MPAA Rating: PG-13/ Genre: Psychological Thriller/ Stars: Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Maria Bello, Timothy Hutton, Charles S. Dutton, Len Cariou/ Runtime: 95 minutes
I feel it must be said that the list of works by Mr. Stephen King is most certainly one that is among the most prolific when it comes to writers working today. Yet even though his name has, since his career started, nearly always been synonymous with the horror sphere, he has also, on quite a few instances, written stories that have had less of a concentration on the otherworldly and more of a focus on everyday individuals who find themselves dealing with struggles a bit more human and relatable and how these struggles, for good or ill, manages to impact their lives. I bring this up because this is most certainly the case with a story King wrote in the year 1990 that would eventually become adapted into the movie we are reviewing today known as Secret Window. Indeed even though this is far from the best adaptation to come out of Stephen King’s line-up, it is nevertheless, thanks to game work from a wonderful cast and director, still a terrific little movie to enjoy on a rainy day.
The plot is as follows: Secret Writer tells the story of a mystery writer by the name of Mort Rainey who, when the story opens, finds himself going through a bit of a rough patch in his life. This is because 6 months prior to the start of the story, Mort found out that his wife was having an affair with a rubbernecking jerk named Ted. Since that traumatic event however, the two of them have gone their separate ways and now are in the middle of a vicious divorce battle. Suffice it to say then that Mort has decided to retreat from all of this, and has taken up residence with his dog Chico at a remote lakeside cabin and attempted to make some kind of effort on going back to writing full-time; an effort which, we quickly observe, seems to be made up of 2% actual writing and 98% napping the day away. However it isn’t long before his routine all comes to a screeching halt one day when out of the blue a complete and total stranger shows up at his front door, and with no prior warning, accuses our poor beleaguered writer of stealing a short story of his. Of course Mort denies this accusation, slams the door, and proceeds to go about his day. What he doesn’t realize however is that by opening the door in the first place, he has also opened the door for a nightmare that by the time it’s concluded, Mort will know the properties of terror and find the very fiber of his sanity pushed to the brink of absolute madness….
Now in my opinion the big positive that this movie has going for it would have to be Johnny Depp (and believe me it’s been a long time since I wrote those words). In the case of this film however, that is a good thing since he is the character that this entire movie rotates around. Indeed Depp manages to bring Rainey just as completely and thoroughly to life as he was able to do with Captain Jack Sparrow, Hunter S. Thompson, Sweeney Todd, Ichabod Crane, or any of the other characters he has played in his career. Indeed in his interactions with his ex-wife Depp manages to showcase both the love he still has for her as well as the pain from her betrayal, and in his spats with Ted Depp manages to do terrific in his display of not only a feeling of intense animosity, but also a hidden fury towards being ousted for this individual who, in his eyes, is more leach than human.
Yet none of these interactions are ultimately nowhere near as engaging as the ones he has with himself. I say this because Mort, it is no spoiler to tell you, spends at least a good solid third of this film’s runtime by himself yet not once are we given the impression that he is isolated. This is because thanks to witty remarks that come from out of thin air as well as inner commentary involving the various misadventures that Mort finds himself becoming a part of throughout the movie not only really provide key and significant depth to the character, but also make a lot of sense due to the character being a writer embroiled in a deadly struggle with the phenomenon known as writer’s block. Indeed it is that aspect which is where the genuine brilliance of Depp and his time developing this particular character comes from because he manages to make it both taut and engaging to watch this character literally talking and in several instances having a heated argument with himself.
Now portraying the yang to Rainey’s yin is wonderful character actor John Turturro as John Shooter, a dairy farmer from that lovely lil state of Mississippi who claims Rainey stole his story and is willing to go to extremely insane lengths to prove it. Indeed in his portrayal of Shooter, Turturro manages to showcase first and foremost a calm psychotic individual who is able to seemingly constantly take some form of action that almost always results in having Mort right where he wants our beleaguered hero to be. Not only that, but Turturro also manages to showcase a seemingly vindicated attitude during his screen time that gives him the air of an individual who is both assured that he is justified and will go to the ends of the world in order to showcase that he has been the victim of a severe transgression including burning down everyone and everything in Mort’s life if that gets him justice. Suffice it to say that Shooter’s obsession and perseverance only grows more and more chilling as the film goes on, but with special regard to the moments where he cautions Mort to tread lightly when it comes to claiming he’s in error because if he is then he must be psychotic, and if he’s psychotic then he might also be a very deadly person to cross indeed.
Now the rest of the supporting cast isn’t half-bad, but honestly in a movie that, not including credits, is 2 minutes over an hour and a half, they really don’t get as much screen time as the 2 principals to really make as much of an impression with audiences. Nevertheless I definitely feel that they all at least try to do their very best with what they are given from Timothy Hutton, playing somewhat against type quite effectively, as the bane of Mort’s existence Ted to Charles S. Dutton who brings an authority to his role of a PI who Mort has hired before, and who he promptly hires again when this nightmare gets to be too much for him to handle alone. Indeed they may not be the biggest stars in the entertainment industry, but sometimes you don’t need the biggest star, but just a down-to-earth, hardworking actor to deliver the goods, and that’s what this supporting cast manages to provide in aces.
Now this movie’s director, in addition to directing the intriguing Kevin Bacon film Stir of Echoes, is first and foremost a script writer, having helped Steven Spielberg on The Lost World: Jurassic Park among other noteworthy collaborations yet he does a terrific job at bringing this adaptation to life on both fronts. A fact that we see because on the writing front, David Koepp has managed to take one of master of horror Stephen King’s many short stories and transformed it into a good and quite suspenseful at points narrative that is also populated with characters who are equal parts three-dimensional and unforgettable thus giving the actors solid foundations to build off of. On the directing front, Koepp also has a clear understanding on just how exactly to make a psychological thriller work as well as it possibly can, and as such his film follows those very same instructions to the letter. Indeed this is a film which as it tells its particular story, the people engaged in watching the film should never be able to figure out just where the story is going thus giving it a delightful air of unpredictability. To make sure the movie is able to achieve this all I can say is that there is a twist to everything going on and even though I won’t tell you what it is, all I will say is that it actually makes a lot of sense when everything is finally laid out before you.
All in all Secret Window may not be a perfect movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it sure is entertaining. Indeed I think Stephen King’s greatest gift has always been finding out what every person’s greatest fear truly is, and in this movie he manages to turn that microscope on himself and other writers. Suffice it to say that what he reveals may seem familiar, but thanks to energized performances from Johnny Depp and John Turturro as well as terrific work from director/writer David Koepp this one manages to deliver the goods and work as quality rainy day material. Just make sure to enjoy some corn on the cob when you do. On a scale of 1-5 I give Secret Window a 3 out of 5.
