Having recently read "Gerald's Game" I still have a pretty good recollection of the book and found this screen adaptation to be very close to the original source. A couple minor points that don't jive would be Gerald's physical health; in the novel he's slightly overweight and not in very good shape, thereby making him a better candidate for a heart attack than a guy like Bruce Greenwood in the role. The other thing had to do with the location of the story. In the book, the house was more like a summer cabin secluded in the woods, whereas this looked like more of a neighborhood type setting. At least that's my recollection, probably more nit-picks than any problem with the screenplay.
The movie here is every bit as tense and riveting as the written word, as most of the fear and horror involves a wife, Jessie Burlingame (Carla Gugino), left for helpless after she's been chained to a bed right before her husband (Greenwood) keels over from a massive heart attack. What was intended as a sexual role play turns into a battle for survival and control of one's imagination over all the potential bad things that could happen if someone doesn't come by to offer aid real soon. Director Mike Flanagan takes the approach of allowing the captive Jessie interact with Gerald, her father (Henry Thomas), and her younger self (Chiara Aurelia) in various imaginary scenarios which ultimately resurrect the trauma of an early child abuse episode.
I have to admit, even though I've overcome a lot of squeamishness regarding physical injury over time, the scene of Jessie freeing herself from the bed had me squirming, to the point I had to get up and grab some apple juice to help the old blood sugar situation. That was just nasty. And lest I forget, that demonic looking German Shepherd looked like he could have gone berserk any minute. He looked more 'Cujo' than Cujo, if you know what I mean.
And then, just as with the Stephen King novel, I thought the ending with the history of The Moonlight Man (Carel Struycken) came across as superfluous and unnecessary to the story. It does make sense in the grand scheme of things, especially with Jessie's nightmarish visions, because you didn't know at the time when she was trapped whether he was real or not. It's just that his revelation seems awkward, like it belonged to a different story altogether.
But anyway, this is a very good adaptation of a Stephen King story, so if you're a fan, there's something here that won't make you dread an unfaithful treatment of the source material. I can't imagine Mr. King himself being displeased with the film at all.
The movie here is every bit as tense and riveting as the written word, as most of the fear and horror involves a wife, Jessie Burlingame (Carla Gugino), left for helpless after she's been chained to a bed right before her husband (Greenwood) keels over from a massive heart attack. What was intended as a sexual role play turns into a battle for survival and control of one's imagination over all the potential bad things that could happen if someone doesn't come by to offer aid real soon. Director Mike Flanagan takes the approach of allowing the captive Jessie interact with Gerald, her father (Henry Thomas), and her younger self (Chiara Aurelia) in various imaginary scenarios which ultimately resurrect the trauma of an early child abuse episode.
I have to admit, even though I've overcome a lot of squeamishness regarding physical injury over time, the scene of Jessie freeing herself from the bed had me squirming, to the point I had to get up and grab some apple juice to help the old blood sugar situation. That was just nasty. And lest I forget, that demonic looking German Shepherd looked like he could have gone berserk any minute. He looked more 'Cujo' than Cujo, if you know what I mean.
And then, just as with the Stephen King novel, I thought the ending with the history of The Moonlight Man (Carel Struycken) came across as superfluous and unnecessary to the story. It does make sense in the grand scheme of things, especially with Jessie's nightmarish visions, because you didn't know at the time when she was trapped whether he was real or not. It's just that his revelation seems awkward, like it belonged to a different story altogether.
But anyway, this is a very good adaptation of a Stephen King story, so if you're a fan, there's something here that won't make you dread an unfaithful treatment of the source material. I can't imagine Mr. King himself being displeased with the film at all.