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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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81 - 100 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Unseating James Caan as the least convincing Stephen King stand-in ever, Johnny Depp is hopelessly miscast.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
03/12/04
Steve Schneider
Steve Schneider
Orlando Weekly

All the corn pone in Mississippi can't make this go down like anything but year-old grits.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
03/12/04
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

Funny, handsomely shot and has some really creepy stuff involving reflections in mirrors -- but it's also packed with a few too many false scares, obvious red herrings and mayhem you can see coming from a mile away.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
03/12/04
M.E. Russell
M.E. Russell
Oregonian

Koepp keeps the suspense going. And amazingly he does it with a minimum of violence and special effects, relying instead on such old-fashioned ideas as character, atmosphere and the occasional, time-honored, bump in the night.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
03/12/04
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger

Works well as a showcase for Depp's idiosyncrasies.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
03/12/04
Megan Lehmann
Megan Lehmann
New York Post

It's a slight story to begin with, and the movie teeters on camp with its jokey filler material.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
03/12/04
Jami Bernard
Jami Bernard
New York Daily News

It wants to be surprising but merely grows foolish.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
03/12/04
Connie Ogle
Connie Ogle
Miami Herald

Star Johnny Depp and adapter-director David Koepp bring enough wit and peculiarity to the proceedings to make for an entertaining, and sometimes even smart, time.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
03/12/04
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

Either a very silly Stephen King thriller or a brilliant parody of same.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
03/12/04
Loey Lockerby
Loey Lockerby
Kansas City Star

A suspense thriller that is neither suspenseful nor thrilling.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
03/12/04
Drew McAnulty
Drew McAnulty
Jam! Movies

What makes Secret Window both scary and amusing is Depp.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
03/12/04
Louis B. Hobson
Louis B. Hobson
Jam! Movies

Depp runs wild with eccentric behaviour. Yet, with his technical proficiency equal to his eccentric decision-making, Depp makes every choice seem appropriate or even absolutely essential to the character.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
03/12/04
Bruce Kirkland
Bruce Kirkland
Jam! Movies

To watch Johnny Depp act in anything is always a treat. But does it have to be the only treat going?

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
03/12/04
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail

[Depp's] amusingly idiosyncratic, yet surprisingly complex, performance goes a long way toward redeeming this otherwise sketchy film.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
03/12/04
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Generates the kind of low-wattage creepiness that helps compensate for its lack of resonance.

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
03/12/04
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News

Not even Depp can quite save the relentless obviousness and preposterous turns.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
03/12/04
Michael Booth
Michael Booth
Denver Post

Somewhere in the middle of [King's] range storywise, and toward the top in Depp's performance.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
03/12/04
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

Like Lon Chaney or Buster Keaton, Depp tosses off endless bits of physical business as if they were little poems.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
03/12/04
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
San Francisco Examiner

You can thank Johnny Depp and Johnny Depp alone for any enjoyment you get out of this film.

Full Review Source: Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah) | comment Comment
03/12/04
Audrey Rock-Richardson
Audrey Rock-Richardson
Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah)
 
 
81 - 100 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
all

Latest News for Secret Window

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