They include smart-aleck boys, a tempted physician, a lovelorn elderly couple and a pretty waitress (Samantha Mathis) who admires Ben.Īlthough director Mikael Salomon (Band of Brothers) orchestrates the grisly second half with a showman's flair, the mayhem turns repetitive and tiresome. Yet the big problem is juggling all those characters, a trademark of King's sprawling style. It's quite antagonistic and has a bland center in Lowe. The teacher could be talking about Salem's Lot as well. When pushed to critique Ben's work, Braugher's teacher complains that it's unnecessarily antagonistic and lacks a moral center.

He complains that literature has become elitist but offers such grand observations as 'a good writer illuminates truth.' When he's not rambling on about small towns, Ben is debating others about writing. 'Don't romanticize the town because it's small,' Ben says.

Ben also suffers flashbacks to horrific happenings he witnessed years before in the dilapidated mansion that dominates the village.

Their good work offsets the talkiness of the first half, as Ben Mears (Lowe) recounts the terrible saga of Jerusalem's Lot. Cromwell, the nice farmer from Babe, brings nasty energy to the role of a seedy, hard-drinking priest.

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