The Shining (1980)

Plot: In an isolated hotel a sinister presence incites a father to violence, while his psychic son has horrific visions of both the past and future.

Stars: Jack Nicholson, Shelly Duvall, Scatman Crothers 

Like 2001 A Space Odyssey, the general public considers The Shining a great movie - which puzzles me to no end.  Shouldn’t a horror movie be scary, or at least interesting? Clocking in at 2 hours and 20 minutes, Kubrick makes a Mountain out of this Molehill plot/story. 

Things are dragged out forever. 

We get tricycle tours of the massive hotel corridors, endless shots of snow, glorious ballroom/bar scenes complete with Ghosts in tuxedos, and yes, the Hotel certainly is big and beautiful, isn’t it?

Good Lord, it takes 20 minutes to get to the hotel, and another 25 minutes before “Doc” has a scary vision. And then it just trudges on.  Finally, at the 105 minute mark,  Jack goes mad and gets violent. Finally, some action! Yet even the final killing spree, is sluggishly paced. How many times can you show Jack running through the Maze? Or see Duvall blubbering and horrified, complete with quivering mouth? Or some (not scary) Ghosts? 

The overlong Scatman Rescue Mission 

Kubrick spells out everything with this character. Late in the movie, we see Scatman in bed in Miami. Something is happening - It’s the shining! We then follow him, step by step from Miami to the Airport to finally arriving at the Hotel in a Snowplow.  Why the excruciating detail?  This whole sequence could have been shown in 4 minutes, and it takes 12. 

And none of the movie makes sense 

Maybe the Novel does, but the movie didn’t. Why can some ghosts see Jack and some can’t? Why does the Ghost help Jack out of the pantry, but not other times? Why was there a beautiful/ugly ghost in Room 237? Why couldn’t those with “the shining” have seen how to escape or avoid Jack? Why was Duvall seeing Ghosts and scary things at the end, but not before? Why is Jack in a 1921 photo? 

Or, more realistically. Why is all the electricity on, if the Hotel is closed? Who’s keeping all those rooms, hallways and carpets clean? Why do the outside electric lights still work? Do Hedges keep their green leaves in 20 feet of snow and below zero temps? If Jack is typing the same thing over and over, doesn’t that make the same sound over and over? Where did Scatman Crothers learn to drive a snow plow? And wouldn’t the hotel have a wine cellar?

Best Scene: Nicholson menaces a Bat wielding Duvall in an acting tour-de-force
Worst Scene:  In a long draw-out toilet conversation "Delbert Grady" admits he's the "Outlook killer." There's one good moment - where Grady talks about his "Correcting" his family. But otherwise, the whole conversation is awkwardly paced, makes no sense, and has Jack on 100% Ham cruise control. Kubrick had ZERO talent in dialogue.

Acting Another problem is that Jack goes crazy way too soon, which spoils the suspense. In fact, he looks unstable from the start. And “Mad Jack” is so over-the-top, he’s laughable not scary. The crazier Nicholson gets, the more idiotic he looks. Meanwhile,  Duvall transforms the warm sympathetic wife of the book into a simpering, semi-retarded hysteric.  At no time is she believable as his wife. Scatman Crothers and the boy actor are adequate. 

Summary: Another puzzling Kubrick “Masterpiece”. Some see greatness, where I see mediocrity. I needed more involving characters and true horror, and fewer tricycle shots. Rating 2.5 of 4.