Film Reviews - Secret Window
I am becoming more and more impressed with Johnny Depp just
recently.
I thought he was excellent in Pirates of the Caribbean and he is
equally good in this horror/thriller from the pen of Stephen
King.
Now I can see some of you switching off at this point, this is a
film based on a story by Stephen King and although he is an
excellent writer his books do seem to make very poor films.
However you need to remember that King does not make a cameo
appearance in this one and that usually means it will be one of
the better efforts - if King stays out of his own movie then it
tends to work, I'm not saying that some of the poorer efforts
only failed because he was in them!
This film is based on a Stephen King short story rather than on
one his epic 500+ page novels. Once again these do seem to
translate to the big screen a lot better than some of hi more
well known pieces.
As with many of King's stories this one follows a writer.
Johnny Depp plays Mort Rainey a writer who's going through a
divorce after catching his wife in bed with another man.
Everything appears to be collapsing around Rainey's eyes, his
wife's constant request for a quick settlement with regards the
divorce and she just will not budge on this despite the feelings
that maybe Mort might like another chance and does still love
her, even if he doesn't show it.
He has now retreated to his home in the country where he is
attempting to finish his latest book, however he is suffering
from writers block and just cannot get it finished.
Soon a strange man in a big hat turns up and accusing Rainey of
plagiarism on an earlier piece. "You stole my story and ruined
the ending".
Rainey first tries to fight the man in the big hat by himself
but finds his new adversary is stronger and more cunning than he
is - soon he is seeking help from other people in his life.
And so the fight goes on, Rainey's house is mysteriously burnt
down and his ex-wife soon seems to be in danger too.
The private investigator Rainey has hired first fails to find
the mysterious John Shooter, then fails to find anyone else who
can confirm they have seen Rainey with this strange man.
The film is quite fast paced and there are a couple of moments
where you will jump.
This really is a thriller rather than the horror that King is
most famous for. You may also find other elements in the film
that seem familiar to other King stories, most notably "The Dark
Half".
It soon becomes obvious that there is going to be a twist
somewhere along the lines and this film doesn't disappoint -
some viewers will see what was going on from early on, others
like me will only see the truth at a much later point in the
film and then find everything clicks into place.
The film is well acted, the roles are well cast and the end
result is nearly one hundred enjoyable minutes. Well worth going
to see.
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