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Movie Review - Secret Window
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
David Koepp |
| Starring: |
Johnny Depp, Maria Bello, and John Turturro |
| Rated: |
PG-13 (violence/terror, sexual content, and language) |
| Length: |
96 minutes |
| Genre: |
Thriller/Horror |
| Website: |
Secret Window |
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PLOT
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Mort Rainey (Depp) is a successful writer going through a not-so-amicable divorce. Rainey moves to a house
deep in the woods, opening himself up to all sorts of spooky possibilities. John Shooter (Turturro) shows up
one night and accuses Rainey of stealing one of his stories. Shooter gives Rainey three days to prove he
didn't steal his story. Tension, mystery, and a less-than-satisfying plot twist ensue.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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Why do I do it? Why do I let myself get too excited about certain movies? Why do I hear praise such
as "due to wildly enthusiastic screenings the release date for 'Secret Window' has been moved up" and
automatically assume it's gonna be one of the best movies of all time? WHY?!?!?! It's like expecting
*you* to believe that the next review I write is actually gonna be funny.
"Secret Window" isn't a bad movie. Overall, it does a good job of creating a tense and creepy
atmosphere, and the storyline kept my interest. I couldn't wait to see how it ended. The problem is
that I kept saying to myself, "Man, I'm scared I know how this will end. Please don't end that way.
Please be something different and original! Please surp... ooh, a piece of popcorn fell on my
lap, tasty!" My pleas fell on deaf ears.
It's quite ironic that Johnny Depp's character says in the movie, "The only thing that matters is the
ending. It's the most important part of the story." Unfortunately, it's the part of *this* story that
left me disappointed. There are at least 4 movies that I've seen within the last four years that contain
a very similar plot twist. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to ruin it for anybody ...
ah forget it ... JOHNNY DEPP IS DEAD! HE'S A GHOST!!!!! HE TALKS TO A CHILD WHO SEES DEAD PEOPLE!!!!!
Calm down, folks. I'm just kidding.
In all seriousness, I did predict the plot twist early in the movie, and the storyline went in the direction
I did not want it to go. It just felt like a bit of a cop-out, and you soon realize that much of the first
half of the movie was mere plot conveniences.
Johnny Depp does a good job, even though he has some sort of scarecrow vibe going on. All the girls are
still gonna think he's hot though. It was funny because right before the movie started a whole group of
gals yelled out, "Johnny's hot!" It was clear to me that this was obviously a group of Johnny Betts
fans, but some people in the audience thought the girls were referring to Johnny Depp. The innocence of
ignorance can be so cute sometimes.
So let's see, this is basically the Johnny Depp show. Maria Bello doesn't have too much to do as
Depp's soon-to-be ex-wife. And am I really supposed to believe she'd leave Depp for Timothy Hutton?
Riiiiiiiiiiiiight. Josh Brolin, sure. But Timothy Hutton? Yeah, whatever.
John Turturro does an OK job as the creepy stalker. But expecting us to believe that a guy from
Mississippi could write a clever novel is asking for too much suspension of disbelief. Ohhh, thank you,
thank you! At this time I would like to bid farewell to all two of my Mississippi readers. Seriously
though, Turturro just isn't a real menacing bad guy. Picture Forrest Gump trying to threaten Johnny Depp.
Doesn't really fly, does it? Now if John Malkovich had been in that role, he would have had me hurriedly
writing my own novel and throwing it at the screen.
I know a lot of people, particularly those that live under a rock and only see about 3 movies a year,
will be surprised by the ending. But even if the plot twist surprises you, there's a good chance that
it'll disappoint you. Everything ties together well, but I was left feeling dissatisfied at the
end. The movie is based on a Stephen King novella. I've never read it, so I don't know how the two
compare. I heard that the ending was changed, and if that's true, then that may have been a mistake.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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Once it has been edited-for-TV then I might suggest it to my mom. There is no nudity and not much sexual
content (other than showing a scene of adultery). Profanity isn't overly extreme, but there are a few "s"
words, a few occurrences of "g-d**n," and one muffled "f" word.
The violence and creepy atmosphere are enough to make it unsuitable for younger viewers.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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Overall, the trailer is an accurate depiction of the movie - both are creepy and tense. However, the
trailer seems to indicate that the movie may contain supernatural elements. This isn't the case.
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THE GIST
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"Secret Window" provides its share of thrills and entertainment, and that's what's so frustrating.
At the end of the movie you feel like you've just watched a nail biter of a sports game only to see
your team lose in the final minutes. You walk away thinking, "That would've been great if only the
ending had been different!"
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