Bag of Bones (2011)

Bag of Bones IMDB

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Bestselling novelist Mike Noonan, unable to cope after his wife's sudden death, returns to the couple's lakeside retreat in Maine, where he becomes involved in a custody battle between a young widow and her child's enormously wealthy grandfather. Mike inexplicably receives mysterious ghostly visitations, escalating nightmares and the realization that his late wife still has something to tell him.

Originally aired on A&E December 11, 2011


Directed by: Mick Garris
Writing Credits: Matt Venne, Stephen King

Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Melissa George, Annabeth Gish, Anika Noni Rose, Caitlin Carmichael

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y57K6IoAj7Y

Looked great, almost didn't seem like a made for tv movie.

It was crap. Sadly, this is how a great deal of King adaptations turned out. Then again, Bag of Bones is a beloved book of mine and I found many of the changes they felt 'we're not a big deal' were a big deal. I was immediately soured by the entire beginning and how different it was from the book: there is a big difference in the grief of watching a loved one slowly die and the sudden death in this adaptation and from that point on it lost the emotional weight it should have carried, even with the awesome Brosnan. Too much of what made Bag of Bones so good was the first person perspective, the getting right inside Mike's head and the things he tends to obsess over, such as when he barely brushed Mattie's breast when they first met, were all not a factor in the narrative and that killed it. I love Melissa George, she's about the most underappreciated actress working today and she is totally wasted here in with a role where she doesn't get the screentime needed which is a shame since I thought Mattie Devore was one of King's best female characters. The only real positive I got out of it was how creepy Max Devore and Rogette were. All the actual ghost stuff was handled fairly poorly and was used as a plot device and lost the subtle creepiness that made me love the book. Some of the last 50 pages of the book disturbed me like nothing outside of Pet Semetary did and it didn't translate well at all for me. I had lot a lost of interest in the second part and it was just kind of on while I played Xbox because it just didn't do it for me. Bag of Bones needs the 3 hours of film time treatment in order to capture the brooding atmosphere and the suffocating introspection of Mike Noonan or else, frankly, it's just a run of the mill ghost story. George was a perfect pick for Mattie but she wasn't given enough to work with but as much as I love Brosnan he just didn't feel like Mike Noonan to me, Brosnan is at his best when he'sin a very restrained but over the top state and Noonan is just too damn reticent and introverted for Bronsan to really fit.

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Originally Posted by Mattrick

It was crap. Sadly, this is how a great deal of King adaptations turned out. Then again, Bag of Bones is a beloved book of mine and I found many of the changes they felt 'we're not a big deal' were a big deal. I was immediately soured by the entire beginning and how different it was from the book: there is a big difference in the grief of watching a loved one slowly die and the sudden death in this adaptation

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I read the book a long time ago, and I may be mistaken, but as far as I remember, the narrator's wife died quite suddenly of a blood clot?

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Originally Posted by Jean

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Originally Posted by Mattrick

It was crap. Sadly, this is how a great deal of King adaptations turned out. Then again, Bag of Bones is a beloved book of mine and I found many of the changes they felt 'we're not a big deal' were a big deal. I was immediately soured by the entire beginning and how different it was from the book: there is a big difference in the grief of watching a loved one slowly die and the sudden death in this adaptation

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I read the book a long time ago, and I may be mistaken, but as far as I remember, the narrator's wife died quite suddenly of a blood clot?

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That is correct.

Yes. I remember my grandmother bought me this book for Christmas when it came out, and she read the beginning few pages of the book, and was so shocked by that :lol:

I thought she had a brain tumour and this was where I learned what phantom smells are...unless I'm confusing it with another King story. It's been a while since I've read it now.

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Originally Posted by Mattrick

I thought she had a brain tumour and this was where I learned what phantom smells are...unless I'm confusing it with another King story. It's been a while since I've read it now.

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Are you thinking of Ralph Roberts wife in Insomnia maybe?

That is probably it. I do believe I read both of the books back to back over ten years ago so it makes sense I'd confuse the two of them.