Secret Window

Plot synopsis:
Mort Rainey is an author who catches his wife Amy having an affair with a man named Ted. Depressed and suffering from writer's block, Mort puts off finalizing the divorce and retreats to his cabin at Tashmore Lake in upstate New York. Mort is confronted by John Shooter, who accuses him of plagiarizing his story "Sowing Season." Upon reading Shooter's manuscript, he discovers its resemblance to his own story "Secret Window," except for the ending.
The following day, Mort explains that his story was published years before Shooter's was written. Shooter challenges him to provide proof and warns against involving the police. That night, Mort finds his dog killed with a screwdriver and reports to Sheriff Dave Newsome.
Mort drives to his house in Riverdale to find a copy of the magazine where his story was published, but leaves when he sees Amy and Ted. He contacts private investigator Ken Karsch for help. Ken agrees to travel to Tashmore Lake to watch the cabin and talk to Tom Greenleaf, a resident who might have seen Shooter talking to Mort. Shooter visits Mort at the cabin and demands Mort change the ending of "Secret Window" to Shooter's version, where the protagonist kills his wife. Shooter then attacks and chokes Mort.
Amy calls Mort, saying their house was burned down. Mort travels to Riverdale and the two are questioned by a police officer. Ken calls Mort and says Tom Greenleaf denied seeing Mort. Ken suspects Tom was threatened by Shooter. They agree to confront Shooter together and arrange a meeting with Tom at a local diner.
The next morning, Mort oversleeps. Arriving at the diner, he learns that Ken and Tom didn't show up. Seeing Ted at a gas station, Mort approaches him and Ted demands Mort sign the divorce papers. The two have a confrontation and Ted breaks his own hand. Shooter calls Mort to a meeting place. When he arrives, Mort finds Ken and Tom dead inside Tom's truck and faints. When he wakes up, Shooter says they were murdered with Mort's screwdriver for interfering with his business. Mort has the magazine as proof and Shooter agrees to meet at Mort's cabin. He leaves and Mort covers up the crime by running the truck into a water-filled stone quarry.
Amy calls Mort. Afterwards, Mort picks up the magazine sent by his literary agent. He finds the package already opened and the pages containing the story cut out. Back at his cabin, Mort sees Shooter's hat. Mort wears the hat and begins speaking to himself, trying to make sense of the events. Mort realizes that Shooter is just a figment of his imagination; brought to life through Mort's dissociative identity disorder. When Mort fainted or slept, "Shooter" took over and killed the dog, Tom, Ken and burned down his house.
When Amy arrives at the cabin, she finds it in disorder, with the word "SHOOTER" carved repeatedly on the walls. Mort appears and Amy realizes that the name represents Mort's desire to "SHOOT HER." Mort, speaking with Shooter's accent, chases Amy and stabs her in the ankle. Concerned about Amy's safety, Ted arrives and is ambushed by Mort, who hits him with a shovel. Amy watches helplessly as Mort murders Ted with the shovel. Mort recites the ending of "Sowing Season" as he kills Amy as well.
Mort recovers from writer's block and experiences a mood improvement. Sheriff Newsome later stops by the cabin to warn Mort that he is the prime suspect in Amy and Ted's disappearances. Mort dismisses the threat and the Sheriff leaves. In Mort's room there is a secret window that overlooks a secret garden. It is implied that the bodies are buried in the garden, which is now a cornfield, and the police will probably never find them. Mort is seen eating corn for dinner and the screen cuts to black.

Tags: dark, psychological, mystery, murder, cult, violence, flashback, insanity, suspenseful

Review:
Throughout most of the plot, Mort tries to deal with this threatening man who won't go away, and confronts his wife and her new lover."Secret Window" is a moody, Hitchcockian thriller with a major story twist.
And Depp's performance is terrific.With hair that looks like a mop, and a delightfully slovenly appearance, Mort mopes around the cabin, talks to his nearly blind dog, and tries to placate Mr. Shooter.
If a viewer discovers the twist ahead of time, or finds it unsatisfying for any reason, the viewer likely will render a negative verdict on the entire film.My only serious complaint with the film is that, at times, the plot discards logic so as to maximize gratuitous violence, the result no doubt of the film's source material, a horror story by Stephen King.Overall, "Secret Window" is a generally fine thriller, enhanced especially by the splendid performance of Johnny Depp.
And that makes it a great film, not a good film, a great film.Johnny Depp( who was fantastic here.) gives a very eccentric and brilliant performance as the conflicted writer Mort Rainey, John Turturro does exceptionally well as the sinister and vicious Shooter and he almost outclasses Depp in this film.
