Fenêtre secrète

"Secret Window" is another one of those eerie thrillers where danger lurks within the shadows. We can almost feel it, and so can the hero, as he walks through his house, armed with a weapon, ready to defend himself at all costs. He hears a noise from somewhere behind him, spins around, and suddenly realizes it was just his imagination. He sighs, puts down the weapon, turns around, and BOO! There's the bad guy, who has somehow managed to enter the locked home and avoid being detected. What if, I wonder, one of these times, the bad guy was seen as he entered? What if the Fisherman from "I Know What You Did Last Summer" had been spotted, and confronted, by one of the teenagers? What if Norman Bates' "Mother" had been exposed from the start? Then there presumably would be no movie, of course.

Although we know where "Secret Window" is headed quite early on, David Koepp (writer of "Panic Room" and director of the well-made "Stir of Echoes") manages to sustain the audience's interest through a series of suspenseful camera shots. Some are inventive, while others are merely fun to watch because we can guess where Koepp got his inspiration.

Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) is a successful author who lives up north with his beloved dog and a laptop. He apparently abandons his social life, never gets a haircut, and wears quite silly-looking glasses. He has a sarcastic personality and presumably does not get along very well with the local residents, who generally keep to themselves anyway.

Mort's life is changed forever when a strange man named John Shooter (John Turturro) shows up at his doorstep claiming that Mort has "stolen" his story. Mort is handed a dirty manuscript. Within the pages are passages literally identical to those from Mort's own book, "Secret Window," published in 1994, three years before John claims he wrote his. "Secret Window," the novel, is about a man whose wife cheats on him. Fueled by rage, the fictional character murders his own wife and buries her in the "secret garden" located outside of the "secret window" of their home.

It is said that art imitates life, and through a series of flashbacks we learn that Mort's novel bears an eerie similarity to his own problems -- "six months ago" his wife (Maria Bello) had an affair with Ted (Timothy Hutton). Mort assumes that John Shooter has some sort of connection to his past, and hires a detective (Charles S. Dutton) to find the mysterious man, who always seems to appear out of nowhere when Mort is alone.

Depp's performance is the highlight of the film -- if Depp is imitating Stephen King (the author of the short story "Secret Window" is based on), he succeeds. Barely recognizable hidden underneath a layer of geeky clothing and a generally disheveled appearance, Depp once again proves that he can tackle any sort of role as an actor -- from a scared teenager who has to stay up ("A Nightmare on Elm Street") to a Hunter S. Thompson lookalike ("Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas").

Koepp, who wrote the screenplay for the film, realizes that the key to the story is Depp's performance wisely allows his primary actor to let loose. Meanwhile the co-stars all deliver fine, convincing performances and although the grand finale is a bit of a let-down, and terribly predictable, the movie's style is interesting. "Secret Window" is better than most in its genre, although by no means is it a masterpiece of any sort. Just an enjoyable Friday/Saturday night matinée, and worthy of recommendation if you're not looking for anything special.

I could criticize the "twist" of the movie and say that it has become one of the most overused solutions to Hollywood film thriller/mysteries of the past decade, but I won't spoil it, and let you decide for yourself whether it does the story justice.

Not exactly a memorable or path-breaking movie of its genre, 'Secret Window' does manage to be fun to an extent. The story is easily predictable and there are plenty of unintentionally funny moments (which were supposed to provide thrills). It is pretty much just another thriller but the locations (especially the landscape and nature round the lake house) are very pleasing to look at and the cinematography is quite impressive, even though it's highly overdone in the end sequence. The way the 'revelation' is displayed towards the end is hilarious and overly dramatic. Perhaps 'Secret Window' would have worked better had it been more subtle. The plot holes do not provide much advantage to the film. Johnny Depp is great at what he's given to do but the role itself suffers from poor writing. Torturro is adequate. The supporting cast are just there. They don't contribute much and the actors are just okay. If it weren't for Depp and the nice lakeside view, this would be just another mediocre thriller

This is one of the few movies that you will either love or hate. There is no middle ground. The people that have slammed this movie must not have understood a lot of the symbolism. Seriously, some of it is obvious but a lot of it would require you listen to the Director's commentary to catch.

While aspects of the story are predictable, you will never see the last couple minutes coming. Koepp made a film that HE believed in, with a finale that may not sit well with the general public. For this, I applaud him.

As I've noted on the message board, Koepp borrowed a page from Hitchcock's book and relied on our imagination to fill in the gaps during the violent sequences. Some of it is shown but certainly not all. Without question this film tested the limits of the PG-13 rating but Koepp did not take the easy way out and turn this film into an R-rated gore fest. This film proves that PG-13 films can be gritty and poignant.

Depp's performance is amazing, as can be expected. The cinematography is awesome. Watch this film with an open mind, taking to heart each character's motivations.

If you've already seen the film I would strongly suggest you watch the Featurettes and listen to the Director's commentary on the DVD. You may find this to be quite an eye opener.

My Score: 8/10 stars

Director David Koepp has written some nice screenplays ('Carlito's Way', 'Panic Room') and I liked his 'Stir of Echoes'. Here he comes with a thriller based on a Stephen King novel that is not very good but has some qualities. The best quality here is another terrific performance from Johnny Depp. No matter what he does, he succeeds in making a film entertaining even when it should not be.

Depp is a writer named Mort Rainey, recently divorced because his wife (Maria Bello) cheated on him. Now he lives in a cottage near a lake, alone, writing his new book. One day a man rings his bell telling Rainey he has stolen one of his stories. Rainy is unaware of this fact and he can prove it; a magazine printed his short story a couple of years before the man, who is named John Shooter (John Turturro), claims he has written his version. Shooter wants to see this magazine before he believes it, causing quite some trouble in the meanwhile.

This is a film with a secret, something we understand pretty soon. I will not reveal it, but most people will come up with an idea and find out they are right. Even though it has a secret it plays too much like a lot of thrillers we have already seen. Interesting performances (Bello is pretty good as the wive too) and some dry humor does not change that. There is one other thing I liked. Koepp payed some good attention to what David Fincher did with his 'Panic Room' screenplay, especially with the camera. There are some great shots here and together with Depp they make sure 'Secret Window' is not wasted.

Secret window is a quite entertaining movie with an intrigue story line. From the very beginning, you feel engaged and wonder what will happen next. However, the ending is very very cliché and a big let down. A promising suspense movie that blows it at the finale. I wish they worked out the ending and come up with a better one. If you noticed, the lead actress here was playing in the "pay back". There she was the lover of the hero who was betrayed by his wife. Here she plays the betrayer. A twist of faith. If nothing, Secret Window is worth watching just for Depp. Also I like Charless Dutton as always, although his role here is limited. (I don't know what is with this guy, he is so sympathetic and fills every role he is in)