Secret Window

Starring:Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Maria Bello, Timothy Hutton, Charles S. Dutton, Len Cariou, Joan Heney, John Dunn-Hill, Vlasta Vrana, Matt Holland, Gillian Ferrabee, Bronwen Mantel, Elizabeth Marleau, Kyle Allatt, Richard Jutras, Kevin Woodhouse (II), Vito DeFilippo, Sarah Allen (III), Isabelle Champeau
Director: David Koepp
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

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:

YOU STOLE MY STORY........2007-06-27

This movie was on television a few months ago. My daughter who is 15 years old, watched the movie also. She loves Johnny Depp, so I got the movie for her. It's funny, and psychological to me. Poor Mort, his mind was so messed up he couldn't tell reality from fiction. The DVD also has features about the story. It explains certain scenes about the movie also deleted scenes. I really liked the man Mort made up Mr. Shooter. The beginning of the movie" You stole my story" I recommend this movie to any person who likes Johnny Depp.

Uninspired performance from Johnny.......2007-04-09

I was really disappointed in this movie, as Johnny Depp seems to sleepwalk through the entire role, and shows none of his previous greatness from other roles. And the two tone hair? Not a good look.

My dad has all of Stephen King book's but the last couple he has read, he has either struggled to get into, or found it was too similar to previous novels. I've read a couple, but watching this, I discovered every Stephen King stereotype/cliche is included. The loner eccentric writer, by himself in the middle of nowhere, the strange man - just everything about this film.

There's also a very unexpected twist, which not only ruins what was already a mess before the twist hits, but comes so abruptly, that you have to actually pause the film and work out what on earth is going on. The 'twist' has become the most overused solutions in Hollywood in thrillers etc of the past few years, and they're getting worse, and more predictable each time. For me, the twist completely ruined this film. Other reviewers disagree.

Maria Bello, the fabulous bar owner from Coyote Ugly, is seriously underused, and underdeveloped as a character, that it's a waste of time in even having her in the movie.

Major disappointment. See some of Johnny's earlier films for his best work. And if you want to see something really off the wall, watch Benny & Joon.

And on that note: "Rah! Rah! Rah!"

Quite.

And there was absolutely nothing 'thrilling' about it.

Insane People Shouldn't Write Reviews!!/Let Me.......2007-02-28

Okay that other guy who reviewed this is insane as H.

This movie is awesome. Johnny Depp gives a brilliant performance as author Mort Rainey. If you read the book then you know the story and hopefully you also know that movies won't ever be completely the same as the book. So don't be mad at the movie just get used to it.

(CAUTION - PARANOID PSYCHOSIS & MENTAL ILLNESS STEREOTYPE & STIGMA SPOILERS).......2007-02-23

This is an awesome awesome movie. I say that because it is one of the best renditions Hollywood has ever done of a person suffering from "psychotic depression." Johnny Depp (who is effected by it) lets the viewer watch this illness evolve in a slow journey down into the dark pit of insanity. The audience experiences this pure psychosis in a fashion that is authentic to the T.

The movie ingeniously shows this form of stress-induced-insanity which is so brilliantly triggered by (1) finding your wife in bed with her boyfriend, (2) the impending divorce, (3) Depp having to move out of his house and into a summer house on a lake, and (4) the inevitable financial stress on this lead character. I mean, oh my god, he must be running about 500 stress points! That's enough to trigger a psychotic attack on anyone who is predisposed to psychotic mental illness (paranoid schizophrenia, psychotic bipolar, psychotic depression, post-partum psychosis - about 8 million US people).

This is exactly the type of stress that triggered me to go into an almost identical type of psychotic episode a number of years ago while an army officer assigned to Germany. For me, the stressors were very similar to the movie - move to Europe, new platoon leader, financial difficulties, relationship stress, new language to speak, etc.

Psychosis means delusions and the movie very realistically showed the onset of the "persecutorial delusion" (where you think someone is coming to get you) by showing Turturro coming to get Johnny. And then the formation of the potentially more serious "grandiose delusion" where you think that others (real people) are conspiring against you. This is where some psychotic people will actually lash out at others, and by so doing, if they harm them, they become criminally insane. Of the 8 million of us who have this type of psychotic illness, about 50,000 of us will do this. We'll read about the next one in the newspapers next week. Almost all of these will be done by people who did not know they had a psychotic illness, were not previously diagnosed and were not medicated. And this is exactly Depp's situation in the film (I have psychotic bipolar and must take lithium for mania, and Zyprexa for psychosis daily).

Psychosis also means hallucinations. And Turturro has this part by playing an "imaginary paranoid hallucination antagonist." This is really an ingenious Hollywood technique because it helps others in our society understand psychosis by showing a visual hallucination. I believe the technique was first used in "Beautiful Mind." This phenomenon, coupled with the delusions, is what makes paranoid psychosis a horrifying experience.

