11 good writers." ? Mel Brooks

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]The Birds was based on a story that runs about three pages IIRC (I have read it).[/nq]
A great, taut little story and a great taut film - as you say, augmented.
[nq:1]Too bad. This could have been a great (if small) film. Instead... ? Yawn.[/nq]
When I first saw there was a movie out called 1408, I excitedly thought it'd be about medieval times.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I like John Cusack. I like Stephen King. I liked the look of the film and there was nothing wrong ... (I have read it). Too bad. This could have been a great (if small) film. Instead... ? Yawn. Some spoilers:[/nq]
Well, they really set themselves an enormous challenge. After the set- up you're confronted with two loong acts that fundamentally consist of one guy in one room with a lot of scary things happening to him.

And yes, you can bring in other people in various ways and of course, they used every single way they could think of but the reality is once you leave the room in any way all the energy instantly drains out of the whole piece.
If it's a flashback (and fortunately they avoided the temptation of doing literal flashbacks) it would be a disaster, because you'd just be using them as expository devices while your protagonist is in the middle of some harrowing situation, just marking time.

If, you do some "matrix-y" kind of play on reality, a temptation that they didn't fail to resist and it isn't a minute before the end of the movie we know that it's a fake. We know that when he "wakes up" with the whole surf board thing that he's still in the matri um, that is, still in room 1408. There's just too much time left, and it's not enough of an ending. Plus the clock didn't tick down all the way. He's just got to still be in the room.
And, of course, they totally *** cheat the ending, which completely sucks.
It's laid out at the beginning - nobody has ever survived more than an hour in the room. And then the clock starts ticking down clearly he's got an hour. And then he goes through this unbelievable nightmarish **** in the room. The clock ticks down to zero and then starts again.
Phone rings the voice tells him that he can either go through it all again or check out. That is, the room gives him "free choice" he can essentially stay in the room's own version of **** or choose to kill himself.
That's his choice. And clearly, that's why all of the other victims of the room have killed themselves. That's the choice that they've made.

And what he decides to do is to start a fire and burn out the room that is, if he has to die, he's going to "take the room with him."

And that's what he does.
Only he doesn't *** die. The fire department breaks into the room (even though previously, if we're to believe it, when the police showed up looking for him, they couldn't find him in the same room) and they rescue him. And he lives.
And he goes home with his wife and then they hear the voice of their daughter on the tape so what?
This just reeks of somebody saying can't we have a happy ending? Does the star have to die? Can't the fire department break in and then maybe we'll have some little "sting" at the end so we know that it was all real and not just in his head but in the end he'll be redeemed and everybody will be happy?
Boy, did that *** suck.
NMS

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Some spoilers: And what he decides to do is to start a fire and burn out the room that ... home with his wife and then they hear the voice of their daughter on the tape so what?[/nq]
Actually, he burned the room because his wife was on her way and the room would have imprisoned her. And this selfless act, this sacrifice - after he realized earlier that that he had led a selfish life - was his salute. Or, that's the presumption, because that conclusion was not clearly stated.

The daughter's voice on the tape was pointless, agreed. It was a throaway to get a cheap twist ending, only it didn't work because the script played too much with "it's real/it's a hallucination" for the viewer to care at the end, even with this confirmation.
jaybee

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I like John Cusack. I like Stephen King. I liked ... been a great (if small) film. Instead... ? Yawn. [/nq]
[nq:1]Some spoilers: Well, they really set themselves an enormous challenge. After the set- up you're confronted with two loong acts ... his head but in the end he'll be redeemed and everybody will be happy? Boy, did that *** suck. NMS[/nq]
And Stephen King wonders why that van "accidentally" hit him.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]And Stephen King wonders why that van "accidentally" hit him.[/nq]
[nq:1]The vam had seen the movie - and I believe was Christine's cousin - and knew he had to be sopped.[/nq]
Sopped? That's some crazy gravy!

What's Wrong With 1408

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