Starring Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Timothy Hutton and Maria Bello
Written and Directed by David Koepp
Based on the short story by Stephen King
100 minutes
Rated R
Thanks to last year’s hit Pirates of the Caribbean Johnny Depp is now (finally) a household name. Depp has been one of the most brillant actors of the last fifteen or so years, always taking roles that challenge and intrigue. His first film since playing Capt. Jack Sparrow is Secret Window.
Window is based on a short story by Stephen
King. So it’s no surprise when we learn
Depp’s character, Mort Rainey, is a writer struggling with demons of his
past. King is obsessed with writing
about writers, which isn’t always a bad thing.
Misery was such a story that produced an amazing film. However, Secret Window, while still
good, is no Misery.
Rainey has barricaded himself in his mountain cabin getaway after the break up of his marriage. He suddenly gets a meeting from a stranger named Shooter, who claims Rainey has stolen one of his stories. For the first half of the film Rainey must deal with Shooter who may be a crazy stalker or just crazy. Before too long Rainey’s wife, played by Bello, and her new boyfriend, Timothy Hutton, become involved in the mystery.
Stephen King is a great writer, however, more times than not I find his endings to be a huge letdown. As it is, the third acts of films based on his material are usually a letdown as well. Secret Window falls more into King’s horror writings than his dramatic ones, which include The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption. The horror writings more easily fall flat than the dramatic ones. Stanley Kubrick knew this and changed the ending of his version of The Shining, and in my opinion, made it much better.
The last third of Secret Window just doesn’t match up to the build up. The “twist” is pretty easy to figure out from the start, and when it’s finally revealed it feels like a cop out. I won’t expose the twist, but we’ve seen it before and seems like “it” is becoming the new replacement ending for “…and then I woke up!”
Depp is fun to watch, as always, and gives a good performance. Turturro seems a little forced, but works well with what he’s given. All in all, Secret Window is a good film, but not a great one. Were it made ten years ago it would’ve been a huge hit. These days thrillers need to have a little more behind them.
Grade: C+
Written by David Bohnert
Copyright 2004.