Hollywood's best directors are often tempted by Stephen King's novels, hoping to turn them into surprising, classy fare. The results are often unsatisfactory.

Stanley Kubrick came out with the unremarkable The Shining -- unremarkable by Kubrick's standards, but a masterpiece compared to Dreamcatcher. Now Lawrence Kasdan is not quite Kubrick but he has made several interesting movies, including Bodyheat and The Big Chill.

He ends up making a fine mess with Dreamcatcher. Kasdan's film is too gory and confusing and certainly bound to be one of the year's major disappointments.

Kasdan scripted the movie with William Goldman who fared better with King's Misery. 

The fine, but mostly wasted, cast is led by Morgan Freeman. Producer Castle Rock has turned several of King's books into decent films, including Stand By Me and Shawshank Reception. But Dreamcatcher, which starts with a bang and good-natured fun involving four friends, soon sinks into a convoluted and long-winded movie.

Given the popularity of the novel and Freeman's presence, the film will not be a box-office washout. But it certainly isn't the kind of a film that will overcome adverse reviews and settle for a long run. Despite a decent opening, it may have to have a miraculous touch to reach the $120 million domestic gross achieved by the other Castle Rock film, The Green Mile, also based on a King novel. That movie was helped considerably by Tom Hanks' fine performance.

Goldman and Kasdan have not been able to distill the best elements of King's 600-page novel and exploit them to create a horrifying but entertaining movie. King has said in recent interviews that he is more than pleased with the film. Hardcore King fans may buy his word but many who hope for scary and chilling scenes may be shortchanged.

There isn't decent horror or suspense in this film. There aren't heart-pounding elements or pulse-quickening emotions. And while the secondary characters do shine from time to time, Freeman, one of the finest actors in Hollywood, is rather loud and unforgettable.

The film revolves around four childhood friends who have shared telepathic powers that somehow lead to complications. Henry (Thomas Jane) gets so overwhelmed by the effects of his power that he thinks of killing himself. Pete (Timothy Olyphant) tries to use his power to impress women but turns to alcohol when things get difficult. 

Many years ago, the friends had happened to come upon Douglas 'Duddits' Cavell, a retarded boy who was being bullied by older kids. When they go out of their way to defend him, he lets them into his deepest held secret. From
him, the four men receive the telepathic powers. 

The drama in the film comes out of an annual get together the four men are having in the deep of the woods when a blizzard sets into motion strange and horrendous happenings. Their cell phones are dead. A hiker who wanders into their compound meets with a horrible fate. And toothy worms are going wild attacking the friends.These events are not narrated grippingly; surprisingly, for Kasdan has also been a scriptwriter for the early Indiana Jones and Star Wars movies.

The film continues to plod along even when a military outfit led by maniacal Colonel Abraham Curtis (Morgan Freeman) enters to fight the alien invasion. Soon, one cannot help feeling that nothing could really save this film.

As the bizarre and supposedly scary incidents continue, the survivors start looking to their fifth friend, who is being consumed by a deadly disease, to save themselves and the world.

The film has too many diverse elements competing for the attention of the script and director: a plague, an alien invasion, a devastating storm, destructive worms, a body snatcher, an insane colonel and a mysterious, idiot savant. Not one of these characters holds your imagination. Except for a superbly photographed scene of animal stampede, the action scenes lack vigour.

The worst of the film is saved, perhaps unwittingly, for the very end. For a Stephen King novel, this tame, confusing climax just does not jell.