Doctor Sleep (2019)

The Shining was a heck of a film, and if you haven’t seen it…I won’t say shame on you. Because, I watched it much later when it was available on VCD, then, DVD. It’s brilliant because of the mesmerising way the awesome, perhaps the greatest Hollywood director ever, Stanley Kubrick shot it.

Rebecca Ferguson...wowie zowie...I want....

You do not need to know the story. I felt it was not the point…Kubrick’s films are always about visual and aural experience that’s out of the world (I have not watched his films prior to Dr. Stangelove, so you may cut me some slack). Beginning with the Cold War film, to 2001, Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon and The Shining, Kubrick splashed us with moody colours, meditative scenes, and roller-coaster of intellectual ride. Unlike many of the European contemporaries of his, he was never pretentious…it may seem that his presentations seem prefer artistic denomination for reward, but the rich emotional experience he offers is perfect for any ordinary film audience. Kubrick is a force to be reckoned with…just ask Spielberg, Scorcese, de Palma or even Coppola.

Now, this film is too ambitious when it tries too hard to please both fans of Kubrick, and Stephen King, whose work this film is based on. As most film fans know, King never liked Kubrick’s version and had worked on his favourable treatment that was worked on for TV…that probably sold few DVDs and never overshadowed Kubrick’s version.

And so, the director of this film seemed to be trying hard not to move away from Kubrick (which he succeeded in somewhat identical shots, and many reworked flashbacks), and at the same time, stayed with King’s supernatural inclinations.

I, for one, had, for the most of the time, no idea what was going on, despite the fact that I fairly understood and truly loved The Shining. But that didn’t bother me all that much. The film is beautifully shot, at times dangerously mimicking Kubrick. But the folks kbehind this film truly respected what Kubrick was trying to say visually, while at the same time corroborated the hunger of horror film fans.

While Ewan MacGregor was engaging in his role as Danny Torrance (the kid in the tricycle that goes on and on and on…), it was Rebecca Ferguson as Rose the Hat that caught my attention. She was hot, no doubt, but she was pleasing to the senses, I don’t know which. Seductive, mysterious and absolutely delight to watch, she stole the show left, right and centre. To me at least. I want to just keep looking at her and you know what…that mesmerism is the point of her role in the film. She nailed it. I can’t remember when was the last time I ever praised a performance by a Hollywood actress…but I will not forget this one.

Anyway, did I like the film? Yes and no.

Apparently King was pleased with this version of his story. Boy, am I glad Kubrick did not try to please King in the original. These are two different platforms and I have come to my realisation these days that they are never, ever going to make a Fleming’s James Bond film. But that’s a story for another day.

This one is a midway job, all round pleasing job, though I very much doubt that it will be a classic ala The Shining. Despite the appearance of the look alike to fill the flashback and fantasy sequences, the absence of Jack Nicholson is really felt here. He was the most terrifying thing in the first film. He was the horror. Without Jack, there’s some sort of emptiness if you want to link this to The Shining, as I did. Otherwise, its an okay flick of its genre…whatever genre it belongs to.

But I walked away only remembering Rebecca Ferguson...Rose the Hat...oh, please come and doctor my sleep.....