The Dead Zone

Isn’t it funny that the best adaptations of Stephen King’s novel are the ones that the writer himself dislikes the most? It was the case with Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, and so it is with Cronenberg’s terrific The Dead Zone. Christopher Walken plays literature teacher Johnny Smith, who lives through a devastating car crash and several years in a coma, only to wake up to discover that he has become equipped with a new gift. Or rather, he comes to learn, a curse. By a touch he can foresee a person’s future or past, and when he meets up-and-coming politician Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen in a creepy pre-West Wing role) he sees apocalypse. Now he faces a difficult crossroads. Should or should he not intervene?Cronenberg subtly focuses on the story of an ordinary guy who happens to possesses an extraordinary talent, which is why The Dead Zone comes out such a great movie. You forget that you’re watching a “supernatural” scary movie, which, of course makes it even more efficient. Well-written characters as well as simple dialogue add to makin the movie convincing, as does the great performances by Sheen, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt, and Christopher Walken in particular. ELIN LARSSON