As deranged writer, Depp seeks his shining moment
In Secret Window, Johnny Depp doesn't go quite as far off the deep end - acting-wise, that is - as he did in his Oscar-nominated role in Pirates of the Caribbean. Still, Depp's turn as a Stephen King-like horror scribe having a bad time with a messy divorce and a menacing stalker, is, to say the least, on the eccentric side. With a shaggy head of dirty blond hair, a wardrobe that consists mainly of a torn bathrobe, and an assortment of facial tics, flailing fingers, and weird popping noises emanating from deep down in his throat, Depp plays a guy on the verge of a nervous breakdown. One can't help but think of Jack Nicholson's increasingly crazed Jack Torrance in The Shining.
In Secret Window, Johnny Depp doesn't go quite as far off the deep end - acting-wise, that is - as he did in his Oscar-nominated role in Pirates of the Caribbean. Still, Depp's turn as a Stephen King-like horror scribe having a bad time with a messy divorce and a menacing stalker, is, to say the least, on the eccentric side. With a shaggy head of dirty blond hair, a wardrobe that consists mainly of a torn bathrobe, and an assortment of facial tics, flailing fingers, and weird popping noises emanating from deep down in his throat, Depp plays a guy on the verge of a nervous breakdown. One can't help but think of Jack Nicholson's increasingly crazed Jack Torrance in The Shining.
Actually, there are several reasons why The Shining comes to mind. Secret Window is likewise based on a King-penned idea (the novella Secret Window, Secret Garden) and is also about a writer facing a huge creative impasse.
In The Shining, Nicholson's aspiring novelist is losing his mind. In Secret Window, Mort Rainey, the successful author portrayed by Depp, is in the throes of a debilitating funk brought on by the discovery of his wife (Maria Bello) in a motel room in bed with another man (Timothy Hutton). Mort spends most of his days - and nights - balled up on the couch in his handsomely rustic lakeside lodge. During a rare moment at his desk, he triumphantly deletes the paragraph of feeble prose on his laptop screen - leaving nothing but a blank electronic page.
And then a threatening bumpkin (John Turturro), sporting a wide-brimmed hat and a Southern drawl, shows up at Mort's door, accusing him of plagiarism.
Written and directed by David Koepp (he scripted the creepy Panic Room and wrote and directed the creepy Stir of Echoes), Secret Window tracks Depp's Mort as he tries to deal with the intruder in his driveway, the divorce papers his wife wants him to sign, and the writer's block represented by that empty computer screen. Like Misery, another King nightmare in which the protagonist is a King-like auteur, Secret Window pits the famous fantasist against an unrelenting "fan" - a demented admirer with an ax to grind.
In Secret Window, however, there's a twist, which Koepp pulls off with mixed results. On the plus side, the film gleefully goes over to the dark side - planting corpses across the grounds of Mort's country hideaway. It's a wicked, Hitchcockian turn of events. On the downside, there's a literal-mindedness to the story's third-act revelation that's as disappointing as it's intended to be surprising.
Still, Secret Window is bloody, bone-chilling fun. Not the least for Depp's kooky, klucky performance: a guy stewing in the juices of his own cracked psyche, and chain-snacking bags of Doritos while he's at it.
Contact movie critic Steven Rea
at 215-854-5629 or srea@phillynews.com.
Secret Window
*** (out of four stars)
Produced by Gavin Polone, directed by David Koepp, written by Koepp, based on the novella by Stephen King, photography by Fred Murphy, music by Philip Glass, distributed by Columbia Pictures.
Running time: 1 hour, 42 mins.
Mort Rainey. . . Johnny Depp
Shooter. . . John Turturro
Amy. . . Maria Bello
Ted. . . Timothy Hutton
Ken Karsch. . . Charles S. Dutton
Parent's guide: PG-13 (violence, gore, profanity, adult themes)
Playing at: area theaters