"Mr. Harrigan's Phone" a tepid Stephen King adaptation

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone (2022)

“Mr. Harrigan’s Phone” comes with quite the pedigree. It’s adapted from Stephen King’s 2020 novella of the same name inside a collection titled “If It Bleeds.” Jason Blum and Ryan Murphy are producers. Then you have Jaeden Martell, who starred as the de facto leader of the Losers’ Club in the 2017 adaptation of “It.” If this adaptation is faithful to King’s work, “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone” may be one of King’s less interesting short stories. If not, it’s a provocative premise rendered tepid by writer-director John Lee Hancock (2021's "The Little Things") and lacking suspense in execution.

In a setup not far off from other screen adaptations of Stephen King novellas, like “Apt Pupil” and “Hearts in Atlantis,” a boy and a much older man with secrets begin an unlikely friendship. In the Maine town of Harlow, young Craig (Jaeden Martell) lives with his widowed father (Joe Tippett). At a time when he needs a friend the most, he gets hired by reclusive billionaire Mr. John Harrigan (Donald Sutherland) to read books to him three times a week as his vision is failing. This paid after-school activity becomes more of a friendship that lasts five years; Mr. Harrigan gives the high schooler adult wisdom and Craig brings the old man into the digital age with a gifted iPhone (complete with a stock market app and Tammy Wynette's "Stand by Your Man" as his ringtone). One afternoon when Craig goes for their usual session, he finds Mr. Harrigan dead. Before his old friend is buried, Craig decides to put Mr. Harrigan’s smartphone in the pocket of the deceased. Craig has been left $800,000 by Harrigan’s trust, but he misses their talks. Maybe if Craig calls Harrigan from beyond the grave to vent about getting bullied at school by Kenny Yankovich (Cyrus Arnold), Kenny’s uppance will come.

What almost has the familiarity of an "Amazing Stories" episode, “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone” is a coming-of-age morality tale about a ghost in the machine. The strongest section of the film is when Mr. Harrigan is still alive and being read cover to cover by Craig. Jaeden Martell makes for a sensitive Craig who still has a backbone. Donald Sutherland brings a sternness but unexpected kindness as Mr. Harrigan. We are told Harrigan is a man with a bad side and possibly some “terrible secrets,” but nothing is ever made of what may be concealed in the closet of his study. Once Sutherland’s Harrigan is out of the picture (but there in spirit), the film’s creepy hook is then told in broad strokes, knocking off basic plot points rather than escalating to anything surprising or meaningful. Even Craig’s pure-hearted science teacher aptly named Ms. Hart, played with reliable warmth as Kirby Howell-Baptiste, becomes little else than a plot point.

Most surprising of all, this actually wants to be a supernaturally inclined meditation on the perils of screen time. After all, it is mainly set in 2008 (a year after the first iPhone), and as one of the wise adult characters tells our teenage protagonist, “a person shouldn’t call out unless they want an answer.” To drive home the anti-technology point, Craig’s peers in this film’s idea of high school are separated into cliques based on their smartphones. The Motorola Razr table is basically for nerds, while all of the popular kids have Apple iPhones, but everyone sits glued to their phone and no one actually talks to each other anyway. The social commentary is there, but it's clunky at best in a horror tale about a dead old guy making a teen boy's wishes against others come true. “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone” is decently made and skillfully acted, but not as affecting, chilling, or thoughtful as it probably should be about a monkey’s paw for the digital age. It’s just trite and underwhelming, which is not what you want from the King.

Grade: C +

Netflix is releasing “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone” (104 min.) to stream on October 5, 2022.