BAG OF BONES – Mick Garris

One of our greatest writer’s of all time, Stephen King, has brought us many, many wonderful tales of horror, susupense, and wonderment. Over the years, some of these tales have been brought to the big and little screen. There hasn’t been a Stephen King film since 2007 which was The Mist and 1408, however, there hasn’t been a King film made for T.V. since 2006 which was Desperation, directed by Mick Garris. Well, Garris is back behind the camera again with his latest adaptation of a Stephen King novel.

Garris is a King regular since he also directed Sleepwalkers, The Shining (remake), Riding the Bullet, Desperation, and of course the classic, The Stand. Waiting for a King novel to come to the screen is like waiting for Christmas morning. His fans are always waiting with anticipation. Garris is more than happy to provide that special treat. It doesn’t come that often, but when it does it’s always an event. The latest film, BAG OF BONES, was a fan favorite that was released in 1998. It was brought to the small screen this past week on A/E Network and was an event in itself with it’s Dark Scores Lake ”prequel” tie-in on the Internet. I, for one, look forward to this event not just because it was a new King adaptation, but because I had the honor of interview Garris to help promote the film in my little corner of the globe. So now it is time to share my thoughts on this latest adaptation, BAG OF  BONES.

For those who may have not read the book or seen the film, it is a ghost love story. Writer Mike Noonan, (played by Pierce Brosnan), has lately had a bad case of writer’s block after his lovely wife, Jo, (played by Annabeth Gish), die’s suddenly and this sends Mike into a dark depression. Time passes and Mike decides he needs to stay at their lake house on the TR-90 called “Sara Laughs”. It is named after the famous singer Sara Tidwell who was a big singer in that area many years ago. Once Mike arrives, he see’s a little girl, Kyra, (played by Caitlin Carmichael), who is walking in the middle of the road. Mike saves her and meets her mother, Mattie, (played by Melissa George), a very young and attractive widow who lost her husband to a nasty accident.

Mike soon learns there is more going on at Dark Scores Lake than he expected. There is a custody battle between Mattie and her evil father-in-law, Max Devore, a very wealthy and mean old man that runs everything, but also has a depp hidden secret. At the lake house, Mike tries to write again, but there is one problem; he keeps getting distracted by…ghosts! His wifes spirit is there and she tries to give Mike the signs to help Mattie by moving letters on the frig, ringing a bell hanging from a moose head, and ringing his phone (“once for Yes, two for No”). However, she is also trying to get him to find the clues as to what REALLY happened at Dark Score Lake long ago, inparticular to Sara Tidwell, (played by Anika Noni Rose), who also is there haunting Mike. See, because of what happened to her long ago, she cursed the men who hurt her and that curse leads all the way back to Mike. Will Mike survive his stay at “Sara Laughs”? Will he solve the mystery that lurks there? To find out I recommend watching the film and reading the book, BAG OF BONES.  With a good soundtrack, a few scares, and an entertaining story – BAG OF BONES was worth the wait.

I really enjoyed this film as well as the book. I think Garris getting back behind the camera is wonderful and long over due. However, there are some who feel that the film lacked in some areas and didn’t stick to the book enough. That some of the little details were changed and not enough was explained. I, for one, look at the film as a good story and very entertaining for what it is. Not all of King’s books can be told page-by-page and this is due to budget and time. I would’ve liked maybe one more night so that more of the relationship between Mattie and Mike was shown and the evilness of Max Devore brought out more. Other than that, I thought it was well done. The soundtrack was choosen wisely and kept the pace of the film going. And you can leave it to Garris to keep those scares coming even tho they have to be toned down for television, but the locations and the house by the lake itself was beautiful portrayed. I think this is one of Garris’ better adapations and for those who feel it wasn’t told enough or too many changes, like Mick said, it’s the version of the story seen through the eyes of the director and I think that make’s it worth your time.

RANK: 8.5/10

Director: Mick Garris
Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Melissa George, Matt Frewer
USA, 2011