Most critics find Misery an effective, darkly funny thriller, with praise centred on Kathy Bates and James Caan. Bates draws particular attention for making Annie Wilkes’s apparent kindness and threatening behaviour equally convincing, while Caan helps sustain the tense exchanges between writer and fan. The favourable reviews credit Rob Reiner’s handling of suspense and William Goldman’s screenplay with giving the adaptation a grounded setting, claustrophobic tension and something to say about celebrity and obsessive devotion.
The reservations concern how much the film achieves beyond keeping its audience tense, rather than whether its central performances work. RogerEbert.com finds the craftsmanship effective but short of greater inspiration, while The New York Times calls the story thin but engaging. The spread is fairly narrow, with no outright negative assessment: the Los Angeles Times supplies the clearest dissent, admiring the actors but finding Reiner’s approach flat-footed and too straightforward.