Secret Window (2004)

Director: David Koepp

Cast: Johnny Depp as Mort Rainey, John Turturro as John Shooter, Maria Bello as Amy Rainey, Timothy Hutton as Ted Milner, Charles S. Dutton as Ken Karsch, Len Cariou as Sheriff Dave Newsome, Joan Heney as Mrs. Garvey, John Dunn-Hill as Tom Greenleaf (as John Dunn Hill), Vlasta Vrana as Fire Chief Wickersham, Matt Holland as Detective Bradley, Gillian Ferrabee as Fran Evans, Bronwen Mantel as Greta Bowie, Elizabeth Marleau as Juliet Stoker, Kyle Allatt as Busboy, Richard Jutras as Motel Manager

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.