Secret Window [Blu-ray]

Buy This Item Secret Window [Blu-ray] by Sony Pictures  Available from Amazon  $19.95  on 11-17-2008     Johnny Depp gets high off another acting challenge in this tricky adaptation of a Stephen King yarn. Although the mood is too sinister to allow for the mischief of his <I>Pirates of the Caribbean</I> turn, Depp still manages to embroider his role here with plenty of quirky business. He plays a writer, depressed and nearly divorced, who's stuck in an isolated cabin (shades of <I>The Shining</I>) when a stranger (John Turturro) arrives, accusing him of plagiarism. Writer-director David Koepp (<I>Stir of Echoes</I>) does his best to make the rickety material compelling--he gets the maximum out of the cabin set, for instance--but the problems inherent in the King story eventually win out. The climactic scenes are particularly unpleasant, especially in contrast to the cleverness of Depp's performance. A Philip Glass score adds class, but this one ultimately feels like a disappointment. <I>--Robert Horton</I> Reader Reviews I used to love reading Stephen King novels. Then somewhere along the way, it seemed to me that he got too caught up in his own hype. Rather than tell a story that kept me captivated, he began to lengthen the stories by adding so much detail that I found I didn't care after so many pages. That being said, I never read the story that this movie was based on. And after having watched it, I am glad that I didn't. Johnny Depp plays Mort Rainey, a writer of mysteries who begins the movie confronting his wife Amy (Maria Bello) in bed with her lover Ted (Timothy Hutton) at the local motel. Fast forward six months and we find Mort asleep in his cabin by the lake. With writer's block setting in, Mort is confronted one morning by a tall country bumpkin who calls himself John Shooter (John Turturro). Shooter accuses Rainey of stealing his story, one called THE SECRET WINDOW. And now he wants Rainey to give it back to him with full credit. Rainey argues with him and turns his back on Shooter. But when he leaves, Mort opens the door to find Shooter's manuscript on the porch. In reading it, he finds that the story is almost identical, word for word, to the one he had written years before. Another face off between the two comes the following day. When Mort asks Shooter when he wrote his story, he informs him that that date was two years after the story was published. Shooter offers him a chance to prove him wrong by presenting him a copy of the book within the next three days. Mort later finds his dog killed, a screwdriver sticking out of him, proof from Shooter that he means business. Contacting the local police against Shooter's written command, Mort finds little help. When he talks to his soon to be ex-wife, he ends up doing nothing but regurgitating old arguments and opening old wounds. Mort turns to a private detective (Charles Dutton) he has used before when he dealt with a rabid fan of his novels. Dutton agrees to look into it as well as the cabin. Mort is contacted again and again by Shooter, who makes a point of never being seen. And with each visit, Mort is set on edge, wondering if anything will get this man off of his back and out of his life. When his wife's house is burned to the ground, the house where he had a copy of the magazine the story was published in, he begins to wonder if even offering the proof will stop Shooter. There is more going on here than meets the eye. Subtle hints of the real story are strewn throughout, giving clues as to the real person behind it all and the motivations as well. Fans of mysteries will catch these early on while everyone else will be left wondering. Perhaps I have seen too many films and read too many novels, but I knew who was behind it all within the first 15 minutes of the film. And this was what made it a bad movie for me. A mystery should keep the viewer held captive in their seat as they try to solve the riddle posed to them. The amazing thing to me about this movie was that not only was I able to figure it out, I felt that I had seen a number of stories based around this theme time and time again. I was stunned that a story about plagiarism actually felt like a plagiarized story. I don't know where, but I have seen this tale before. The movie itself was well made and enjoyable to watch. Depp has proven that he is more than just a pretty face, although that is more than enough for fans like my wife. The sign of a good actor is one who can make you believe that they are the character and not an actor portraying one. Depp has that ability. For those who aren't jaded by seeing too many filmed mysteries or having reads too many, this movie will provide you with a nice evening out. But for fans of the genre, it will result in watching and waiting for the revelation to come out knowing the answer well in advance.

Secret Window [Blu-ray] Available from Amazon Price: $19.95 Updated on 11-17-2008.

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