Needful Things

 

Needful Things 1993

• Director: Fraser C Heston
• Based on the book by Stephen King.
• Cast: Max von Sydow, Ed Harris, Bonnie Bedelia, Amanda Plummer, JT Walsh,
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Max von Sydow – Star Wars, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Robin Hood, Shutter Island, Emotional Arithmetic, Snow Falling on Cedars, The World’s End, Awakenings, Hiroshima Out of the Ashes, Dune, Never Say Never Again, Nybyggarna, Utvandrarna, Skammen, Vargtimmen, Här har du ditt liv, Hawaii, Det sjunde inseglet
• Ed Harris – Cymbeline, Snow Piercer, Cleaner, Gone Baby Gone, Copying Beethoven, A History of Violence, The Human Stain, The Hours, A Beautiful Mind, Pollock, Glengarry Glen Ross
• Bonnie Bedelia – Anywhere but Here, Presumed Innocent, Die Hard, They Shoot Horses Don’t They?
• Amanda Plummer – The Hunger Games, 45 RPM, My Life without Me, Dead Girl, Pulp Fiction, Fisher King, Hotel New Hampshire, Daniel
• JT Walsh – Pleasantville, Sling Blade, Red Rock West, Lethal Weapon, The Grifters, Good Morning Vietnam
• Why? Might be good.
• Seen:  23 October 2022

             A new shop called Needful Things opens in a coastal town in Maine, causing all kinds of curiosity in the townspeople.

       The proprietor is the elegant Mr Leland Gaunt (von Sydow) who seems to find exactly what everyone most desires and sells it to them for a small price. Oh yes, and a small favour.

       Like all of Stephen King’s books, the film is populated by odd characters, like timid formerly abused young widow Nettie (Plummer) as well as down-home folks like the Sheriff Alan (Harris) and his café-owning fianceé Polly (Bedelia).

       Mr Gaunt is very good indeed at pitting the townspeople against each other. That’s his job after all. He’s Satan.

       Good old Stephen King. 

       I haven’t read the book, so I don’t know if the film does it justice but as a film on its own it’s entertaining enough. But what does Satan have against Caste Rock, Maine? 

2 ½ * of 5