Jack Torance (Jack Nicholson), ex-school teacher, fancies himself a budding writer, and thinks he's found the perfect job to bring his fermenting ideas to fruition. He gets a gig as off-season caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, an isolated ski resort that is open from May to October, until the roads that lead to it get snowed over. That means that Jack will have 6 months to write a book, play, or whatever else he wants to do. He's also bringing his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and his psychic son, Danny (Danny Lloyd). Danny has been told by his imaginary friend (actually a manifestation of his psychic powers) , that bad things are gonna go down at the Overlook. Apparently, the hotel has a strong paranormal aura that Danny's arrival will only cause to be amplified. It's something that's never brought up in the film. Danny's powers, his "shine", is what causes everything to happen. Probably a normal kid would not have caused as much reaction by the hotel. In the opening scenes of Jack's interview, we learn about one of the previous caretakers that killed his wife and twin girls with an axe ten years previously. When Danny gets to the hotel he just happens to see two creepy twin girls when he's playing darts. Jack is also a recovering drinker who once dislocated Danny's arm while he was drunk. So, haunted hotel, psychic kid whose powers amplify the haunting, alcoholic dad with frustrating writers block...um, it's not going to be pretty.
The main problem this movie has is that Jack (that's Jack AND Jack Nicholson) can't really descend into madness because he ALREADY seems half crazy at the beginning of the movie. Or just WEIRD. Any normal person would look at Jack and KNOW he's not someone you would want to get snowbound with for 6 months. Wendy as played by Shelley Duvall doesn't seem to be playing with a full deck either. Danny seems to be the most qualified by default to deal with the horror of the Overlook Hotel. On Wikipedia, it says that Robin Williams of all people was considered for the role of Jack, but Nicholson does a pretty good job of channeling him. His performance also reminded me a lot of Jim Carrey, or actually Nicholson's own turn as the Joker. Actually, the Joker seemed a bit more sane and less strange than Jack in The Shining.
Nicholson does a lot better portraying insanity when he's not talking and Kubrick is able to just focus on his body language and expressions. Overall, the acting seemed very operatic or even silent movie era. Everything is taken to such an extreme, which is not a trademark for Kubrick. It's almost as if the MOVIE is suffering from hysteria, not the actors.
Which brings me to another point. The real menace of The Shining is the ambience, the atmosphere of the hotel. I've always found something creepy about empty places meant to be filled with people. Just the fact that you have this huge hotel being perfectly still gives me chill bumps. And the way Kubrick perfectly frames the rooms and uses disquieting color schemes just adds to the effect. It's a shame that Kubrick's movie only really inspires horror when it's quiet. When it's not goading its actors into almost comical expressions of fear and lunacy.
I enjoyed watching this movie again since I hadn't seen it in ages. My real purpose was to get myself ready to watch Room 237, the documentary about all the weird symbolism and theories about the true meaning of this film.
I watched The Shining on Amazon Instant Video via Xbox 360. It was a $3.99 HD Rental.
Definitely check out the book by Stephen King as well. Brilliant work.
My Grade: B+
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