Secret Window Review
by Jerry Saravia (faust668 AT aol DOT com)April 13th, 2004
SECRET WINDOW (2004)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Viewed on April 6th, 2004
RATING: Two stars
Johnny Depp is usually at his best in low-key performances where his tics and eccentricities pay off and you're left with an entertaining, mannered performance. I think back to "Ed Wood," "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" and "Blow." But when he is stuck in a commercial Hollywood flick, he can sink fast. Think back to "Astronaut's Wife" and "Nick of Time." The exception is "Donnie Brasco," a better-than-average mob flick. "Secret Window" gives him ample opportunity to expand his range, and he does so as long as the screenplay allows him. Unfortunately, Depp is stuck in a generic, watered-down suspense thriller that would have been better as a TV movie than something released in theatres.
Depp, in typical fashion, aims for anything he can do to make his character stand out. He is Mort, a novelist living in isolation in a log cabin. He sports glasses, a ripped robe, a bleached hairdo, and continually sleeps on the couch. He can't get his new novel off the ground. He recently caught his wife (Maria Bello) cheating at a motel and, as a result, is in the middle of a divorce. What's next? One day, a stranger arrives at his house and claims that Mort stole his ideas from his own novel. The stranger is John Shooter (John Turturro), and the story is titled "Secret Window," something that Mort claims as his own. Shooter supplies him with a manuscript as proof, but when was it written? Could Shooter be using Mort for some ulterior purpose? No matter. Mort goes to the police when his dog is found dead with a screwdriver through its heart. Unfortunately, the police chief spends more time doing needlework than policing. Mort even gets a private investigator involved. And there is something strange about Shooter's pilgrim-shaped hat and the rocks placed in front of Mort's porch. Is Mort's disorientation growing because of his constant whisky-swilling, or is his life in danger?
Based on Stephen King's "Secret Window, Secret Garden" (from his "Far Past Midnight" book), "Secret Window" can go in any direction with such a solid build-up. It does, and then it ends with a howler that is easily foreseen. That wouldn't matter much if the film delivered with psychological twists and some handy scares - what else would you expect with King? The problem is that focus is lost and attention flags when the seams begin to show. I think a tale like this needs to stay with Mort and in his reclusive house - we should really see it all from his point-of-view. Instead, we get unintentionally hilarious and flatly staged scenes in cafes, offices and gas stations - these scenes primarily involve Mort's wife and her new lover (Timothy Hutton). Unfortunately, Maria Bello and Timothy Hutton are bereft of anything remotely interesting to do or say - they look like wooden blocks and we feel nothing for them.
"Secret Window" is agreeable enough as passable filler, thanks largely to Johnny Depp's wiry, wry performance which serves up Mort's lethargy and paranoia - characteristics common to someone with writer's block. Depp let's us see that his mind is always at work - he is so active that you wonder why the movie can't quite contain him.
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