The Shining

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One of the best-known roles for Jack in existence has to be Jack Torrence of 1980's 'The Shining'. This is a movie the author of the original source material strongly dislikes due to it being so far off from the book, but we all love it so much because Jack is so awesome in it. Surprisingly, it's even seemingly been put ahead of the book in popularity.

​I actually tend to use this as a "shining" example of a film no one really complains about due to its differences from the book its based on. It proves the point that sometimes we just have to separate the book and film as different things altogether in order to appreciate the film for what it is. Though, with that said, 99% of the time the books are better.

Our story here has two main focuses. First, we have Jack, a writer and recovering alcoholic who takes his wife, Wendy (Shelly Duvall) and son, Danny (Danny Lloyd) to the Overlook Hotel, as Jack takes a job as winter caretaker. This will mean being shut in for the season with very little outside contact due to a lack of costly winter road maintenance. Seeing it as an opportunity to work on his novel, Jack welcomes the experience with open arms. However, this hotel has a nasty past, and quite literally speaks to Jack in all the wrong ways, playing on his alcoholic cravings and writers block. Soon enough, we find him losing his grip, chopping down doors and announcing his arrival in the style Johnny Carson.

The second side to the story is Danny, who harbors a special psychic gift. He learns that he's not alone on this when he meets the facility's chef, Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers) who shares his gift. With the hotel already having a shady past in which the former winter caretaker lost his mind and murdered his family, Dick tells Danny to use his special gift to call on him if there's ever any trouble with his Dad. Of course, whether you've seen this before, or have only seen the 'Simpsons' Halloween segment, 'The Shinning', you know how it all goes.

Kubrick does a fantastic job here for the time with his visuals and overall mood setting. There's something genuinely uncomfortable about this movie, and so much of it comes from the choice of cinematography. It's a fine example of a film that shows how even the subtle set-up of a certain angle is enough to be creepier than it would be from another angle. There are a lot of wide shots used here to subtly show the presence of the hotel, which really ends up being another character in the film. They bring it back for 'Doctor Sleep', but it's not quite as effective as it is here. Danny, cycling his trike through the hallways before running into those twins is still iconic, and one of my favorite creepy shots. It's even to the point where when I'm staying at a hotel, late at night, I get a bit weary walking the halls.

What really nails this movie to the horror history books, though, is Jack's performance. He has always been a great actor, but there was so much here that had him cranking his performance to eleven. Even shots of him being quiet and seemingly calm have him either delivering sarcastic tones or just plain looking crazy. Few people can give that look to the camera that says "yes, I'm crazy, what are you gonna do about it?" but the front runners are Anthony Hopkins in 'Silence of the Lambs' and Jack in 'The Shining'. Had the Oscars been looking in horror's direction back then, he probably would have at least gotten nominated.

You'll be one of two minds on this movie. You'll see it for the psychological work of horrific art that it is, or you'll side with Stephen King and lean more towards the book-like telling. If I'm honest, I actually DO like the miniseries more than most. For being something that came straight to TV, it's just fine. But I also don't particularly meet these in the middle. If I wanna throw on a good, creepy horror movie to have a great ride with, I have to lean towards Stanley Kubrick's vision. The miniseries is more to throw on if you want something new or different to check out, but other than Steven Weber's performance as... John Torrance?... it's pretty blasé. And even then, who can hold a candle to Jack's performance as a crazy person?... That is, other than maybe Heath Ledger or Joaquin Phoenix, anyway.

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