But the main let down and I think the reason for this film's poor reviews from critics were the bland and very lame performances of Timothy Hutton( he won an Oscar he can do better than this.) and Maria Bello, they really lowered the caliber and class of this film and forced Depp to try harder to make them look good and make there time on screen with him good, but he succeeds and they fail.
But Turturro and Depp hold up strong.Secret Window is a very Keene and captivating psychological/horror thriller that is surefire mind boggling entertainment and out of this world fun.
All in all Secret Window was a sinister, malicious and thought provoking film that delivers a movie going experience like no other..
Then there presumably would be no movie, of course.Although we know where "Secret Window" is headed quite early on, David Koepp (writer of "Panic Room" and director of the well-made "Stir of Echoes") manages to sustain the audience's interest through a series of suspenseful camera shots.
Some are inventive, while others are merely fun to watch because we can guess where Koepp got his inspiration.Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) is a successful author who lives up north with his beloved dog and a laptop.
Fueled by rage, the fictional character murders his own wife and buries her in the "secret garden" located outside of the "secret window" of their home.It is said that art imitates life, and through a series of flashbacks we learn that Mort's novel bears an eerie similarity to his own problems -- "six months ago" his wife (Maria Bello) had an affair with Ted (Timothy Hutton).
Dutton) to find the mysterious man, who always seems to appear out of nowhere when Mort is alone.Depp's performance is the highlight of the film -- if Depp is imitating Stephen King (the author of the short story "Secret Window" is based on), he succeeds.
Just an enjoyable Friday/Saturday night matinée, and worthy of recommendation if you're not looking for anything special.I could criticize the "twist" of the movie and say that it has become one of the most overused solutions to Hollywood film thriller/mysteries of the past decade, but I won't spoil it, and let you decide for yourself whether it does the story justice..
No matter what he does, he succeeds in making a film entertaining even when it should not be.Depp is a writer named Mort Rainey, recently divorced because his wife (Maria Bello) cheated on him.
though it is a very different movie than both of those.still,i liked everything about it.it's suspenseful,thrilling and unpredictable.plus,Johnny Depp gives a masterful performance,in my opinion.the supporting cast is also great.John Turturro,Maria Bello,Timothy Hutton and Charles S.Dutton all put in great performances.i have only seen a handful of Stephen King adaptations,but probably half of those have been unimpressive to me.like most king movies,this one has its weirdness.nothing is straightforward or as it seems.but i felt this one had a bit more depth of character and story,which is refreshing.there are a few twists and turns and some red herrings to lead you in the wrong direction.i was kept guessing to the very end.
I suppose if you've never seen any Hitchcock,Polanski,Lynch,or DePalma,and are under 25,you might have found this film suspenseful and disturbing.If you know your movies,then you found this to have a hackneyed premise,formulaic direction,and "movie of the week" scripting.I think Koepp should stick to adapting novels for other,more talented directors to re-invent.Bad film.I gave it a 3 because it was filmed near my place.Believe me,I'd like more than anything for an American movie filmed here in Vancouver to be good,but only about 3 have,and hundreds have been shot here.Too bad.Oh yeah,the "shooter" connection-what a pathetic case of a novelist cannibalizing his own stuff:"Redrum" from "The Shining",now "Shoot Her".Lame.Should be "Shoot 'em"/"Shoot Him"(lol).
His character, "Mort Rainey," and the film in general are interesting right from the get-go up to the surprise ending.Speaking of guys who play wackos, John Turturro does that in here, too.
Stephen King's Secret Window, Secret Garden is one of his less-satisfying short stories, so it doesn't help that its premise is stretched beyond breaking to fill more than an hour-and-a-half of screen time.Blocked mystery writer Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) is going through a catastrophic break-up with his wife and skulking at their remote lakeside cabin when weird, threatening hayseed John Shooter (John Turturro) arrives on his porch to accuse him of plagiarism.Rainey knows he can easily prove he's no thief by producing a published copy of the tale  but every time he tries to find one he's thwarted by gruesomely mangled pets, burned houses and dead bodies.Panic Room screenwriter David Koepp tries hard and manages to sustain an atmosphere of cranky self-absorption, but the scares are largely telegraphed in advance or easy to spot coming.Likewise, Depp and Turturro are both excellent actors and always worth watching, but they can only work with what they've got and in this film that's not a lot..
Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) is a lonely successful writer is a process of divorce of his wife Amy (Maria Bello), who is living with the new mate Ted Milner (Timothy Hutton).
