ign logo IGN.com | AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | GameSpy | FilePlanet | TeamXbox | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | Direct2Drive

RottenTomatoes.com

RT Bug Squash
Home Movies DVD Celebrities News Critics Photos & Trailers The Vine Forums
Box Office | Best Of | Certified Fresh | Showtimes
Register for free site & special features! | Log In | What is RT?
                       
MOVIES / ON DVD / SECRET WINDOW
Secret Window

Rate This Movie

Write a Review
Share This Movie
Add to List
Buy Poster

Bookmark and Share

Secret Window (2004)

46%
29%
63%
N/A
N/A
N/A
46 %
Reviews Counted: 156 Fresh: 72  Rotten:84 Average Rating: 5.4/10
 
Consensus: Depp is quirkily entertaining, but the movie runs out of steam by the end. Depp is quirkily entertaining, but the movie runs out of steam by the end. more
 
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Synopsis:
Based on a Stephen King novella, the psychological thriller SECRET WINDOW is reminiscent of an Alfred Hitchcock film. Eccentric author Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) finds his life spiraling out of control. With a drinking problem and a cigarette habit he can't shake, Mort can barely function... [More]
Based on a Stephen King novella, the psychological thriller SECRET WINDOW is reminiscent of an Alfred Hitchcock film. Eccentric author Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) finds his life spiraling out of control. With a drinking problem and a cigarette habit he can't shake, Mort can barely function when his wife (Maria Bello) leaves him and he abandons his work. In the midst of his anguish, a deranged man, John Shooter, (John Turturro) appears at Mort's New York cabin, claiming that Mort has plagiarized one of his stories. As his wife pushes Mort to finalize their divorce and Shooter systematically destroys his life, he struggles to restore order to an increasingly insane situation. Playing off of Turturro who is superb as the crazed, Gothic Shooter, Johnny Depp shines in his role with a quirky, brilliant performance. The mannerisms he brings to Mort, such as a problem with a clenched jaw, makes the author's descent into madness compelling and believable. With an emphasis on character study over special effects, the chills provided by this film rely on skilled acting and evoke thrillers of earlier generations like PSYCHO and STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, including a shocking twist of an ending. [Less]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Maria Bello, Charles S. Dutton, Timothy Hutton

Director: David Koepp
Screenwriter: David Koepp
Producer: Gavin Polone
Composer: Philip Glass

DVD Info

Release:

Dec 4, 2008

[DVD Details]

Reviews

 
T-Meter Critics
 
 
Top Critics
 
 
RT Community
 
 
My Critics
 
 
My Friends
 
 
DVD
 
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Arrange By: Name | Fresh | Rotten | Date | Source
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
06/24/06 03:25 AM
Derek Adams
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Anyone with a passing knowledge of King's jam-packed oeuvre and its spotty movie translations will be fidgeting in their seats from the get-go.

Full Review | Comment
05/14/04 08:16 AM
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
05/01/04 08:23 AM
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
05/01/04 08:23 AM
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
Ratings Image

Even Johnny Depp in quirk-overdrive can't save it, his slyly insincere performance eventually irritating as much as the sincerely stupid movie he's stuck in.

Full Review | Comment
05/01/04 08:23 AM
Nev Pierce
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Koepp simply never gets anywhere near the story's underlying themes.

Full Review | Comment
03/18/04 05:11 PM
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
12/27/07 03:15 AM
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
Ratings Image

Once again, Depp slouches into a piece of mainstream entertainment and takes every opportunity to amuse himself.

Full Review | Comment
09/23/07 07:13 PM
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com
Ratings Image

This is, in short, a mystery story that has very little actual mystery.

Full Review | Comment
10/11/06 01:00 PM
Peter T. Chattaway
Christianity Today
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
12/06/05 07:37 PM
Film Threat
Ratings Image

It’s a telling sign when a supposedly sympathetic character’s head is smashed on a rock and laughter erupts in the theatre.

Full Review | Comment
09/16/05 03:15 AM
Jeremy C. Fox
Pajiba
Ratings Image

Depp's ... wonderfully frazzled portrait of seething resentment almost makes this minor thriller seem fresh.

Full Review | Comment
05/04/05 09:01 PM
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
03/14/05 10:15 PM
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons
Ratings Image

...an enjoyable little genre picture -- tense and stylish and full of Johnny Depp.

Full Review | Comment
01/29/05 07:31 AM
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
10/07/04 07:29 PM
Tony Medley
tonymedley.com
Ratings Image

Another lousy movie adapted from Stephen King's writing; another slander against the mentally ill; another energetic Depp performance in a losing cause.

Full Review | Comment
08/06/04 08:50 PM
Martin Scribbs
Mixed Reviews
Ratings Image

Wait-for-video more than straight-to-video.

Full Review | Comment
07/16/04 06:54 AM
Harry Guerin
RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)
Ratings Image

There have been as many Stephen King movie adaptations as Ron Jeremy films, and while some have been limp, "Secret Window" rises to the occasion.

Full Review | Comment
07/05/04 05:10 PM
John Larsen
Light Views
Ratings Image

A solid-but-imperfect thriller.

Full Review | Comment
06/25/04 02:17 PM
Forrest Hartman
Reno Gazette-Journal
Ratings Image

...much of Secret Window will seem old hat to anyone who knows what "redrum" means.

Full Review | Comment
05/20/04 08:22 AM
Daniel Eagan
Film Journal International
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
See More Topics...

Related Forums

Should have gotten better than 47%
by: ichbinklug 11/19/07


The timing in the movie is confusing me!!??
by: joeserhal 11/19/07


Morton salt
by: movie_man22 10/2/06


...and your feet in crisco
by: JD_OCD 3/23/06


PirateGirl
Treat at the end...
by: PirateGirl 1/12/05
all

Pictures

all

Videos

Secret Window Trailer
Watch Now >>
all

News

Critical Consensus: "Dead Man's Chest" Is Overstuffed; "Scanner" Shines Darkly
posted by Tim Ryan July 06, 2006
This week at the movies, we've got pirates back for more box office bounty ("Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's...


Spielberg Puts Koepp to Work on "Indy 4"
posted by Scott Weinberg March 07, 2006
During his Oscar coverage, Fox's Roger Friedman got to share a few words with director Steven Spielberg, and the bullet...


Timothy Hutton to Explore "The Kovak Box"
posted by Scott Weinberg April 13, 2005

Around the Network

• Secret Window at Rotten Tomatoes
• Secret Window at IGN
• Secret Window at AskMen
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | ModCenter | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive

By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2008, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.