A&E’s new miniseries “Bag of Bones” comes to us from director Mick Garris, whose Stephen King resume includes also adaptations of “Sleepwalkers,” “The Stand,” “Desperation” and the Steven Weber TV version of “Shining.”
King’s 1998 novel follows a rich novelist (Pierce Brosnan) who seems to be getting advice from his late wife (Annabeth Gish) as he helps a young widow (Melissa George) in a custody battle with her son’s weathy grandfather (William Schallert).
... the role, and story, don't especially play to Brosnan's skill set. There are long stretches of the story where Mike is on his own, crying, or yelling or trying to talk to the various ghosts, and it turns out that loudly emoting to thin air isn't one of Brosnan's strengths. King famously figures out most of his stories as he goes along, which means his books often have great beginnings and forgettable or awkward endings. "Bag of Bones," especially this adaptation of it, doesn't have the benefit of the great start. It's never clear what the story is really about, or how its many pieces fit together. It's just a collection of creepy imagery, lots of screaming and the occasional musical number for Anika Noni Rose. Not that I mind getting to hear her sing; I'd just rather it was in the middle of a much more interesting story. ...
... Handsomely shot and deliberately paced, it has a superficially cinematic quality, but it doesn’t have the storytelling juice to keep you engaged in Mr. King’s convoluted multi-ghost story. ...
... Although it is far from the worst King adaptation (would that be "Dreamcatcher"? "Lawnmower Man"?) it feels less like a ghost story than a dashed-together homage to the King oeuvre that's slow where it should be fast and fast where it should be slow. ... The original sin at the heart of "Bag of Bones" is a powerful one, but by the time it is revealed, in a shamefully Scooby-Doo-like way, you're more than ready to get off the ride.
‘Stephen King’s Bag of Bones” is a bag of something, and it ain’t bones. … boils down to a hokey horror story that relies on cheap tricks — nightmares! sudden bursts of loud music! animal in the attic! — to deliver most of its chills. Worse yet, some of the characters are so cartoonish, they’re more “Scooby-Doo” than Cujo. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
... If Sunday's episode is dull, Monday's conclusion is laughably bad …
... a deplorably dull two-night miniseries … an unfortunate reminder that the man who is credited for inspiring horror film classics like “The Shining” has also attached his name to many more duds. …
... doesn’t have the terrifying scares viewers have come to expect from the prolific author. ...
… they don’t bother with details or substance. That might take a few interesting, sensitively written scenes, of which there are none in this miniseries. Even the story’s central violent event, which arrives in part 2, is handled without any emotional impact or logic. Like everything else in A&E’s “Bag of Bones,’’ it is hollow and - boo! - not scary.
... This is a far cry from the ridiculously lurid supernatural shenanigans churning the bloody waters every week on FX's American Horror Story, with its shock-for-shock's-sake graphic overkill going so far over the top that it becomes more silly than scary. If Horror Story evokes cringes and giggles, I'm afraid Bag of Bones goes too far to the opposite extreme of the spooky spectrum and provokes mostly yawns ...
… at least, Bag of Bones can claim consistency: It starts slow, moves slowly and goes nowhere. …
... bad to the Bones.
9 p.m. Sunday. A&E.
