Product Details

• Actors: Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Maria Bello, Timothy Hutton, Charles S. Dutton
• Directors: David Koepp
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: September 7, 2004
• Run Time: 96 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (362 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00023BKMM
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #28,501 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	Katie "cookieheadfred" (Canada) - See all my reviews

'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.

17 of 19 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 (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: Secret Window (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

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Johnny Depp's 'Secret', March 19, 2004

By	Lauren Schultz "loveduka" (dripping springs, tx United States) - See all my reviews

This past weekend, my family and I decided to catch the new Johnny Depp movie. When I first saw the trailers for Secret Window, I thought it was going to be just another insane, slaying movie without a plot and without any real acting talent in it. Boy was I wrong!!! The movie is based on the Stephan King novels, Secret Window and Secret Garden, and knowing this, I knew this movie was going to be a suspenseful thriller. Johnny Depp plays a well-known writer who lately is having an extreme case of writer's block. Now he just sits around in his worn, old bathrobe and talks to his dog, mostly because his wife left him about six months ago for another man. To add to his problems, a stranger from Mississippi comes knocking on his door one day and accuses Mort (Johnny Depp), of stealing his story, Secret Window. Mort becomes fed up with the stranger who calls himself Shooter (John Turturro), and ignores his accusations. But now strange things begin to happen; to Mort, and his family. Mort soon discovers that Shooter is the one reeking havoc on his life. Shooter demands that Mort fix the ending of Secret Window to the way it "should be" and to re-publish it under Shooter's name. He wants the new ending to be that the character kills his wife and buries her in the garden, under the attic's secret window. Mort still refuses to listen to Shooter, and the deadly "accidents" keep on happening. Eventually Mort understands the real reason why Shooter is stalking him, and why the ending of Secret Window needs to be changed. I'm not going to give away the ending because I must say it is one of the MOST unexpected and thrilling finales I have ever witnessed! The repeated saying , "the only thing that matters is the ending", is a major element throughout this movie.
What really made this movie so believable and terrifying was the acting. Johnny Depp's character makes us all jump whenever he opens a closet to discover something or wakes up from his daily nap to find terror right in front of him. And also John Turturro's "Shooter" make's us all think twice before opening the door. This horror film gets an A+ from my family and me! Secret Window will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time and will leave you breathless with an ending to 'die' for!