I consider "Mr. Harrigan's Phone" to be perhaps the most masterful short story ever penned by Stephen King. While this adaptation of King's work is far from the best (Shawshank Redemption, Green Mile), it is certainly light years ahead of the worst (2022 Firestarter, Cell).
For a very basic overview, this film tells the story of Craig (Jaeden Martell), a young man who strikes up an unlikely friendship with the aged Mr. Harrigan (Donald Sutherland). As Craig reads to Mr. Harrigan because of the older man's declining eyesight, he learns some life lessons and some mentorship occurs. Along the way, Craig introduces him to the iPhone, of which Mr. Harrigan is fascinated with (and remarkably prescient about). When Mr. Harrigan eventually passes, the phone is buried with him. While seemingly a sentimental gesture on Craig's part, it becomes anything but when the adolescent starts receiving messages from the below-ground party.
Though I will admit that any adaptation of this material was likely to disappoint my sky-high expectations based on the written-word version, I do at least somewhat objectively think that there is a great deal of missing emotion from director/writer John Lee Hancock. The Craig/Harrigan relationship is fine, but everything else--from Craig's school experiences, relationship to a special teacher, father/son dynamic, and the deceased mother--seems rather flat. Likely because of this, the film often seems drawn-out or overly long even at a relatively modest 100-minute runtime.
That being said, there is enough here to enjoy for it to be a worthwhile experience overall. Sutherland is great and the very basics of King's tale are all covered. Again, the problems with "Mr. Harrigan's Phone" have nothing to do with the coverage of story points and everything to do with how emotional that coverage turns out to be.
Like I said, the story this is based on is so good as to be close to impossible to capture all the nuances of. "Mr. Harrigan's Phone" gets the nitty-gritty, plot-by-plot details right, but struggles to manufacture the raw emotion from the source.
For a very basic overview, this film tells the story of Craig (Jaeden Martell), a young man who strikes up an unlikely friendship with the aged Mr. Harrigan (Donald Sutherland). As Craig reads to Mr. Harrigan because of the older man's declining eyesight, he learns some life lessons and some mentorship occurs. Along the way, Craig introduces him to the iPhone, of which Mr. Harrigan is fascinated with (and remarkably prescient about). When Mr. Harrigan eventually passes, the phone is buried with him. While seemingly a sentimental gesture on Craig's part, it becomes anything but when the adolescent starts receiving messages from the below-ground party.
Though I will admit that any adaptation of this material was likely to disappoint my sky-high expectations based on the written-word version, I do at least somewhat objectively think that there is a great deal of missing emotion from director/writer John Lee Hancock. The Craig/Harrigan relationship is fine, but everything else--from Craig's school experiences, relationship to a special teacher, father/son dynamic, and the deceased mother--seems rather flat. Likely because of this, the film often seems drawn-out or overly long even at a relatively modest 100-minute runtime.
That being said, there is enough here to enjoy for it to be a worthwhile experience overall. Sutherland is great and the very basics of King's tale are all covered. Again, the problems with "Mr. Harrigan's Phone" have nothing to do with the coverage of story points and everything to do with how emotional that coverage turns out to be.
Like I said, the story this is based on is so good as to be close to impossible to capture all the nuances of. "Mr. Harrigan's Phone" gets the nitty-gritty, plot-by-plot details right, but struggles to manufacture the raw emotion from the source.