star rating represent the work just miss the mark that little bit in between lag behind the pit base on another of stephen king lengthy novella and this take place in the sleepy little new england town of castle rock ( also the name of the film production company . ) and where a new antique store and the titular needful thing and have open . the owner and proprietor and leland gaunt ( max von sydow ) hide and you might say and a devilish secret . there an item in his store that everyone in the little town want a small cash price upfront be first require and before a far more sinister price be ask for . a suspicion and hate and madness tear the town apart and it fall to police chief alan pangborn ( ed harris ) to restore order and save the town from a terrifying end . i read the novel of needful thing earlier this year and and be eager to watch the movie adaptation again to compare them ( like that be go to be any contest . ) but it have be delete on video and dvd and i couldn not find anywhere to rent it from . so i be happy when i finally find it in a flea market whilst on a shopping trip . it one of the cruelest irony that king novel be generally the best to read but when they get adapt to screen nine time out of ten they be complete junk and a be the case here . the material that make his book great simply doesn not translate into a movie script very well and for some reason . and i suppose there always the question represent why bother watching this when i could be read the book again instead . i appreciate that some be simply too lengthy ( i. e. it and the stand ) to be make into a complete screen work with all the situation and character include and but there no reason this one couldn not have include all the material from the book . a a result and a lot of key character from the book ( i. e. ace merrill ) be not include at all and we have some terrible character development that mean we do not care about the character that be involve since they be so stripped of depth and motivation for example we have one character from the book and danforth keaton and who murder his wife toward the end yet we be show no build up to hint at any reason that he do not get along with or hat her and so it have no impact when it happen and unlike in the book where there be a lot of depth invest and it really involve you to find out what happen to the character involve . all the material in the script to fill in the crack and if you like and be really stupid and corny and the typically goofy stuff that get include in king adaptation like this . most of the film problem be that it deviate so far away from the book but there also some terrible act from a cast that obviously can not feel for the daft material theyre be ask to perform . in the 90 and a lot of king work start skip the cinema and just be make into make for tv or video territory . rubbish like this must surely hint at why . .