Being a fan of Pierce Brosnan, I tend to watch anything he's in. Therefore I was quite surprised that he appeared in a 'made-for-TV' movie (or two-part mini series to be precise). Granted it was based on a Stephen King book, but, in my opinion, I thought Brosnan was 'slumming it' a bit.

Then again, about fifty per cent of King's work has managed to survive the transition from book to film, so I was hopeful. That was until I watched it.

Unfortunately, 'Bag of Bones' comes in the half of King's work which is - most likely (and I have to confess to not reading the book) - better in print than on film. It's simply too slow. Yes, being a two part TV series, it's allowed a little more screen time than a normal ninety minutes film would probably be given and it uses this time for 'character building' purposes. Sadly, I think I speak on behalf of most of the viewers when I say we'd rather have scares and horror than yet another conversation about something pretty mundane.

Like I say, I am a fan of Pierce Brosnan, but I felt his heart didn't seem into this. He plays a writer who loses his wife and goes to retreat to their country house to get away from things and write his next book. It's hardly an original plot on its own and, as you've probably guessed, spooky things start to happen. Only they're not particularly spooky and nothing much happens until the end. There's nothing very unexpected about the film. You can see most things coming and even some of the 'scares' at then end are almost comical in how they're presented (there's a scene with a 'killer tree' that reminds me of something out of the comedy/horror 'Evil Dead' starring Bruce Campbell).

I keep watching Pierce Brosnan's films and I'll also keep watching Stephen King's big screen work. However, I can see why this was made for TV and never made it to a theatrical release.

The bestseller writer Mike Noonan (Pierce Brosnan) is autographing his new release in a bookstore and his beloved wife, the painter Jo Noonan (Annabeth Gish), goes to a store on the other side of the street to buy a pregnant test. When she is crossing the street back to the bookstore, a bus run over her and she does not survive. Mike grieves the loss of his wife and decides to go to the house by the Dark Score Lake, in Maine, that he had inherited from his grandfather and Jo had spent a long time repairing it. Mike starts to drink and suspects that Jo might have betrayed him since his sperm counting indicates that he is sterile.

In the isolated house, Mike has nightmares and believes that Jo is trying to contact him. He also has daydreams and ghostly visions with the jazz singer Sara Tidwell (Anika Noni Rose) in a local fair in 1939. Mike stumbles in the town with Mattie (Melissa George) and her daughter Kyra Devore (Caitlin Carmichael) and he discovers that the powerful and mean Max Devore (William Schallert) is disputing the custody of his granddaughter Kyra with Mattie. Further he discovers that there is a curse in Dark Score Lake due a despicable action of Max in 1939. Mike decides to help Mattie against Max and to investigate further the mysterious curse.

"Bag of Bones" is a dark tale of evilness and curse in a town in Maine. The supernatural story is very well constructed along 157 minutes running time and is a combination of drama, thriller and horror. I did not read the novel by Stephen King but I liked this TV mini-series. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Saco de Ossos" ("Bag of Bones")

I read the other reviews which were very negative due to the fact this mini series apparently doesn't really follow the book's storyline properly, but honestly I haven't read the book yet (despite being a Stephen King's fan) and from my perspective this part was not bad at all.

I am sure that, as with every other movie that is inspired by a book (and in saying this I even include The Shining, which was considered a great movie yet still is incredibly inferior to the book), this is also a case in which things have been left out or poorly adapted. However, not being able to make that comparison, I can judge the mini series simply for what I see, and I am pleased. The acting is very good (especially for a mini series! If you have had the chance to watch Rose Red you know why this is not something I'd necessarily expect) and the storyline is intriguing. I didn't find this confusing, more like mysterious in an interesting way. It would be a let down if they ended up not explaining anything at the end either, though, that is for sure. However, if they are just not including all the book's details to be able to adapt it to the movie kind of media, I am not complaining, just as long as we get the whole story in the end.

I can say so far the first part was interesting and that I am waiting to watch what happens next. Hopefully it won't let us down!