John Turturro, one of the most amusing actors of O Brother, Where Art Thou?, makes John Shooter all his own, and therefore considerably more frightening.Like the novella, the film's entire strength rests upon the lead character, a novelist named Morton Rainey.
Secret Window can be found in fourpast midnight, Stephen King's Novella that also contains, The langoliers, the library policeman and the sun dog.If you're a Stephen King fan or just someone who appreciates eccentric horror, this will be worth your trip to the store.At first, I wasn't at all impressed with the idea of Depp playing Mort, he's a good actor, but we all know how it is to read a novel and then see it adapted for the screen...disappointing.This will not disappoint, whether you've read it or not, its one of the few King's book turned movie that I don't wince while watching.I give it an eight for terrific acting and well written script..
Stephen king+John Torturro+Johnny Depp..A seemingly invincible combination but Secret Window finds ways of falling flat..Its a psychological thriller which was supposed to startle you by its sinister proceedings and subtle ending but not quite..40 minutes into the movie and you know where its heading and the ending too, which makes a tepid proceedings thereon..Depp is good but then I feel he is Johnny Depp in every movie he acts and needs to get out of that image..Kings story must have fascinating as a short but as a feature it falls flat on its face..The director even tries to go surreal at one point but to no avail..Missing this wont hurt actually..5/10..
It's a movie of some charm and smoothness, with Depp wearing his role like an old shoe, a nifty Philip Glass score, a good supporting cast, and the hair.
Things go a little wrong right away though, if you're looking for willing suspension of disbelief and not just a cosy couple of hours with the charismatic star, when Depp, as Mort Rainey (hard to see Johnny as a `Mort,' but he's just slumming -- chicly -- in this flick), opens the door and there is John Turturro with a very bad southern redneck accent claiming `Yew stole ma stowrie!' Mort has been separated from his wife (Maria Bello) for six months, having discovered her in a motel bed with Tim Hutton, whose Tennessee accent is much lighter and more tasteful than Turturro's.
It's not the unreeling of the plot but Depp's little bits of business -- his struggle trying not to smoke, the way he shakes the phone receiver when his wife makes him mad at the other end, a convincing nervous tick of widening the mouth  that provide most of the fun, as does Turturro's patent deadpan fakery.
Well all i can say about Secret Window was that the pace was slow and the ending was the usual Stephan King rubbish, <---- Not a fan The idea was good but the execution was lousy, it all seemed to go a little to Fight Club for me at the endHow Johnny Depp managed to backpack everyone else who had anything to do with that is a mystery, the twist was extremely well acted and well what can be expected.As a whole Secret Window sucked and Stephen King needs to do us all a favour and stop writing...
This feeling didn't go away until there were only 10 minutes left and the big "secret" was revealed.This is not a great movie and Depp's performance is really wasted.Not a movie worth watching.5/10.
The stranger wants justice and soon starts taking the matter way too far.Johnny Depp is great as Rainey, the character who is deeply angered by his wife's disloalty.
It's actually a film that shows both the good and bad sides of Johnny Depp and Stephen King adaptations to film form.Depp plays a writer who whilst going through a divorce and living out in the country in isolation, is suddenly menaced by John Turturo, who claims he is the victim of plagiarism perpetrated by Depp.
The reveal is something of a cheat given what has gone before, belief of suspension is so stretched to breaking point, you literally should be wondering just what all other characters were doing in the film?!Still, Johnny and John, resplendent with weird hats and hairdo's, give good camera time and save David Koepp's movie from stinker damnation.
This wasn't really a first grade Thriller/Mystery movie but it contributed with some scenes filled with tension and suspense.The weak aspect of the movie is the plot which wasn't very interesting in my opinion or at least it couldn't get my attention.I didn't except more and to be honest I went to see this on the theaters because my girlfriend at the time wanted to see Johnny Depp.The score is just regular but the Direction is pretty good.
Continuing my plan to watch every Johnny Depp movie in order, I come to Secret Window.This could have been your usual 'Man alone in a isolated cottage, terrorised by noises at night' bland type of thriller thy I tend to skip.
For me Secret Window is somewhere in the middle of King adaptations, and towards the top in Depp's performances.Secret Window grossed $48 million at the domestic box office to end 2004 as the 67th highest grossing movie of the year..
you have these amazing actors like Johnny Depp, Timothy Hutton, Mariah Bellow, and John Tuturro, yet there are few people who can say they've heard of Secret Window.I have recommended this movie to literally all of my friends and they fell in love with it.
Disingenuous thriller, expanded from a Stephen King short story by David Koepp, who also directed, involves a novelist with writer's block, living alone in a rural cabin, accused of plagiarism by a sinister man from Mississippi named Shooter.
