Stephen King adaptations come in across a whole spectrum of quality. This one's on the good end. The music is by Phillip Glass! And Johnny Depp is an excellent lead. He's so natural and relaxed in the role; he makes it look easy. Overall, the film does a good job at disguising the real plot behind soapy thriller themes; when you realize what's been going on all along, you realize it was a better movie than it seemed; the plot gaps are a part of the plot. Tricky to make this come off well in a movie, but I think they got it right.
SPOILER:
I'm going to spoil it now, but I just have to add: the reviews that complain that the movie is overwrought, cheesy, film 101...they are missing that that is Mort's writing style, not the actual movie's. For example, when he shouts 'I'll get you for this Shooter!' and you just hear his voice ringing through the twilight forest: the awkward timing and stereotypical clunkiness are MORT's version of how this scene happened. Because he is writing this story in his head, this is how he rationalizes 1 side of reality. We're watching MORT's unfinished rough draft sketch of events. So yeah, that's a hard balance to get right for the filmmakers. I think they did well.
SPOILER:
I'm going to spoil it now, but I just have to add: the reviews that complain that the movie is overwrought, cheesy, film 101...they are missing that that is Mort's writing style, not the actual movie's. For example, when he shouts 'I'll get you for this Shooter!' and you just hear his voice ringing through the twilight forest: the awkward timing and stereotypical clunkiness are MORT's version of how this scene happened. Because he is writing this story in his head, this is how he rationalizes 1 side of reality. We're watching MORT's unfinished rough draft sketch of events. So yeah, that's a hard balance to get right for the filmmakers. I think they did well.