Thomas Jane has a pretty good track record when it comes to
Stephen King adaptations. I happen to
think Dreamcatcher is a bug-nuts minor classic and The Mist has one of the best
horror movie endings of all time. I’m
happy to report that 1922 is another winner from King and Jane.
Jane stars as a proud farmer whose wife (Molly Parker) wants
to sell off her family’s farmland. Jane
won’t hear of it. Farming is in his blood
and he doesn’t want to give the land up.
Besides, it’s all he knows. She’s
headstrong though and won’t budge. He
soon begins plotting with his son (Dylan Schmid) to bump her off in order to
preserve their way of life.
Screenwriter/director Zak Hilditch does a good job of
painting the characters in short, economical strokes. They are desperate and conniving people
driven by greed and the way they lie and corrupt to get what they want evokes
the work of Jim Thompson. Hilditch’s use
of dark colors and placement of shadows in the early going is more Film Noir
than horror movie. Farm Noir, if you
will.
The second act is when the horror elements start coming into
play. There’s even a subplot about
killer rats that may or may not be a reincarnation of Parker’s vengeful
spirit. The sounds of the rats running,
screeching, and scratching behind the walls are quite effective. Anyone who’s ever had a rodent problem can
feel some empathy for Jane’s plight.
(Well, with his rat problem, that is.)
The Farm Noir first half was a tad more successful for me
than the stuff with the killer rats. Both
portions of the film have their moments of quiet eeriness though. It’s just when I think back to the movie, it’ll
be the early scenes of Jane manipulating his son that I’ll remember. Some of the detours 1922 takes in the second
act (like Schmid’s evolution into a ruthless bank robber) are a bit unnecessary
too, and it probably runs on a good ten minutes longer than it needed to.
If anything, 1922 is a reminder of how great Jane can really
be. With his steel-eyed stare and
speaking out of clenched teeth with a thick country drawl, he does some of his
finest character work of his entire career.
Heck, he even makes you feel a little sympathy for him, which
considering what a cold-hearted bastard he is in the movie, isn’t an easy feat.
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