Needful Things - Good idea, slowly executed

Ah, Stephen King's book-to-film adaptations have a mixed rate of success when they transfer to the big screen (and when I say 'mixed' I mean bad!).  He always seems to come up with very interesting concepts that just don't seem to work well visually.  And - sadly - here isn't that much of an exception to this rule. 'Needful Things' isn't a bad film.  I kind of enjoyed it, but I just couldn't help but think that the idea could have been expanded and made even more terrifying than it was.

A mysterious stranger (the ever-charming and totally evil Max von Sydow) comes to a small American town (and if you've seen any Stephen King story on screen then you'll know the setting well!) and sets up a shop called - you guessed it - 'Needful Things.' From there he seems to have 'that one thing' that everyone wants.  However, like every good businessman, he knows the perfect 'price' for each sale - and most times 'payment' doesn't come in terms of a 'dollar value' - it comes with doing something nasty to another member of the community.

So ,I'm guessing what 'Needful Things' is about deep down is exploring the human desire for consumerism and exactly how far we'll go to possess something that we attribute value to.  This theme I do find fascinating and reckon that it's definitely worthy of having an intricate tale woven around it, especially turning it into a supernatural affair.  However, even though the film runs for a longer-than-most two hours, it never really seems capable of getting to grips with the themes it's trying to explore.  Because we can't dwell for hours of screen time on every resident of the town, we only get a snapshot of what's going on and the chaos von Sydow's character causes in the community.

Ed Harris is the Sheriff who begins to realise that this shop is a little more than it seems, but - despite technically being the hero - he seems to disappear for large chunks of the movie.  I understand that the effects of the antagonist have to be show on the general population, plus von Sydow himself needs time to shine (and he does!) as the villain.  However, it just feels a bit all over the place from time to time.  Plus, Ed Harris doesn't really expand his acting range in this film - he just seems to be playing the same Ed Harris he's played in pretty much every other film he's been in (just minus the VX gas rockets - if you've seen 'The Rock').

It does pick up quite a bit at the end and there are plenty of gruesome moments in to enjoy.  However, in this day and age of online TV shows, I couldn't help but feel that this whole story would have been better as a ten-part series that allows the audience to get to know the various townsfolk and see what makes them tick.  That way when they start to get exploited we can understand why they'd go to these lengths just for X, Y or Z.  However, I know I'm coming across as if I didn't enjoy it, but I did find the idea strong enough to keep me entertained.  Plus I've already mentioned that von Sydow's performance alone makes it an enjoyable ride.  Plus, as I also said, the final act is pretty intense and there are a few grisly shocks and surprises along the way.  Overall, a nice try, but probably could do with an expanded remake on TV.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that