Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

The Bottom Line:

Secret Window is a pointless whodunnit that delights in twists and turns for the sake of twists and turns; too bad the ending is a complete cliche that leaves the viewer distinctly dissapointed.

Blood and Rain
Blood for the Masses

Secret Window
Starring
Johnny Depp

Director
David Koepp

Screenplay By
David Koepp

Reviewed By
B.L.Morgan

How many of you out there have had a relationship end because your partner fooled around on you behind your back? I don't expect anyone to answer that question because I know how embarrassing even being asked that can be.

Since today seems to be my day to make people uncomfortable, I'll try again.

How many of you writers out there have had someone accuse you of plagiarizing their work? Not me. I'll tell you that up front, because even rumors of that kind of thing can ruin a writer's career.

Morton Rainy, played by Johnny Depp, has both of those problems. Add to that the ingredient that Rainey is emotionally a wreck due to the intense pain from his divorce and you have a ticking time bomb. Depp is rapidly becoming one of my favorite actors to watch. First he was incredibly funny as the nutty buccaneer in Pirates of the Caribbean and now he flawlessly plays a clever, charming, emotionally dissolving man. "Secret Garden" could almost have been called the Johnny Depp show.

The guy accusing Depp of "Stealing" his story is John Shooter, played by John Turturro. If anything is weak about this movie it was Turturro's portrayal of Shooter. To make it plain, He just wasn't scary at all.

Johnny Depp carries this movie and does it magnificently. He is edgy, full of rage, lazy, distraught and funny. It's not very easy doing all those emotions in one motion picture, but he pulls it off.

There is one other star of "Secret Window." David Koepp directed this movie and did a good job of it. He was also the screenwriter and that's where he really shined. If you've read "Secret Window, Secret Garden," by Stephen King you'll recognize the story of "Secret Window." But Koepp weaved some surprises into his film using the original story elements that were very startling.

I give "Secret Window" a rating of 4 out of 5, only marked down because of Turturro's non-menacing John Shooter. He really could have done better.

If you like Stephen King's fiction, you should see this movie. I consider it one of the best of his adaptations. If you are a writer who likes King's work and have read "Secret Window, Secret Garden" it would be a crime if you don't see "Secret Window" with Johnny Depp as the slightly psychotic Morton Rainey.