La ventana secreta

Secret Window's tag line – "Some windows should never be opened" – is so snarkily appropriate in its unintentional damning of this ridiculously overwrought psychothriller that it's a wonder some smart underling at Columbia hasn't leapfrogged up the studio ladder by pointing it out to the powers that be. Their error is the critics' gain, though, and even the presence of Johnny Depp, as novelist Mort Rainey, can't save this film from its own unintended melodramatics. Secret Window lacks a B-movie sucker punch, and by the final reel it degenerates into a hackneyed mishmash of obvious revelations and cheap, ineffective horror theatrics despite Depp's mangy fun. There's no car crash in this one as in his current television project Kingdom Hospital and much of his recent writing – King penned it before that wayward van almost took him out of the running forever – but the film itself is an effective enough metaphor for out-of-control bs that frankly was part and parcel of King's novella from page one.

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)

Johnny Depp plays Mort Rainey, a writer with wife problems. Mort secludes himself in a wilderness cabin to write. Soon, he gets a visit from a strange Southern mountain man named John Shooter (John Turturro). Throughout most of the plot, Mort tries to deal with this threatening man who won't go away, and confronts his wife and her new lover.

"Secret Window" is a moody, Hitchcockian thriller with a major story twist. Pacing is slow. There's lots of waiting for something to happen, which enhances a sense of foreboding. And Depp's performance is terrific.

With hair that looks like a mop, and a delightfully slovenly appearance, Mort mopes around the cabin, talks to his nearly blind dog, and tries to placate Mr. Shooter. He also spends a lot of time on the phone, mostly with Shooter and with his disconsolate wife.

Casting and acting are fine. Production design is great; love that cabin where Mort lives. Camera work, lighting, special effects, CGI, and editing are all quite good.

Although I liked the film's twist, some viewers will be disappointed with it, perhaps because the underlying idea is not terribly original. The risk for the director is that the entire story hinges on this one twist. If a viewer discovers the twist ahead of time, or finds it unsatisfying for any reason, the viewer likely will render a negative verdict on the entire film.

My only serious complaint with the film is that, at times, the plot discards logic so as to maximize gratuitous violence, the result no doubt of the film's source material, a horror story by Stephen King.

Overall, "Secret Window" is a generally fine thriller, enhanced especially by the splendid performance of Johnny Depp. Just be aware that one's reaction to this film likely will depend on one's perception of the story's major plot twist.

Mort Rainey, a successful writer received an unwanted visitor one day, Mr Shooter, who accuses him of plagiarism, Mort's life spirals out if control.

I have to be honest, I absolutely loved it, I'd class it as a real classic, it had a touch of everything, horror, thriller, psychological drama, I thought it was great.

'The only thing that matters is the ending.' Never a truer word has been spoken, it built and built, it developed pace and momentum, and peaked with a tremendous conclusion, the best bit of the film.

Johnny Depp, what can you say, absolutely incredible here, he's outstanding.

I loved it, 9/10.

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