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#521 - The Dead Zone
David Cronenberg, 1983
After a car accident puts him in a coma for five years, a teacher wakes up to find that he has psychic powers that work when he touches other people.
It says a lot about how twisted Cronenberg's prior films had been that it would take him adapting a Stephen King novel in order to become more accessible. The story finds an appropriately off-kilter lead in Christopher Walken, whose gaunt appearance and piercing stare makes him the ideal person to play a character who is troubled by psychic visions. He is definitely good enough to carry a film that doesn't quite seem sure about where it wants to go after the first act. It then ends up pursuing two very distinctive storylines - one involves a local sheriff (Tom Skerritt) asking him for help in catching a serial killer, while another involves Walken crossing paths with an extremely disagreeable politician (Martin Sheen) who has his eye on not just becoming a senator but eventually running for President. Amidst these rather episodic developments (which do go some way towards explaining why this was turned into a TV show so easily), he tries to rebuild his old life as best he can, whether by returning to teaching or by attempting to reconnect with an old girlfriend (Brooke Adams) who has since married someone else.
In addition to Walken's typically engaging screen presence, the cast is generally decent - Herbert Lom is good as the doctor who guides Walken through his paranormal development, while Sheen in particular delivers an interesting performance as a rising politician whose problematic politics and coarse mannerisms are a far cry from his iconic role as a more benevolent politician on The West Wing. Cronenberg's work behind the camera is naturally clinical in a way that does not distract from the erratic nature of King's story, showing lightning-quick flashes of the past and future without being disorienting in the process. It does tread into some interesting areas as Walken struggles with the responsibility that comes with his power, which is frequently challenged in situations both great and small. Even so, it does seem a little inconsistent in its treatment of Walken's power as he conveniently manages to avoid reading the futures of certain characters that he happens to touch. This being a combination of Cronenberg and King, it's no surprise that things get a little gory, occasionally in ways that come across as absurd (such as one character's rather...impractical method of committing suicide). I came to it after not only watching a couple of episodes of the Anthony Michael Hall-starring TV adaptation, but also after the Saturday Night Live parody starring Walken himself. Both of those are arguably factors that may have had a diminishing effect on this film; even so it's still a decent bit of work, if relatively lacking in creativity and shock value for a Cronenberg film.
David Cronenberg, 1983
After a car accident puts him in a coma for five years, a teacher wakes up to find that he has psychic powers that work when he touches other people.
It says a lot about how twisted Cronenberg's prior films had been that it would take him adapting a Stephen King novel in order to become more accessible. The story finds an appropriately off-kilter lead in Christopher Walken, whose gaunt appearance and piercing stare makes him the ideal person to play a character who is troubled by psychic visions. He is definitely good enough to carry a film that doesn't quite seem sure about where it wants to go after the first act. It then ends up pursuing two very distinctive storylines - one involves a local sheriff (Tom Skerritt) asking him for help in catching a serial killer, while another involves Walken crossing paths with an extremely disagreeable politician (Martin Sheen) who has his eye on not just becoming a senator but eventually running for President. Amidst these rather episodic developments (which do go some way towards explaining why this was turned into a TV show so easily), he tries to rebuild his old life as best he can, whether by returning to teaching or by attempting to reconnect with an old girlfriend (Brooke Adams) who has since married someone else.
In addition to Walken's typically engaging screen presence, the cast is generally decent - Herbert Lom is good as the doctor who guides Walken through his paranormal development, while Sheen in particular delivers an interesting performance as a rising politician whose problematic politics and coarse mannerisms are a far cry from his iconic role as a more benevolent politician on The West Wing. Cronenberg's work behind the camera is naturally clinical in a way that does not distract from the erratic nature of King's story, showing lightning-quick flashes of the past and future without being disorienting in the process. It does tread into some interesting areas as Walken struggles with the responsibility that comes with his power, which is frequently challenged in situations both great and small. Even so, it does seem a little inconsistent in its treatment of Walken's power as he conveniently manages to avoid reading the futures of certain characters that he happens to touch. This being a combination of Cronenberg and King, it's no surprise that things get a little gory, occasionally in ways that come across as absurd (such as one character's rather...impractical method of committing suicide). I came to it after not only watching a couple of episodes of the Anthony Michael Hall-starring TV adaptation, but also after the Saturday Night Live parody starring Walken himself. Both of those are arguably factors that may have had a diminishing effect on this film; even so it's still a decent bit of work, if relatively lacking in creativity and shock value for a Cronenberg film.