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Secret Window
2004 Starring: Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Maria Bello, Timothy Hutton, Charles Dutton and Len Cariou. Based on the novella* by: Stephen King. Screenplay and direction by: David Koepp.All Photos © 2004 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All rights reserved. |
On The Shelves Rating: 3 Chilled bottles of bubbly. |
| In 1990 I was still reading King voraciously
and when "Four Past Midnight" (90 Viking Press) came out I naturally grabbed it and ran
home—and read Secret Window, Secret Garden. It scared the hell out of me.
I put the book down and swore I’d never read any more Stephen King (an oath that
lasted but a year or so). The slow but steady loss of control of a person’s mind is I
think, the most gruesome of horrors and of course that’s exactly what this story is
about. My regular viewing companion is a gentleman named Robert Quarry. That name will ring a bell in some of your minds. He is the very same Count Yorga of vampiric fame. He too is an avid King fan and when we got to the theatre today I told him I was approaching this film with a certain amount of trepidation. Not only is it the horror of King horrors for me, but it stars Johnny Depp and you know he’s going to act the hell out of this thing. Bob didn’t know the short story so he was walking in blind. |
| Well, it was a hell of a ride. No, not a great movie, but certainly an excellent thriller in the tradition of Hitchcock, and I don’t mean The Birds (63). I mean more along the lines of Shadow Of A Doubt (43). David Koepp, who wrote one of the wittiest scripts ever for The Paper (94) (and shared writing credit with brother Stephen) has topped himself with Secret Window. His direction is excellent. I can’t find a thing to bitch about except the ending. It just seemed to slip a little bit—not as tight as the rest of the film. Then he turned around and kicked me in the ass for thinking that at the end of the credit roll. [Jessie’s Theatre Viewing Rule #1: Always stay for the credit roll.] The film entire, with the credits is less than 2 hours so chill, okay? You’ll light the smoke in due time. |
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There are a couple of changes from the
original naturally, but not so’s you’d notice really. It’s seamless and has
a couple of wonderful ‘gotchas’ as well as what I feel is a proper homage to
Peter Cushing’s Baron Frankenstein. It’s the sound… that really woogie
sound…. by the lake in the truck near the end of the film. You’ll know it when
you hear it……. Brrrrrrr. Depp is timeless, one of the greats and no mistake. He just keeps getting better. Quarry said it best on the way home today and I told him I was going to quote him on it and give him a shout out. “His performances are like fine needlework, petit point or Victorian embroidery.” I wish I’d said that. You’re correct Bob, and he never drops a stitch. |
| Timothy Hutton has a couple of wonderfully
comic turns in this film and John Turturro—masterful John Turturro—is simply
perfect as Shooter. Maria Bello as Amy has been around for more than a decade now and is
no doubt best known for her "ER" character Dr. Anna Del Amico [97-98 season]. I’m very
glad she’s moved on to the big screen. She was just charming in this film and I can
hardly wait to finally attend The Cooler (03) so I can see what she did with that. Len
Cariou is as always, right on the money and Charles Dutton lends his classy work to the
ensemble with his usual aplomb. Go see it. It’s a goody and I can hardly wait for the DVD to come out so I can add it to my ever-increasing library of goodies. —Jessie Lilley * The screen credits note this as a novella, but King’s website says it’s a short story but the Viking Press blurb notes it as a novella…… [sigh]. |
This review first appeared in On The Shelves — out there in the ether...... |
