@silverhawkins said:

I felt this could have done with a bit more backstory - it teased the mystery of Ted without ever really giving us anything to latch on to. His character's psychic ability was almost a deus ex machina at times. Especially curious were the rare occasions when it seemed he had imbued his talent into Bobby, but then nothing ever came of it.

I did find it charming, if slightly soppy, but I'd like to have learned more and been given a little more substance. Also, it kind of felt like Hopkins was phoning it in a bit, which was a shame, because everyone else played a blinder.

Obligatory question: Have you read the book? If not, you are in for a treat. It not only has Ted's background explained, but you'll find out that this movie is barely 25% of King's original. You'll get 4 beautiful, interconnected stories, only one of which is dealing with Ted. Not only that, but the book is exceptional in its style - I think it's on par with King's epics, such as IT, The Stand, The Dark Tower, etc. HiA is one of the masterpieces of modern literature for sure.

For bonus points, you'll find Ted as a character in other books from King as well, and also his backstory is way more complex than what is revealed in HiA.

So to get the full picture, you should read (in this order):

The Talisman

The Dark Tower 1-4

Black House (the sequel for The Talisman)

The Dark Tower 5-7

BTW I remember absolutely HATING this movie in 2000, I saw it directly after I read HiA and it was just very disappointing to see this intriguing book mutilated like that. But I guess for an individual who is not familiar with the book, it at least does the job of piquing their interest. So if only one person is reading the mentioned books because of this movie... it's a win :-)

Thanks for this generous answer. I haven't yet read the book although I certainly will now it's been recommended so highly. I do usually enjoy SK's writing, but his books tend to be so long and there's such limited time to read... I don't want to suggest I disliked this film, because I did find it quite moving in a simplistic way, it just lacked substance. As you say, hopefully I'll find that in the book!

@silverhawkins said:

I don't want to suggest I disliked this film, because I did find it quite moving in a simplistic way, it just lacked substance. As you say, hopefully I'll find that in the book!

I'm certain you will!

I have just watched this -I quite enjoyed it - Anton Yeltsin gave an excellent performance - so sad that he should die so young. I too was wondering if they were ever going to let us know Ted's back story - but I guess they excised that in favour of the coming of age aspect. It irritates me that a woman is always cast in the role of betrayer. I also wondered why Ted didn't take the simple precaution of changing his name!!

@strangebedfellows said:

I have just watched this -I quite enjoyed it - Anton Yeltsin gave an excellent performance - so sad that he should die so young. I too was wondering if they were ever going to let us know Ted's back story - but I guess they excised that in favour of the coming of age aspect. It irritates me that a woman is always cast in the role of betrayer. I also wondered why Ted didn't take the simple precaution of changing his name!!

I'd recommend reading the book to you as well!

This story is soooo much more than it was depicted in the movie, and it ties directly into the universe of the Dark Tower series.

Speaking of The Dark Tower... - please don't watch the movie before you read the books. Please...