Review of Secret Window (2004) by Nia S — 31 Mar 2012

Secrets don't make friends... They kill them.

It's a good Hitchcockian tale, from the mind of Stephen King. With a touch of Psycho, and a little Strangers on a Train thrown in for good measure, it still retains a decent amount of originality...

The Story: While undergoing a divorce, a reclusive writers world is turned upside down when he is accused of plagiarism by a strange man. Standard Stephen King stuff here, isolation and insanity. It moves along at a fair pace, sometimes moving a little slow and sometimes moving faster it's kind of hit or miss with the speed of the film. But slow or speedy, t's an intriguing mystery movie with memorable characters. The only way to escape the man accusing him, is to rewrite the ending of the his story. This is where it bugs me...I'm not going to spoil anything but, I am going to say this...The ending of the movie sucked!...They couldn't seem to figure out how they wanted to finish it off, they would make you think one thing and then turn around and do something else, there's a difference between a good twist ending, and a jumbled chaotic ending. It could have had the perfect end to a great movie had they finished off five minutes sooner...Ironic, how a film all about good endings can have such a let down for a finish... But don't let the thought of an upsetting ending prevent you from seeing this movie.

The Cast: Johnny Depp, John Turturro...These two work perfectly together to make this film great. The way they play off each other is superb. Johnny Depp plays reclusive eccentric with ease and finess. He plays a character that has the perfect sense of humour often times being the source of comic relief in the film. A solid connection to the character, and great acting make him believable. as for Jon Turturro, I've only seen him in one or two other films, and I've never really been too big of a fan of his, but I really enjoyed his performance here. Playing as the violent southern gentleman, he makes for a wickedly sinister character. He adds a little humour here and there, but not much, as his character is the more serious one. The way he recites the lines is so unsettling, like the calm before a storm, you just don't know what to expect to come from him.

One to Five Scale: 3.

I wanted so bad to give this a four, but I can't get past the ending. I sat through 100 minutes for what they ended up giving me? What up with that? But, good acting, good characters, and a good story make this one a rental and even a possible purchase...Watch this and tell me what you thought of the end, let me know if it's just me, or if you agree.

Tyler.