Secret Window Review
by Ryan Ellis (flickershows AT hotmail DOT com)March 22nd, 2004
Secret Window
by Ryan Ellis
WARNING: major spoilers follow the main review!
March 17, 2004
Ooh, I write those words up there and right away I think John Turturro is going to come after me, drawling, "You stole my story". Since that great character actor plays an alleged victim of plagiarism and wants retribution in this latest Stephen King creepshow, it actually gave me a chill to write my byline. Hey, I'm even writing this in my bathrobe, an outfit that Johnny Depp sports for most of the film. Well, there's no thought theft going on here because I haven't read the book and knew very little about this story going in. That's a tactic I recommend to others too...go in as uneducated about this movie as possible. Plot summary: writer deals with stalker, things get ugly. That's enough basic info to get you started. So stop reading this review right now if you haven't seen the movie, go see it, and then come back to compare notes. And DO NOT scroll down to the bottom of this page where I spoil everything. Deal?
For those still here (all 3 of you), let me get right into the crux of it. Johnny Depp plays Mort Rainey, a King-like author of pulp novels who's secluded himself in a funky lakeside cabin since separating from his philandering wife, Amy (Maria Bello). After the opening scene when Mort has caught his freshly screwed wife in a hotel room with Ted (Timothy Hutton), we see our unkempt hero sleeping on the couch. The cabin isn't in shambles (that's to come later), but it's clear that Mort is spending more time napping and brooding than writing or showering. He's awakened by John Shooter (Turturro), a threatening Mississippi writer who claims Rainey stole his "Secret Window" story. Mort claims he has iron-clad proof that he wrote the story years before Shooter claims HE wrote it, which is evidence that would stop the movie in its well-worn tracks. Instead, Mort loafs around and never seems to be as eager to get rid of this strange visitor as he should be. Soon enough, bloody bodies turn up and Mort is led to believe that Amy might also be in mortal danger if he doesn't solve this plagiarism accusation.
Just as in 'Pirates Of The Caribbean', Johnny Depp saves the whole show. I didn't have a strong feeling about recommending that one any more than I do this one, but ol' Eddie Scissorhands' performance has again made a movie worthwhile. And just as Depp had Geoffrey Rush's hammy assistance to liven things up in that yo-ho-ho-blockbuster, John Turturro pops up now and again to douse the movie in bug-eyed malevolence. Bello, Hutton, and Charles S. Dutton (in a thankless role as Mort's one-man security force) have to ground the movie and they've got unglamorous characters to play. None of them stands out, nor do they stink up the joint. Good acting or not---between taking a few peeks at the cute girl sitting a few seats away and unraveling the plot's threads---I was initially undecided on whether or not to recommend this flick. Depp and King fans should cough up the money to see this on the big screen. I have a feeling that a lot of the humour Depp brings to the table is not in the book. He's full of grumblings and machinations that feel like perfectly correct choices. He's not a put-on artist; rather, Johnny Depp is one of the most-unsung Method actors in the business. You can buy him in this role and enjoy him all the way through.
The psychological/supernatual elements get the credit in most of King's novels, but it's his grass-roots style of dealing with domestic issues that makes his novels work. Concept: man catches wife cheating, drops out of the world, struggles to get his life back together. The "writer's dilemma/writer's block/writer's obsession" hook is one that King has used frequently, but that's not a criticism. He may recycle themes too often, but he's as good as anyone at letting us into the author's process. We see the remarkable power of a writer to create characters out of thin air. I'm assuming that writer/director David Koepp stayed close to the source material. If so, King should be blamed for the weaknesses that almost cause the whole enterprise to evaporate into "been there, done that" air (some of which I'll discuss at the spoiler-laden bottom of this page). This is the first adaptation the mega-writer Koepp has done of a King book, but they're made for each other. Koepp's unsettling 1999 ghost story, 'Stir Of Echoes', could've been written by King.
