The Shining (1980) - Revisited

I get a lot of hell for my opinion on this film but it's just how I feel.  This movie is so overrated it's a cliche.  I love Mr. Kubrick but this film is not a masterpiece and of all his movies it's my least favorite.  Okay, before I go on, I should add that there are many incredible elements to this film.  The cinematography is iconic, the scene design is as eerie as hell, and the way it's edited, twin girls and all, it's a visual treat.  But as for story this film is weak.   Which is disappointing because the book it's based on is rich with story.  But Mr. Kubrick decided to toss away all that character depth and importance and show haunting visuals instead.  Watched once his smoke and mirrors might scare you but upon a second viewing you see his tactics for what they really are: hollow games.  Jack Nicholson is one of my favorite actors and yet on this film he hams it up and chews up the scene like some clown.  What a disappointment!  Sure it's memorable but how powerful and truly frightening it would have been to actually see a husband and father, who you really care about and believe in, turn into a monster.  How tragic and heroic it would have been to see a man choose death to save his family from the monster inside him.   How much better it would have been if Kubrick took us somewhere else beside a Daddy-Gets-Cabin-Fever-And-Goes-Berserk movie.   Which leads me to the Made-for-TV version that Stephen King was involved with, a chance to correct these wrongs.  But alas it's a made-for-TV movie and no matter how good or bad it is (and it's not bad but not great either) that version is destined to fade away into the ether while Kubrick's lamer interpretation will live on as a classic.  But what I see is a giant missed opportunity from a genius unwilling to understand the book he was adapting.  I see a talented actor allowed to overact and another talented actor struggle to be in a movie she shouldn't have been cast in.   But hey, it's a classic and that's that.   I just wish Mr. Kubrick would have devoted as much to its story as he did to its visuals.   Now that would have been a masterpiece.  Grade: B.