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Needful Things

Needful Things

1993
Drama, Suspense/Thriller
2h 0m
Leland Gaunt comes to Sheriff Alan Pangborn's pleasant little New England town, and opens a store. What this kindly Satan sells is whatever you need, from a surcease from pain to an object which you have always coveted. (imdb)
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Needful Things

1993
Drama, Suspense/Thriller
2h 0m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 38.23% from 497 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(497)
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Rated 26 Aug 2009
36
31st
Beyond a few good casting choices, it's another relatively mediocre adaptation of another good and inherently sinister Stephen King novel. The fact that the film is significantly toned down from the novel also doesn't help it that much, even beyond the significant levels of violence that are included. I also get the feeling that with some aspects cut from the novel, the running time didn't really need to be two hours. As with most King adaptations, if you have time read the novel first.
Rated 27 Nov 2009
70
65th
Nice little Stephen King adaptation. It has likeable Ed Harris and awesome Max Von Sydow - and the eerily watch-able Amanda Plummer, from before she went off the grid. It's feels like a well-produced tv-flick, and if you can live with that standard, there's some fun to be had here.
Rated 10 Aug 2015
70
61st
Disliking Needful Things because it's mean as shit is the same as disliking water because it's wet. It's supposed to mean, it pulls it off, mission accomplished. The morality play repetition was desensitizing though, and I felt like it was trying too hard, too often to make its point. Still, as mean and anti-middle class (in a self-loathing sort of way, which comes from frustration rather than classism) as the book, so a silver star from me.
Rated 24 Jan 2019
40
14th
What makes SK novels so good is that they have a great, soapy buildup that you can't put away. What SK movie adaptations have is a botched reenactment of the, definitely, cooky plots. I think this is why his books translate so poorly to movies. Character motivations really make sense in older King (not the newest), but in the movies you're left guessing and.. unfortunately, just laughing.
Rated 10 Oct 2020
48
19th
On desire and morality. Adapted from an overlong King novel, the film suffers from being both overlong and insubstantial for its 2 hour running time with only Sydow's mischievous performance warranting anything close to resembling a recommendation. The main problem is that Heston plays the material rather 'straight' when a more heightened or frenzied tone would have delivered its themes with greater clarity and force.
Rated 11 Nov 2023
61
33rd
All over the place but still kinda fun!
Rated 16 Dec 2006
61
62nd
Average King adaptation. This film loses its balls; the book kills children.
Rated 30 Mar 2007
80
68th
Good adaptation of a Stephen King story. Max von Sydow in something like this... :-)
Rated 14 Aug 2007
72
56th
An excellent story adapted fairly enough to get the point across. If you only have two hours to kill, watch this film. If you have a day, definitely read the book. Regardless, there are some pretty good performances in this one, even if Amanda Plummer is typecast.
Rated 28 Aug 2007
24
24th
ok
Rated 17 Sep 2007
65
49th
not good, but entertaining
Rated 08 Feb 2008
50
0th
Surely the dullest movie based on a Stephen King story in history.
Rated 25 Jun 2008
72
81st
good movie
Rated 30 Sep 2008
80
84th
Very clever, with a great performance from Von Sydow
Rated 07 Nov 2008
60
27th
the book is way better.
Rated 04 Mar 2009
20
20th
The book is better better better.
Rated 04 May 2009
50
7th
Despite a few funny lines -- as when von Sydow says, "You're disgusting. I like that in a person" -- Heston's puerile King adaptation is a mostly tedious, one-joke job stretched to nearly two hours. Occasionally effective FX and performances that go beyond the story's feeble demands -- von Sydow, sheriff Harris, cafe owner Bedelia, and waitress Plummer all put out with admirable enthusiasm -- also help hoist the film to a watchable level. Only hardcore King fans will find this needful viewing
Rated 20 Sep 2010
64
39th
This is a really mean spirited novel and it doesn't translate well to film (shocking a King adaptation doesn't translate well). I like Ed Harris but there just wasn't much to get into with this role. I do think Max von Sydow went at it with gusto (" Gobble my crank!"). I think it went overlong and they should have made it a miniseries as the extended version I saw on TV was a little better.
Rated 13 Jun 2011
48
17th
The enjoyable cast and some decent scenes make this watchable, otherwise it doesn't have much to recommend it. I suspect fans of the book would be disappointed.
Rated 06 Oct 2012
55
55th
Interesting idea, but pretty bland execution.
Rated 26 Nov 2012
59
36th
A potentially fun idea gets watered down by a repetitive progression of the story and one-dimensional characters. Still, Sydow seems to be having fun and that's worth something. If you want to see an idea like this pulled off in a more engaging way, I can really recommend the (short) series The Booth At The End.
Rated 26 Jan 2013
48
25th
Really poor adaptation. Casting von Sydow as Gaunt was the only redeeming feature.
Rated 18 Oct 2016
60
68th
Would benefit from a darker tone and longer running time
Rated 09 Jan 2018
40
19th
Passes the time.
Rated 10 Mar 2020
45
19th
Needful Things has a lot going for it - von Sydow as Satan, ffs! - but manages to waste a lot of it on a rushed plot and a cast that collectively does what King thinks Nicholson did in The Shining.
Rated 11 Sep 2020
71
50th
kasaba, yabanci, esya, gecmis, düsmanlik, insanlari birbirine düşürmek, şeytan, mezhep ayrılığı (babtistler) (SPOILER Kasabaya gelen antikaci insanlara gecmisleriyle ilgili ihtiyac duyduklari kücük seyler verir ve karsiliginda onlari baskalarina zarar verecek islerle görevlendirir. Böylelikle kasaba birbirine düşer. Bir noktadan sonra keyfi kalmadi.
Rated 01 Mar 2021
50
8th
Moments of Needful Things were interesting but overall it just doesn't translate to screen. I've never read the book but I'm sure, like most Stephen King stuff, it works better as a novel. Max von Sydow was wonderful in this role. His character pushed me to finish watching this movie. The rest of the cast are a whose-who of 80's trope character actors. It did feel overly long in parts and the final scene didn't finish the story in a satisfying way for me.
Rated 15 Jul 2021
57
27th
Max Van Sydow is the obvious highlight of this movie and the movie itself has some good stuff going. It does drag on quite a bit at times, though and the way the story progresses becomes a bit too obvious and repetetive. Just one of those things that works better as a book than as a movie.
Rated 16 Aug 2022
83
45th
This movie is bleakly funny and definitely channels some David Lynch about small town America. I imagine the book is better but that's usually the case anyways.
Rated 01 Aug 2023
90
57th
Needful Things is a great Stephen King movie that on its surface appears to be about greed - but on a deeper level it's about what happens when people are incorrect in their beliefs and assumptions about what others have done. It shows how easy it is to use something simple like greed and rumor to divide a group of people.

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