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Secret Window

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Secret Window (2004)

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Reviews Counted:155

Fresh:72

Rotten:83

Average Rating:5.5/10

Consensus: Depp is quirkily entertaining, but the movie runs out of steam by the end.

Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins

Genre: Dramas

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... 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. [More]

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

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

Director: David Koepp

Director: David Koepp
Screenwriter: David Koepp
Producer: Gavin Polone
Composer: Philip Glass
Studio: Columbia Pictures

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Reviews for Secret Window

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1 - 20 (sorted by source; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
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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 Source: BBC | comment Comment
05/01/04
Nev Pierce
Nev Pierce
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
05/01/04
Christopher Tookey
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]

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 Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
05/14/04
Ian Nathan
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
03/18/04
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
05/01/04
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: 3BlackChicks Review | comment Comment
03/21/04
Kamal  'The Diva' Larsuel
Kamal 'The Diva' Larsuel
3BlackChicks Review

What starts as narration progresses to talking to himself and eventually responding to questions asked by his brain... a trick The Simpsons could claim years ago.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
03/11/04
Fred Topel
Fred Topel
About.com

Absorbing and satisfying, just like a good old-fashioned page-turner of a novel.

Full Review Source: Aisle Seat | comment Comment
03/16/04
Mike McGranaghan
Mike McGranaghan
Aisle Seat

They had all the makings of a top-notch thriller here, except for original ideas – a deficiency that’s difficult to overlook.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
03/14/04
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

With Depp in the lead, Secret Window never quite slips into mediocrity, but it's not destined to be remembered among King's finest efforts, either.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
03/11/04
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic

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

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
01/29/05
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Secret Window, a hack job patched together from bits of Stephen King's earlier, better stories, is such a cheeseball it ultimately subverts even Depp's considerable charm and talent.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
03/11/04
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Ridiculously overwrought.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
03/16/04
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
03/11/04
AV Club

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
12/27/07
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound

What we've got here is a Sunday night on-the-network style movie with an acting virtuoso (Johnny Depp) raising the mundane material to viewable, enjoyable, fun.

Full Review Source: Blunt Review | comment Comment
03/11/04
Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt
Blunt Review

A second helping would be hard to justify were it not for Depp, whose manic idea of comedy seems right for a Stephen King thriller.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
03/12/04
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
03/21/04
Boston Phoenix

...[only] the latest King thriller to be defenestrated onto the screen. The hack finale buried whatever hope I had for Secret Window to keep me from eyeing the door.

Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | comment Comment
03/18/04
Thomas Delapa
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
all

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