The only thing holding this movie toegether is Johnny Depp, who as usual gives a great performance.
It's like expecting *you* to believe that the next review I write is actually gonna be funny."Secret Window" isn't a bad movie.
It just felt like a bit of a cop-out, and you soon realize that much of the first half of the movie was mere plot conveniences.So let's see, this is basically the Johnny Depp show.
I haven't read the King story that this is based on, but I'm a writer , so I wasn't surprised at all by the ending  -  in fact, I had pretty much figured it out from the previews - but the film was still fun to watch, especially if you like Depp, who is in virtually every scene.
Also, after that first 45 minutes you can easily (and I mean VERY easily) guess what the heck is going on..The actors are doing a fine job in a movie that seems a little too long at times and definitely could be more enjoyable if only Mr. King's book would translate well on the silver screen (but that does not happen too often)...I give it a 2 ½ * out of 5 (wait for the video..).
I feel bad for the people who are so sophisticated they can't let themselves fall into a plot; instead, they sit there thinking, 'gee, this is just like that film, or King's other story, or...'  No matter what similarities there might be in Secret Window, and I am an avid Stephen King reader and didn't feel slighted in the least, Johnny Depp's superb handling of his character makes it all fresh and new.One person complained that Depp was not likable as the slothful, badly dressed,unkempt-haired writer.
But barring that, it's a good suspenseful 90 minutes, and Depp fans will be happy with another great performance of a not-so-great script.My analysis: Steven King novellas should NOT be made into films.
It's (still) a thoroughly enjoyable (psychological) thriller, thanks to the presence of Johnny Depp (as as Mort Rainey), and solid, suspenseful direction from David Koepp.
The "Johns" perform well, and the writer's neuroses ring true.******* Secret Window (2004) David Koepp ~ Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Timothy Hutton.
A slow, plodding, predictable story about recently divorced author Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) and his encounters with a stalker, a character named Shooter (John Turturro).
But I see why they did it, just slap Johnny Depp in it and all the girls find it the best movie ever...I am definitely not a fan of the PG-13 horror/thriller films (i.e. The Ring, Darkness Falls and this) because they try to be so bad, yet try to stay under the "R" rating.
I'm sure if this film was made more like the Stephen King story it would have been better.
But the thing is, every time someone makes a movie of a Stephen King novel, it sucks (except for a couple of good ones like Carrie and Christine)Save your money or go for a real psycho thriller..
This movie is certainly not the best King adaptation, but Depp makes Secret Window a very realistic and thrilling film that should make the author proud..
"Secret Window" is a Mystery - Thriller movie in which we watch a successful writer who is living in a remote lake house with his dog and tries to write his new book.
One day a man accuses him of plagiarism and after that, he hasn't only to prove that the story he wrote was the first one but also to fight with his own demons.I liked this movie because of the interesting plot and since it was based on the novel of Stephen King, David Koepp had an easy job to do in the direction.
I didn't like the interpretation of Johnny Depp who played as Mort Rainey the successful writer because I have to admit that I expected more from him.To sum up, I have to say that "Secret Window" is a good movie to watch with an interesting plot, some good interpretations made by its cast and I am sure that you going to enjoy watching it.
Thankfully, after the first scene of the film, where Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) opens the door to find John Shooter (John Turturro) drawling his iconic "you stole mah story", one can tell that this one was made correctly.For a basic plot summary, "Secret Window" sees Rainey, a once-successful writer now struggling with the bottle and loneliness after divorcing wife Amy (Maria Bello), accused of plagiarism by Mr. Shooter, who goes on to torment the people involved in Rainey's life as Rainey himself tries to set the record straight.At its simplest common denominator, this is a great film because King is an incredible storyteller.
Turturro, however, almost completely steals the show with his "Shooter" performance, creating one of the creepier characters ever to appear on film.Overall, then, "Secret Window" is an all-time great movie for fans of mystery & psychological thrillers.
Based on a book written by Stephen King, « Secret window » is about a writer called Mort Rainey who's one day harassed by a man named John Shooter who claims that the writer stole his novel from that he has more or less a week to prove that he did not steal the novel and to find out who is this guy.
Even though the actors acting is astonishing (you probably may have recognized Johnny Depp, John Turturro and Maria Bello as the main characters) and that the main details have been respected, my problem is the end of the movie which has been completely changed.
Secret Window is a 2004 American psychological thriller film starring Johnny Depp and John Turturro.
With casting Johnny Depp as Mort Rainey and he did a good performance and John Turturro as John Shooter and he shows he can do more than just comedy films as he brought a lot evil and mystery to his character.