Directed by:
David KoeppScreenplay:
David KoeppCinematography:
Fred MurphyCast:
Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Maria Bello, Timothy Hutton, Charles S. Dutton, Len Cariou, John Dunn-Hill, Vlasta Vrana, Isabelle Champeau, Sarah Allen (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
Psychological suspense thriller based on a novella by horror writer Stephen King. Johnny Depp stars as famed mystery writer Mort Rainey who, following an acrimonious separation from his wife Amy (Maria Bello), takes some time out at his remote lake house. Shortly after his arrival, he is unexpectedly confronted by a dangerous stranger named John Shooter (John Turturro). Claiming that Rainey has plagiarised his short story, changing only the ending, the psychotic Shooter demands justice. When Shooter's fearful demands turn to threats - and then murder - Rainey turns to a private detective, Ken Karsch (Charles S. Dutton) for help - but he soon begins to wonder if he can trust anyone or anything. (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
(more)Reviews (9)
The director and quality actors are not to blame, the culprit is ironically the "shocking" stupid twist of the screenwriting crutch. Depp was good up until the reveal, I didn't believe his transformation for a second he was on screen.
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A pleasantly old-fashioned, harmoniously flowing thriller that gets cut off at the knees by its horrible climax. The film’s big surprise is just a clichéd, worn-out twist that doesn’t work at all in the context of the preceding plot.
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Even ignoring my aversion towards Johnny Depp, Secret Window is nothing but an average thriller. I didn’t feel any atmosphere, only the maniac played by John Turturro was unsettling in a proper King fashion. The twist is so uninteresting these days that it’s not even worth saying anything else about it. I was actually ashamed that I didn’t figure it out after a couple of minutes. The ending, on the other hand, was nice. Mixed 6/10.
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A decent adaptation of Stephen King's literary work, anchored by Johnny Depp's excellent acting. While it doesn't rank among the top in the genre due to its average script, it still earns a solid 70% overall impression from me. The twist is predictable, but the film manages to maintain its atmosphere almost until the very end, and several scenes have that distinctive King charm.
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The excellent Johnny Depp in a slightly above average adaptation of King’s short novella Secret Window, Secret Garden. Everything goes perfectly until Koepp begins to play around and totally revamps the whole ending of the movie. I still don’t know why he did it. Because in his novella, King replaced cliché with a surprising outcome and so the punchline is completely elsewhere. Too bad, it was a good attempt.
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If I hadn't read the book first, the movie would probably get one more star. This way it's "just" a well made atmospheric flick with a reasonable running time, great Depp and Turturro. A better average.
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An excellent Johnny Depp, as usual, an impressive atmosphere and a visible effort to prepare the viewer for the final "shocking" twist, which is supposed to be the main star of the whole story. The conclusion, however, is far from imaginative and surprising, and Stephen King absolutely failed to handle it as expected. As a result, David Koepp could have tried his best, but wouldn’t have saved this predictable and bland tale anyway.
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A surprisingly clever, quite innovative, and very well made... uh.... psychological comedy. Seriously...
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A brilliantly paced psychological thriller that gets totally buried at the end by perhaps the most perverse climax imaginable. Johnny Depp is without question superb, John Turturro is also great in a role somewhat atypical for him also great. David Koepp is otherwise a master screenwriter, but he didn't quite pull it off here. I wouldn't have any particular complaints about the direction, but the likes of Tony Gilroy and Michael Clayton definitely have the upper hand in the "writer/director" category.
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