Editorial Reviews

It's not that Stephen King's made-for-TV epic "Storm of the Century" is all that bad. In fact, it's edge-of-the-couch good in some spots. The trouble is that it has too many spots. So many that the title should have been changed to "Story That Lasts a Century."

When you're done with all six hours of "Storm" (9 to 11 p.m. Sunday, Monday and Thursday, Channel 7) you'll be exhausted. And if you're not one of King's rabid fans who will forgive him anything, you'll have a similar thought:

"Gee, that was pretty good. Could have done it in two hours, but I'll live."

King has always needed an editor - no great mystery there. His other forays into television have also been long (and some of them tedious). This one is a little different in that King wrote it directly for television, serves as executive producer and will release the book after the miniseries is over. No doubt fans will flock to it, making a TV teleplay reach the bestseller list.

But if you're going to read the book as well, there's only one question for you: Is this how you want to spend your winter vacation?

"Storm of the Century" stars Tim Daly as Mike Anderson, the constable of Little Tall Island, a very small village in Maine where everybody knows each other and their secrets (or so they think). And yes, it's the hometown of Dolores Claiborne, which King duly notes. (He'll also wink at "The Shining" throughout this miniseries - a move that pays off less than the reference to sweet Dolores.)

Daly also serves as the narrator, which is the first frightening aspect of "Storm," because imagine how long it would have been had he not been able to move the action along?

Anyway, Deborah Farentino plays Daly's loving wife. They've got a cute kid, too. Everybody on Little Tall speaks in a heavy Maine accent except them. As the constable (that's what they call him instead of sheriff or cop or whatever), he's looked up to as the decision-maker on the island. He knows a storm is coming in and he's had the town's meeting hall basement outfitted and ready. He's Mr. Responsible.

But he has no idea what he's about to face as the killer storm blows in. It brings one Andre Linoge along with it. Seems Linoge (Colm Feore) is the Devil, or at least a pretty close representation, and he's looking to wreak some serious havoc. Heavy snow, high winds, rough sea - forget about it. He's got a cane with a silver wolf's head on it and if he starts swinging it around - and does he ever - you're pretty much out of luck.

He's got no fear of Anderson. In fact, he allows himself to be locked up without complaint after killing his first little old lady, because he can kill from jail. It's at this point where you'll feel locked up. The first two nights could easily have been made into two hours - maybe even one. Did King really need the length of three feature films to tell this story?

No. In fact, if you cut out half of the exterior shots of snow and darkness, there's two hours alone. Toss in all the shots of clocks - which have no purpose other than to remind you of how long you've been watching - there's another 30 minutes.

That's not to knock the cinematography, either. The miniseries has an eerie dark gray look throughout and the fake snow certainly looks cold. It's impressive. So is Daly's performance - quite a step up from his funny guy role on "Wings."

"Storm" has plenty of chills in it. Linoge is scary just to look at and when he writes - in blood, a la "The Shining" - "Give me what I want and I'll go away," you're hoping the gentle townsfolk heed that warning. But what does he want? Since he has a tendency to know everyone's darkest secret, the first four hours are spent believing he wants the isolated islanders (who have a lot of bad things in their closets) to fess up. A penance, perhaps.

King plays the good vs. evil, can't-hide-from-your-sin card heavy throughout the first two nights. Linoge never budges from his statement: Give me what I want and I'll go away. More mayhem. At that point, everyone is saying all right already - and you will be too. Then he blurts it out. What? It's a trick, ultimately, and one that annoys you as the viewer.

When you find out you can't help but think he could have spit that out in the first 20 minutes. The rest is nothing but padding. But if you've managed to stay that far, what's another two hours?

What Linoge wants is shocking. We won't even hint, here. But, finally saying it also helps save the last night because there's no wasted time - only five or 10 shots of the clock. But this new direction is likely to leave some viewers angry because it's a mean-spirited twist that doesn't go down easy. And, frankly, it doesn't make a lot of sense.

(It even moves the plot forward to the point where Maine is out, San Francisco is in. Now that's scary.)

Being duped by King is nothing new. A lot of fans just go along for the thrill ride. There's plenty of worthwhile flights of fear in "Storm" - and there ought to be, given the length - so that in itself may be incentive to watch. But the premise is as murky as the weather and you may ultimately think that six hours is more "Misery" than good TV company.

Plot Summary

• Tagline: An Unspeakable Evil Has Arrived.
• Plot Synopsis: A small village off the mainland is about to receive a huge winter storm. It won't be just another storm for them. A strange visitor named Andre Linoge comes to the small village and gives the residents havoc. He knows everything about them, and when he tells the truth about one of them, that person denies it. The town constable, Mike Anderson, tries to keep everyone in check with the huge storm and Linoge. Linoge keeps telling the people, "Give me what I want and I will go away"...

Product Details

• Actors: Tim Daly, Colm Feore, Debrah Farentino, Casey Siemaszko, Jeffrey DeMunn
• Directors: Craig R. Baxley
• Format: Closed-Captioned, Color, Dolby, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Disc Origin: Region 1 (USA) Original
• Region: All
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Full Screen)
• Number of discs: 2 (2 x DVD5)
• Rating PG-13
• Studio: Lions Gate
• DVD Release Date: June 22, 1999
• Run Time: 256 minutes