“When you grow up in a small town and are suddenly exposed to an alien world, your universe expands. You see strange and different faces. Some of them are friendly, but others, sometimes seem drawn to you in a dark way.”
Have you ever read Stephen King’s novella, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone? Did you know the movie dropped on Netflix in October? New adaptations always excite me. Mr. Harrigan’s phone seems good enough though—especially with Jaeden Martell and Donald Sutherland leading the way. Call me crazy, but a lot of people say, "Stephen King's books are my version of comfort field. When I need a distraction from the drama of daily life, I know I can sink into a King book and get carried away from everything." Not me.
To be honest, I'm not a huge literary horror fan (Guillermo is the only director and writer who made me watch this genre). So, I'm not a fan of Stephen King. I tried to read books of his in the past and just couldn't get into them. I wanted to but it didn't happen. Not yet. Who knows. Anyway, maybe I will be, thanks to the story I watched last month. Wouldn't call it horror but it's a King story so it counts. A friend of mine who lives in NY asked me what my thoughts are about this novella and its movie. I smiled and said that I'm thinking of writing a review about them soon.
I haven't read any short Stephen King for a long time, so I was delighted when Jack waved his hardback copy down the Skype screen from London and said, I've got the new Stephen King, and I'll bring it with me. As soon as I watched the movie, I immediately started the book. I will write about a few details without giving spoilers. And that's my review of it.
We are in Stephen King's Maine. The year is 2002 or so. And 11-year-old Craig has been randomly offered the job of reading classic novels to a reclusive and never-married billionaire who lives alone in a mansion and who no one seems to like much. Everybody, including Craig's widowed father, thinks this offer is completely fine, and so Craig takes on his $5-an-hour side hustle without even a visit to the house from dad to inquire what Mr. Harrigan's intentions might be. But, since this is King's world, it won't be Mr. Harrigan who Craig needs to worry about. It'll be something else.
A few years go by, and Craig’s grades are OK, at least one teacher has taken a shine to him, and he gets on fine with his dad. And three times a week, he still walks up to Mr. Harrigan's mansion to spend an hour reading to the reclusive rich lister. Then, in 2007, the first iPhone is launched. All the cool kids at school have one – and Craig, very unexpectedly, acquires one as well. And then another, as a present for Mr Harrigan. And that, somehow, becomes the catalyst for this alleged horror movie to start, very occasionally, actually making us jump.
"Mr. Harrigan's Phone" is a supernatural drama based on a short story by Stephen King. Directed by John Lee Hancock, the film tells the story of Craig, a young boy who reads to a local recluse named Mr. Harrigan three times a week, forming a kind of friendship that continues after the rich old man passes away. It's a tale of lonely people trying to connect and a parable about the insidious way cell phones and the internet, in general, control our lives. The story takes a healthy rip at technology and those who rely on it.
The film has an unpredictable and dramatic tonal shift, starting as a story about a friendship that transcends age, income, and social status and grows more volatile and sinister. It’s when a series of unexplained events begin to occur that the story turns dark, as these incidents may not just be a string of eerie coincidences.
The script was based on a short story and feels like it, mostly because the film seems too vague. It’s open-ended and offers no resolution, which is frustrating for a viewer. But there’s enough about “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone,” including two great lead performances from Martell and Sutherland, to make it a compelling King adaptation.
Mr. Harrigan's Phone' was the first, comparatively short tale and my favorite in the book.
Along with being a supernatural tale and a story of a teenager learning about letting things go, “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone” also turns out to be a clear, if not stern, warning against our tremendous dependence on smartphones that we have in modern times. However, none of the three elements that the film tries to focus on work too well, though, as none of it seems anything beyond a shallow passage of thoughts. The initial moments of supernatural suspense might make “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone” an interesting Halloween-month watch for some, but overall, there is no harm in missing this film.
All in all, If It Bleeds isn’t a total waste, but it is merely a shadow of King’s other novella collections. I could say that his fans deserve better, but all I’ll just say is the man definitely deserves a break. He’s been writing non-stop since the early ’70s, and if retirement is in King’s future — well, he’s left us a lot to chow down on. If It Bleeds is not up to snuff, but if you’re okay with that, you’re going to have an entertaining time of things at the very least. At least, as King ages, he hasn’t lost the ability to make you care about his work. Even if it’s not so great.