MovieChat Forums > Misery (1990) Discussion > James Caan is the king of of the "Are yo...

James Caan is the king of of the "Are you Crazy look?"

posted 10 years ago by iheartnormi
9 replies | jump to latest

Seeing James Caan's facial expressions every time Kathy Bates does something crazy, just makes this movie the best.

[–] funkiste 10 years ago

Yeah I agree, especially after the first outburst about the swearing in his novels, where she spills the soup. LOL. His face is like "Ok... that was a little strange... thinking I might want to leave now..." lol.

[–] FANatic-10 10 years ago

Kathy Bates got all the attention for this movie, and rightfully so, but its really too bad James Caan wasn't given more as well. He did a first-class job of conveying the character's physical pain, but especially some of his reactions to crazy Annie were just priceless-and all done pretty subtly, often with just a look in his eyes or a twist of his mouth. "Do you like Liberace?", lol...

[–] spookyrat1 10 years ago

... its really too bad James Caan wasn't given more as well.

Agreed. I think he's the perfect foil for Bates in the film and the fact that he doesn't overplay his hand, focuses our attention more on Annie. I think it really worked well too making her, a more shaded, sympathetic character than in the book.🐭

[–] tiffanykk2002 10 years ago

As great as the entire movie is, I ALWAYS have to catch the scene where Annie is going on about going to the theater as a kid and how they would cheat the ending. His expression during that scene is priceless!! There are about five different shots of his face, and a couple are closeups and it is just hysterical. The OP is absolutely right.

[–] iheartnormi 10 years ago

I know exactly what you are talking about!😂

[–] jaxi2005 10 years ago

His facial expressions were priceless, loved his 'This b!tch is crazy' looks, top notch.

[–] tyrexden 10 years ago

I saw this with my parents who knew Caan from The Godfather... i remember my mom saying how miscast he was, because he's a tough guy.

but really, he does an excellent job....
He had to convey a lot thru just facial expressions.
Besides, who's to say him playing a tough guy was actually him acting harder as opposed to playing a romance novelist?

[–] pig_pal 9 years ago

Lol I completely agree. Seeing clearly as Kathy Bates is the memorable star of the film, James Caan does a great job making the most of his role and his "this b*tch is psychotic" *internal screaming* stares were on point.

[–] mjd_subs2 9 years ago

Very true! I haven't seen this one in a long time, but "Elf" is a holiday tradition in our home and "the look" on his face when Buddy did something coo-coo is just priceless!

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"Get busy living, or get busy dying." (Andy - The Shawshank Redemption)