The Mist

A strange mist rolls into a northeastern town, and people start getting eaten. This straightforward Stephen King horror story is directed by Frank Darabont, the man responsible for The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, two fine King adaptations. While Darabont proves capable of handling the horror stuff, the human interplay gets way out of hand and silly to the point of distraction—and eventual movie ruination. I could forgive the sloppy effects. What I couldn’t take was Marcia Gay Harden as Mrs. Carmody, a fire-and-brimstone-preaching townie who believes that the monsters are harbingers for the end of days. She thrusts her Bible into the air and beckons the townspeople to choose sides; she is the most annoying movie character I’ve witnessed all year. Thomas Jane is decent as a man trying to protect his son from evil mist and crazy humans, but the film is done in by Harden’s overacting.