Desperation (2006) (TV)

Director:

Mick Garris

Writers (WGA):

Stephen King (novel)
Stephen King (teleplay)

Release Date:

23 May 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

In this town, there are no accidents.

Plot:

When a sheriff arrests a writer, a family, a couple, and a hitchiker and throws them in a jail cell in the deserted town of Desperation, they must fight for their lives.

Plot Keywords:

Sheriff | Jail | Nevada | Writer | Mine

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Tom Skerritt	...	John Edward Marinville
Steven Weber	...	Steve Ames
Annabeth Gish	...	Mary Jackson
Charles Durning	...	Tom Billingsley
Matt Frewer	...	Ralph Carver
Henry Thomas	...	Peter Jackson
Shane Haboucha	...	David Carver
Kelly Overton	...	Cynthia Smith
Sylva Kelegian	...	Ellie Carver
Ron Perlman	...	Collie Entragian
Sammi Hanratty	...	Pie Carver
Ewan Chung	...	Shih
Alain Uy	...	Cha'an
Trieu Tran	...	Young Viet Cong
Tom Parker	...	Young Johnny

Also Known As:

Stephen King's Desperation (USA) (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and gruesome images.

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

USA:R | USA:TV-14 | Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:16 | Germany:16 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-15 | Denmark:15 | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Bisbee, Arizona, USA

Company:

Touchstone Television

Trivia:

Stephen King's original novel was released simultaneously with The Regulators, written by King's alter ego, Richard Bachman. Though the story and location are different, many characters appear in both novels.

Goofs:

Continuity: When David takes his shirt off in the jail cell, you can clearly see that he removed one shirt. However, when David goes to cover Pie with a jacket, you can see the outline of an undershirt when he is leaning forward and when he leans away from Pie, you can see a collar from a white shirt.

Quotes:

Tak (voice): Tak commands you to stop!
John Edward Marinville: Donald Rumsfeld commands me to stop. Adam Sandler commands me to stop. Ann Coulter commands me to stop.

Movie Connections:

References Apollo 13 (1995)

Soundtrack:

Good Lovin

Not Bad At All

I just viewed the 'made for TV' movie and I thought that it was pretty good! I read both books over ten years ago and considering, it turned out to be better than I had expected, although I thought that the second book (The Regulators) was much better than the first (Desperation)! Ron Perlman was excellent (as usual!) along with Tom Skerritt. The supporting cast were pretty good also (Charles Durning and Matt Fewer were somewhat 'under used'). I was also quite impressed with how they stuck with the religious 'tone' of the story seeing how sensitive that people are nowadays. But all in all, it kept my 13 year old son 'glued' to the 'set after I explained the first and second book to him.

It doesn't compare to "The Stand" which I found absolutely fantastic but for a three hour film, it holds it's ground! Like myself and my son, we are hoping that Mr. King already have the follow-up, "The Regulators" already in the works. And if you haven't read both books yet, now would be a good time to find these 'gems' and read them. Trust me, you will not be able to put them down! King at his finest!!!!