Quite a bit has been cut out, but the meat of the story is still here. Stillson suffers the most as his backstory is pretty much eliminated and he doesn't even really appear until about an hour in. Some of Johnny's good deeds are also edited out for time, but the big ones are still there.
Like 'Firestarter', changes were made, but it still captures the essence of the story rather well. It is also very character driven. While the supporting characters get fleshed out well enough, Smith is the focal point and it's clear that this is his story above all others.
While the movie is good on it's own, you're really watching this for Walken. The level of enjoyment I got from this movie increased significantly due to his presence. He doesn't ham it up the same way he does in Ripper; on the contrary, his performance works rather well while still being full of the Walkeny goodness you would come to expect. The movie even opens with him reading excerpts from Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven and discussing Sleepy Hollow (an eerie bit of real life foreshadowing).
You could probably blame it on the reduced screen time, but Stillson's popularity confused me. When I read the book, I caught a glimpse of at least some sincerity. You could see sort of see the appeal even though you knew he was a monster. Here, he's played more like a sleazy huckster, the type of vote/money hungry politician that has almost become a stereotype at this point. Even in private conversation he constantly brings up how you have to vote for him or contribute to his campaign and never leaves a conversation before handing you a button. In the grand scheme of things, his sleazy huckster persona is a huge step up, but it baffled me nonetheless.
Cronenberg did a great job here. I wouldn't mind seeing him tackle another King work as his style does seem to sync up well with the material. Michael Kamen also did a good job with the soundtrack. The score isn't so good that I'd want to buy it on a CD, but it did what it was supposed to and added to the impact of what you were seeing on the screen.
It's too early for me to declare this one of the greatest King adaptations, or even to give it a spot in the top 10. As of now though, it's definitely up there. I definitely recommend checking it out.
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