A Good Marriage(film)
A Good Marriage | |
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Directed by | Peter Askin |
Screenplay by | Stephen King |
Based on | A Good Marriage by Stephen King |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Frank G. DeMarco |
Edited by | Colleen Sharp |
Music by | |
Production company | Reno Productions[1] |
Distributed by | Screen Media Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 102 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
A Good Marriageis a 2014 Americanpsychological thrillerfilm directed byPeter Askinand written byStephen King,based on King'snovella of the same name,from the 2010 collectionFull Dark, No Stars.It starsJoan Allen,Anthony LaPaglia,Kristen ConnollyandStephen Lang.
A Good Marriagewas released in the United States on October 3, 2014 onvideo on demand,receiving a limited theatrical release byScreen Media Films.[2]
Plot
[edit]Bob and Darcy Anderson are happily married with two adult children. One evening while Bob is away on a business trip, Darcy goes into the garage to search for batteries. When rummaging through Bob's things, she comes acrosspornographicmagazines containingsadomasochisticimages. Upon looking further, she finds a secret compartment behind the garage's baseboard and inside is a small box containing ID cards of Marjorie Duvall, a victim of a serial killer known as "Beadie".
Horrified, Darcy looks up Beadie online and cross-checks Bob's business records with the locations of the murders, finding that he was close to most of the crimes. She also sees a photograph of Duvall wearing earrings identical to the ones Bob recently gave her as an anniversary gift. Meanwhile, after spotting a young woman leaving a diner, Bob follows her in his car. He then returns home to confront Darcy; he has deduced her discovery. He calmly explains his insanity to Darcy, recounting how he and a sadistic friend named Brian Delahanty, or "BD" (from which "Beadie" was derived), planned a school shooting as teenagers. However, Delahanty was hit by a car before they could carry it out, but Bob claims BD had "infected" him with "certain ideas", resulting in his homicidal urges.
Bob claims that, after he started a family with Darcy, his murderousalter egoreceded and he was not driven to kill again for several years. He asks Darcy to put the matter behind them for the sake of their children, and then falls asleep. The following morning, Darcy feigns an agreement to forget what she has discovered, on the condition that he does not kill again, and that he bury Duvall's ID cards in the woods. Bob agrees.
A few months later, Bob, who is an avid coin collector, finds a rare1955 doubled die cent,and he and Darcy go out to celebrate. Upon arriving home, Darcy has Bob fetch some Perrier while she waits for him upstairs, ostensibly for sex. However, when Bob goes up, Darcy pushes him back down the stairs, breaking his back and arm. She then manages to shove a plastic bag and a dish cloth down his throat, killing him. After removing all evidence of murder, Darcy manages to convince the police and the children that Bob died in a drunken accident. Darcy assumes the ordeal is over.
Not long after Bob is buried, a retired ailing detective named Holt Ramsey visits the house. Ramsey has spent years investigating the Beadie murders and had questioned Bob previously. Ramsey tells Darcy that he suspected Bob was the killer, since his Chevrolet Blazer was seen in the vicinity of each victim. Darcy realizes that Ramsey has figured out her role in Bob's death, but she rejects any accusations and Ramsey leaves. Later that night when Ramsey is admitted to the hospital, Darcy visits him and threatens to smother him with a pillow, claiming "two can keep a secret if one of them is dead". Once she admits the truth, Ramsey assures her that she did the right thing.
Darcy returns home and enjoys life on her own, after realizing that Bob was close to being caught and therefore wasn't as smart as he thought he was. She finds that she can now be at peace with herself.
Cast
[edit]- Joan Allenas Darcy Anderson
- Anthony LaPagliaas Bob Anderson
- Kristen Connollyas Petra Anderson
- Stephen Langas Holt Ramsay
- Cara Buonoas Betty Pike
- Mike O'Malleyas Bill Gaines
- Theo Stockmanas Donnie Anderson
Development
[edit]On May 19, 2012, ScreenDaily reported that Will Battersby andPeter Askinwere producing an adaptation ofA Good Marriage;Askin was announced as directing Stephen King's screenplay of his own novella.[3]On September 11, 2012,Joan Allenwas announced as the lead in the film.[4]
Release
[edit]The film was released in the United States on October 3, 2014.
