![]() ![]() ![]() When the scripts let Lisey and Scott show affection, Owen is very good, but man does he mumble his way through some blather-filled monologues. But I especially enjoyed how the character plays into Moore’s wildly underutilized gift for tough-talking humor. Moore is one of our all-time great screen sobbers and Lisey’s misery gives her ample room for that. So much of what holds Lisey’s Story together as a series, even as its narrative is unraveling, is its cast. There’s an expositional dump toward the end of the fourth episode that knocked me out of the show’s spell I only sporadically returned. The advantage of bringing in other voices on an adaptation is getting a clearer-eyed perspective on which aspects from the source material should be excluded. Secret secrets hurt someone.” - and boast eccentricities like loving retro music and yo-yos. Other things that might have been better left on the page include King-y conceits like the treasure hunts called “bools” and wicked characters who speak in incantations - “Secret secrets are no fun. The answer? Fewer times in a series than in a book. Lisey’s Story grows more conventional as it goes along - even the score by the mononymous Clark is reduced from challenging and discordant to merely swelling - and that’s an asset when you get funny scenes featuring Moore, Allen and Leigh together, but a liability when King loses track of how often characters can say “Boo’ya Moon” before it becomes silly. Lisey’s Story is at its best when mourning is the real monster, but Jim is a monster and the thing in the Boo’ya Moon with the glowing eyes is a monster - and, as is frequently the case in King’s work, as Lisey’s Story progresses, the author detours from “The real monsters are within” to “Actually, the real monsters are actual freaking monsters.” That Lisey is being menaced by a young man whose own grasp on reality is tenuous adds to the disorientation. And with Larrain and master cinematographer Darius Khondji in control, it’s like slipping into a warm body of water (just one of several symbols repeated on a loop here). Viewers aren’t always supposed to know how to make sense of Lisey’s memories, which flit between her marriage and honeymoon, a shocking assassination attempt on Scott, Scott’s own recollections and the netherworld where lost souls sit and stare off into something called The Pool. Lisey’s uncomfortable transition into widowhood, like that of the protagonist in Larrain’s Jackie, is evoked in sequences that slip between past and present, fantasy and reality. This leaves Lisey’s other sister Darla ( Jennifer Jason Leigh, co-star of top-notch King adaptation Dolores Claiborne) as the only one confused by the whole thing (a reaction audience members will appreciate).įor at least the first four hours, Larrain steers into the confusion. In Scott’s past - marked by a strung-out dad (Michael Pitt) and a brother who had to periodically have the “bad” drained out of him - he possessed the ability to journey into a magical realm known as Boo’ya Moon, where Lisey’s catatonic sister Amanda ( Joan Allen) has also retreated. It isn’t helping matters that a college professor (Ron Cephas Jones) has enlisted unstable superfan Jim ( Dane DeHaan) to “convince” Lisey to give up Scott’s personal papers and unpublished manuscripts. Scott’s absence leaves Lisey struggling to find her own identity. Lisey and Scott had a passionate and symbiotic relationship, bound by shared secrets relating to Scott’s traumatic childhood. Lisey (Moore) is two years into grieving for late husband Scott (Owen), whose bestselling tomes are so beloved they inspire academics and vulnerable fans alike. The series, like the book, blends two familiar King subgenera: It’s part exploration of the ephemeral and mystical nature of creativity via a writer character who closely resembles King, and part portrait of an overlooked woman finding agency after weathering abuse, through circumstances that border on supernatural. Clive Owen Plays Notorious Detective in 'Monsieur Spade' Crime Drama Trailer (Exclusive)
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