But let me say this...the instant a dead dog turns up, I knew where this was going and the various twists and turns didn't shake my resolve. The story is enough fun that the mystery almost gets in the way of the reality-based psychological drama. Unlike the painfully obvious 'Twisted', 'Secret Window' is entertaining throughout. Koepp has the courage of his convictions (or are those King's convictions?) and doesn't bail on his crafty set-ups. What happens is logical, more or less. Take it from a guy who spent most of the movie thinking, "Okay, that could work" and "He could have done that", the plot holds up pretty well. There are pleasures even for those who aren't snowballed by the mystery. We're not treated to plenty of "jump" moments (which is fine with me because most directors screw those up anyway), but Koepp sews things together in a similar fashion to 'Stir Of Echoes'. 'Secret Window' isn't scary, but it's occasionally unnerving. You might feel more creeped out if you project back to earlier scenes once you've left the theatre.
Bringing us to the end of this review. As Mort Rainey says in the movie, it's all about the ending. Does 'Secret Window' have a good one? Yes. It's not one of the legendary finales in movie history, but it's pretty good. In fact, it ties things up nicely (even giving us a real reason for the novel's title, "Secret Window, Secret Garden") and managed to drag a wry smile outta me. This coda almost seems unnecessary, but then again, it could very well be the freakiest part of the film. Everything leads to that final resolution. When you see the film, tell me if you would've liked it more if the movie was over immediately following the shovel-wielding climax or after the sheriff comes knocking and we see a whole kitchen full of corn...
Okay the review is over. NOW...I want to talk about the last third of the film in specific terms. I will give away the secrets of 'Secret Window' (and the secrets in 'The Sixth Sense', 'Fight Club', and 'A Beautiful Mind' too) from this point on, so consider this the DIREST OF SPOILERS. Look away!
While watching The Sixth Sense, I recall whispering "he's dead already" to my friend when Bruce Willis first sets eyes on Haley Joel Osment. As well-crafted as that film was, I had a hard time enjoying it as much as most people did because I couldn't help piecing it together to see if my theory held up. It did. Same with 'Secret Window'. As soon as Chico the dog is found dead, the lightbulb went off and I thought, "Depp did it and he created Turturro in his mind". It makes sense too. Mort is shattered when he discovers that his wife is being unfaithful. Within six months, he's gone bats.
He can't find a way to deal with this loss, so he self-destructs. Even though he's written several books and appears to be a successful author, you wonder if he wasn't self-loathing long before the events of this film. His mind splits into a separate personality that will destroy his better nature, but not before obliterating everything else Mort cares about. We've seen this technique used over and over in other pictures, but the strength of Depp's performance carries him along so subtly that most people probably won't notice he's already nuts when we first see him. As for John Shooter, notice that we always hear him before we see him. That's a device Ron Howard employs in 'A Beautiful Mind', hearing the imaginary characters before seeing them.
Is the movie really about a guy wanting to set things right (devilishly so), to make his wife and her lover pay for their affair in the harshest way possible? Is it also about a writer who can't let go of a story and will go to any length to improve it? It would seem so. The Shooter side of Rainey is prepared to kill Amy and Ted right from the start and the Mort side of Rainey just has to catch up to that determination. How about this---did Mort write the original story while subconsciously pretending to be Shooter? Scary thought. Authors go to dark places and have to role-play all the time, but doubling back on this movie reveals just how disturbed Rainey is even BEFORE we meet him. We saw this in 'Fight Club' too, where Tyler Durden was obviously ready to blow all his fuses long before he invents the Brad Pitt version of himself. That was the movie I thought of when Depp finds his dog and discovers his truck was taken out while he was sleeping, thinking, "This is Fight Club". Chuck Palahniuk's book also features a main character who sleeps through the sinister events in his deteriorating life.
I liked the dark ending. I said earlier that I wondered if it wouldn't have been even stronger if the movie ended when we realize that he's about to chop up Amy & Ted with that shovel and bury them in the garden. Knowing that he has managed to get away with his crimes while the bodies are deep below the new cornfield made me smile my sick grin of satisfaction, the one that enjoys a movie that doesn't bail on its wicked premise. But I'd hate to be over to that guy's cabin where all he ever serves is corn. And you'd never know when he'd wig out and kill you. After all, Mort Rainey is psycho.
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