The film, when announced, caused controversy when King said that he took influence fromserial killerDennis Rader.Kerri Rawson, Rader's daughter, said that King was exploiting her father's victims by taking inspiration from his life.[5]
Reception
[edit]Rotten Tomatoes,areview aggregator,reports that 35% of 20 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 4.8/10.[6]Metacriticrated it 43/100 based on eight reviews.[7]Frank Scheck ofThe Hollywood Reportercalled it "a decidedly minor" adaptation that "fails to fulfill the potential of its provocative premise".[8]Andy Webster ofThe New York Timescalled it a "low-key, assured thriller" with a strong performance from Allen.[9]Gary Goldstein of theLos Angeles Timescalled it "a wry, old-fashioned game of cat and mouse" with good acting.[10]Pete Vonder Haar ofThe Village Voicewrote that it is a serviceable, nondescript thriller that was a surprising choice to adapt to film.[11]Rod Pocowatchit ofThe Wichita Eaglerejected concerns of exploitation, but said that the film comes across as a low-budget made-for-TV film.[12]Kiva ReardonofThe A.V. Clubrated it D+ and wrote, "By its conclusion,A Good Marriagedoesn't give a definitive answer to its titular topic, but it does make clear what makes a bad movie. "[13]Chuck Bowen ofSlant Magazinerated it 2/4 stars and wrote, "The film is watchable in a plodding one-thing-after-another sort of way, but it could have used far more of King's mordant humor".[14]Patrick Cooper ofBloody Disgustingrated it 1/5 stars and called it the worst King adaptation yet due to its lack of thrills.[15]Staci Layne Wilson ofDread Centralrated it 3/5 stars and questioned the choice of source material. Wilson said that the actors are good, but they have no chemistry, which makes the film stale.[16]
References
[edit]- ^McNary, Dave (2014-06-09)."Stephen King's 'A Good Marriage' Scares Up U.S. Distribution".Variety.
- ^"How Stephen King adapted 'A Good Marriage' for film: 'Fearlessly'".Entertainment Weekly. 2014-08-18.Retrieved2014-08-18.
- ^Wiseman, Andreas (19 May 2012)."Atlas bears Stephen King thriller A Good Marriage".Screendaily.Retrieved2013-12-17.
- ^Kit, Borys (9 November 2012)."Joan Allen Closes Deal to Star in Stephen King Adaptation 'A Good Marriage'".The Hollywood Reporter.Retrieved2013-12-17.
- ^Wenzl, Roy (2014-09-27)."BTK's daughter: Stephen King 'exploiting my father's 10 victims and their families' with movie".The Wichita Eagle.Retrieved2015-02-19.
- ^"Stephen King's A Good Marriage (2014)".Rotten Tomatoes.Retrieved2015-02-19.
- ^"Stephen King's A Good Marriage".Metacritic.Retrieved2015-02-19.
- ^Scheck, Frank (2014-10-22)."'Stephen King's A Good Marriage': Film Review ".The Hollywood Reporter.Retrieved2015-02-19.
- ^Webster, Andy (2014-10-02)."Till Death Do Us Part".The New York Times.Retrieved2015-02-19.
- ^Goldstein, Gary (2014-10-02)."Review 'A Good Marriage' a wry, old-fashioned game of cat and mouse".Los Angeles Times.Retrieved2015-02-19.
- ^Vonder Haar, Peter (2014-10-01)."Finding Out Your Husband is a Serial Killer in Stephen King's A Good Marriage".The Village Voice.Retrieved2015-02-19.
- ^Pocowatchit, Rod (2014-10-10)."Movie review: Stephen King's 'A Good Marriage' a mediocre thriller".The Wichita Eagle.Retrieved2015-02-19.
- ^Reardon, Kiva(2014-10-02)."Stephen King adapts a bad movie out of his own A Good Marriage".The A.V. Club.Retrieved2015-02-19.
- ^Bowen, Chuck (2014-09-28)."Stephen King's A Good Marriage".Slant Magazine.Retrieved2015-02-19.
- ^Cooper, Patrick (2014-10-03)."[Review] 'A Good Marriage' Is the Worst Stephen King Movie Yet".Bloody Disgusting.Retrieved2015-02-19.
- ^Wilsn, Staci Layne (2014-09-29)."Stephen King's A Good Marriage (2014)".Dread Central.Retrieved2015-02-19.
External links
[edit]- 2014 films
- 2014 psychological thriller films
- 2010s American films
- 2010s English-language films
- 2010s serial killer films
- American psychological thriller films
- American serial killer films
- Films about marriage
- Films based on American horror novels
- Films based on works by Stephen King
- Films directed by Peter Askin
- Films with screenplays by Stephen King
- Screen Media films