Mr. Harrigan's Phone

Mr. Harrigan's Phone

Craig, a young boy living in a small town befriends an older, reclusive billionaire, Mr. Harrigan. The two form a bond over books and an iPhone, but when the man passes away the boy discovers that not everything dead is gone.

  • Released: 2022-10-05
  • Runtime: 105 minutes
  • Genre: Drama, Horror, Thrillers
  • Stars: Donald Sutherland, Jaeden Martell, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Cyrus Arnold, Thomas Francis Murphy, Joe Tippett, Caitlin Shorey, Iván Amaro Bullón, Conor William Wright, Alexa Shae Niziak, Bennett Saltzman, Joseph Paul Kennedy, Thalia Torio, Colin O'Brien, Leo Kennedy, Peggy J. Scott, Daniel Reece, Frank Ridley, Wayne Pyle
  • Director: John Lee Hancock
 Comments
  • nickel1976 - 4 March 2024
    Stephen King doesn't always write horror!
    It's time for a facepalm moment.

    King probably rolls his eyes when he sees reviews of films that have been made with his fiction sometimes. In fact, a lot of reviews on this page emphasize the trap that the world has yet to discover it is in. In a sense I do wonder if King wrote this story with a cynical smirk on his face, waiting for those who didn't fully understand the message to 'speak aloud' their expectations about the content. That there would be reviews stating "this is mislabeled" or "this isn't scary" or "the story really didn't have a compelling ending" or - the bizarre review claiming it's an iPhone advertisement - and they would be supported by several readers. All of these takes on the story and the reactions...they prove his point.

    While King has been known lately to insert a little bit of social commentary to his fiction, the message wasn't shoved. It was offered, as is this review, as is every review on this page. From here, I can find other films like this by clicking a button the web page. I can expect IMDB to make suggestions. I can get reviews of the latest so-and-so screen offering right off the bat, watch the trailer from here, and decide whether to watch the film or not.

    Would I have been able to do this when I was a child in the 80s? Hell no. In the 80s I would watch commercials that advertised a film. I might check the newspaper to see what the showtimes were, and then used a landline to call my friends to go see it at a later date. Now, I press a few buttons and BOOM! I'm showing the film on my 65" HD 4K TV that might actually be just short of the size of the screen I'd see in the theater. Then, I would walk home with my friends talking about it all.

    Which situation would you rather be faced with?

    It's easy to pick situation #1, especially lately because so many people out there have been brought up fully exposed to the "press a button, get what you want" type of life. The idea that people used to do the latter seems - at its surface - undesirable.

    It's not.

    I admit I didn't read the short story (and I ought to). The film had its flaws. The "Tuesdays with Morrie" feel that I think Hancock was trying to express...it didn't take. There were a lot of scenes that seemed out of place or put in at the last minute to cover up some plot holes, stuff like that. It seemed to be a character study but the study was nothing more than a rather disorganized mish mash of scenes that were ungracefully stitched together. Thank goodness for Donald Sutherland. He played his part masterfully (although...when doesn't he?). Nevertheless, I enjoyed the film and the intended message. It is a story that belongs in the signature lore collection of Stephen King. Now if only people gave the story a little bit of consideration before giving it a thumbs down.
  • dvg757 - 26 August 2023
    First half is very good, second half loses direction and then it just ends
    This film is frustrating and a real missed opportunity to have been great. The positives, the acting all round is great, especially from Donald Sutherland. The cinematography is a delight as well.

    When the late Mr Harrigan is acting as Craig's personal hitman, there should have been some sort of quid quo pro from Craig, like he was making a deal with the devil so there should have been some price he had to pay, but... there wasn't anything. He just got him to kill a couple of people and then the film ended. There was no twist, no pay-off. As someone else suggested, a good twist could have been that Mr Harrigan had killed Craig's mother for some reason and tied it all together.

    The film started great, set up a compelling mystery but then you find there isn't one. Stephen King, come on man, you can do better than this.