Product Details

• Actors: Johnny Depp, Maria Bello, John Turturro, Timothy Hutton, Charles S. Dutton
• Directors: David Koepp
• Writers: David Koepp, Stephen King
• Producers: Ezra Swerdlow, Gavin Polone
• Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, French
• Dubbed: French
• Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click .
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: June 22, 2004
• Run Time: 96 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (393 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002234LS
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,810 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Secret Window" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Johnny Depp gets high off another acting challenge in this tricky adaptation of a Stephen King yarn. Although the mood is too sinister to allow for the mischief of his Pirates of the Caribbean turn, Depp still manages to embroider his role here with plenty of quirky business. He plays a writer, depressed and nearly divorced, who's stuck in an isolated cabin (shades of The Shining) when a stranger (John Turturro) arrives, accusing him of plagiarism. Writer-director David Koepp (Stir of Echoes) does his best to make the rickety material compelling--he gets the maximum out of the cabin set, for instance--but the problems inherent in the King story eventually win out. The climactic scenes are particularly unpleasant, especially in contrast to the cleverness of Depp's performance. A Philip Glass score adds class, but this one ultimately feels like a disappointment. --Robert Horton

Product Description

Johnny Depp, Timothy Hutton, Maria Bello. A respected mystery writer is surprised to find a dangerous visitor at his remote lake house: a deranged man who claims his story has been plagiarized-and is seeking deadly revenge. 2003/color/104 min/PG-13/widescreen.

See all Editorial Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Johnny Depp and David Koepp tackle Stephen King June 24, 2004

By Lawrance M. Bernabo HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

I know that I read "Secret Window, Secret Garden," the Stephen King novella that was the basis for David Koepp's 2004 film, but I had no conscious memory of the story when I sat down to watch the movie. But either I remembered something deep down inside or it was a mistake to cast Timothy Hutton, who starred in movie version of King's "The Dark Half," in a supporting role in this film because I quickly got to the point where I was wondering if I was reading the film wrong simply because it seemed so obvious to me what was going on.

The main attraction here is Johnny Depp, because he is one actor who can be counted on never to do anything boring and whose flair for eccentricity and his devotion to odd roles is now being taken as a sign of genius. Depp plays Mort Rainey, a writer who is out in the woods in a cabin, starring at a poorly written opening paragraph that is not getting any better. It soon becomes clear that his writer's block is the result of the fact he is in divorcing proceedings with his wife, Amy (Maria Bello); the opening scene of the film shows us the heart of that trauma. Struggling to deal with these twin demons Rainey is confronted by the sudden appearance of John Shooter (John Turturro), a forbidding looking figure who accuses the writer of plagiarizing a story and demands he put things to rights.

Mort is conflicted about his marriage and has no idea what to do with the blank sheet of paper in his typewriter. He wants to be definite about having written the story "Secret Window," but apparently in his deep dark past he plagiarized a story once and given the state he was in when he wrote the story, there just might be something about Shooter's claim. Clearly Mort is at a crossroads where his future could well be in peril (Come on, this is a Stephen King story; this guy is toast).

Depp's performance is captivating. It has to be, because he has a lot of scenes where it is just him and his blind dog or the mirror on the wall. But do not neglect the work of screenwriter-director Koepp ("Panic Room"), which you are not really going to be able to appreciate until the second time you watch "Secret Window" (in between watch the featurettes where the director give some key insights into what he was trying to do with the film). I would probably have liked this film more if I had gotten so far ahead of the curve, but I am still impressed with the craftsmanship of the lead actor and the director

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Secret window has no secrets, but who cares July 31, 2004

By B. COLEY JR

Format:DVD

The secret window is a very clever movie that I enjoyed a lot. Johnny Depp once again shows why he is one of the great actors of our time. He played this role very well as a writer who is struggling with his divorce from his wife. Depps wife, played by Maria Bello, has had an affair and is now with the man with whom she had the affair. Depp begins getting a visit from a Mississippi farmer named Shooter claiming Depp stole one of his stories and changed the ending. Without giving away too much the Man begins to torment Depp so he will admit to stealing his story.

The acting in this movie was very good as well as visualization. The person that plays shooter does a very good job. The is very predictable but that should detour you from getting this movie it is still good

64 of 80 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Wait for the DVD March 13, 2004

By Katie

'Secret Window' wasn't as good as I expected, but that's just because it wasn't the film I thought it was going to be. The trailers for the movie make it look full of action, and very scary, which is slightly misleading. The film starts quite slow, but Johnny Depp manages to carry it well (with a less talented actor, the movie would probably have been 3 stars, maybe even lower). There were some frightening moments, but none that really affected me or that I remembered. In fact, the film was actually more gory than it was scary.

Johnny Depp's acting is, of course, superb which really brings the rating of the movie up. I actually enjoyed the comedic moments in the movie quite a bit more than the 'horrific' parts. I liked the plot, and the ending, but I found that I predicted the ending slightly earlier in the film than I usually do. I would probably recommend waiting and renting this film. It's much cheaper than spending what seems like a fortune nowadays to see it in theaters. Not seeing it on the big screen isn't a huge downfall either, as there isn't a lot of action.