Lisey’s Story

Matt Roush says...

Adapting what many regard as his most personal novel, Stephen King writes all eight episodes of this limited series—which I can’t help think is at least a few too many (but I’m in the minority for having found the source material insufferably indulgent). Julianne Moore is, unsurprisingly, excellent in the title role of Lisey, still mourning the violent death of her best-selling novelist husband Scott Landon (Clive Owen) two years later. Lisey’s Story intertwines with Scott’s own traumatic backstory, and when the grieving widow is threatened by a deranged superfan (Dane DeHaan) who seeks access to Scott’s unpublished material, the thriller aspect shifts the narrative to a fantasy realm known as Boo’ya Moon. Which is where I checked out as both reader and viewer.