The movie shows this paranoid delusional psychosis very well and Depp actually lashes out at a number of people in his psychotic episode. For me, I got these same types of delusions and similar hallucinations in Germany but never lashed out at others - therefore I got an honorable discharge as a captain, after getting out of the stressful situation and the psychosis dissipated.

I liked the above parts of the movie very well for its authenticity - it was good. However what I didn't like about the movie is that it went way over board in the number of homicides. This just adds to the mental illness stereotype and the stigma. And so more people won't go in and get help when they should be getting help and medication. It took me 23 years before I got help. Why? Because of the stigma and fear. Maybe if society didn't have this stigma, we wouldn't have these types of terrible tragedies like in this movie. My heart goes out to anyone who has been impacted by this.

Society has available the medicine and counseling which is needed to eliminate this type of tragedy. Maybe if they educated the masses in a smart way we could eliminate it. But instead we "monsterize" this illness by this type of movie.

"I'm Sure Eventually that her Death will become a Mystery even to me".......2007-02-22

Hey. Johnny Depp can act. He basically carries this movie on his back to the promised land of 4/5 star movies. Thats not to say that the other actors are bad, they are all good, no one stands out as a total [...] job that says he/she is only in it for the money. A few points on the movie:

First of all this is a horror movie and I was surprised that I was on the edge of my seat. This is why I contend that PG-13 movies can be just as scary as R rated movies. The atmosphere is great and I was, like I said, on the edge of my seat. The biggest thing that helps this movie is the Unknown. Most R rated movies show you the monster/pysho/math teacher/maniac and take away the element of the unknown(Of course I'm not saying that R rated Horror movies are not scary, I'm just saying that PG-13 movies can be scary too). In this movie you know the villain is [...] character but you still feel like there is more to it than that and of course there is.

Secondly, this movie also has some good parts in the middle of it. With a lot of these movies with a big twist at the end the middle can get boring and pointless because the ending is really all that matters. But Johnny Depp once again comes to the rescue and gives us some good humour which adds to rewatchability.

And finally the ending is, in my opinion, great. I loved the direction, I loved the acting, yea the story did get a bit uninvolving, but this is still a very good movie which all should see....

Average customer rating:

YOU STOLE MY STORY.
Uninspired performance from Johnny
Insane People Shouldn't Write Reviews!!/Let Me
(CAUTION - PARANOID PSYCHOSIS & MENTAL ILLNESS STEREOTYPE & STIGMA SPOILERS)
"I'm Sure Eventually that her Death will become a Mystery even to me"

Secret Window [Blu-ray]
Starring: Len Cariou , Johnny Depp , Charles S. Dutton , Timothy Hutton , and Ving Rhames
Director: David Koepp
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: Blu-ray

General | Blu-ray | Formats | DVD | Video

Horror | Blu-ray | Formats | DVD | Video

Mystery & Suspense | Blu-ray | Formats | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000NA22C6
Release Date: 2007-04-24

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

YOU STOLE MY STORY........2007-06-27

Uninspired performance from Johnny.......2007-04-09

Insane People Shouldn't Write Reviews!!/Let Me.......2007-02-28

(CAUTION - PARANOID PSYCHOSIS & MENTAL ILLNESS STEREOTYPE & STIGMA SPOILERS).......2007-02-23

"I'm Sure Eventually that her Death will become a Mystery even to me".......2007-02-22

Average customer rating:

Secret Window Johnny Depp

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Product Features:

Widescreen, Mastered in High Definition,
English & French Subtitles

ASIN: B000P0TZK6

Product Description

Though he knows he should be at his computer writing another book, or at least walking his dog along the sparkling lake outside his dingy cabin, successful author Mort Rainey is sleeping on his favorite sofa for up to 16 hours a day. He is in the midst of a painful divorce and everything about the breakup has turned messy and unpleasant. It has sapped his energy and siphoned away his creativity, leaving him with a monumental case of writer's block that renders him incapable of even stringing a simple sentence together. Then, when it seems as if things can't possibly get worse, a psychotic stranger named John Shooter shows up at his doorstep, accuses Rainey of plagiarizing his story and demands satisfaction. Despite Rainey's efforts to placate him, Shooter becomes increasingly insistent and hostile, intimating a twisted sort of justice that could include cold-blooded murder. Forced into a mind-bending game of cat and mouse, Rainey discovers that he has more cunningness and gritty determination than he ever imagined. In the end, he realizes that elusive Shooter may know him better than he knows himself.

Fahrenheit 9/11 & Fahrenhype 9/11 (2 DVD Set)

Average customer rating:

Watch both sides of the story

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Customer Reviews:

Watch both sides of the story.......2007-02-14

Wow, just when you think you've got the real scoop, someone else comes along and dumps a truckload of info refuting that. Fahrenheit garnered all the awards and was played in most theaters throughout America. Fahrenhype raises some serious issues with Michael Moore's style of journalism. If you're going to see the first movie, you really owe to yourself to watch the other.

Average customer rating:

YOU STOLE MY STORY.
Uninspired performance from Johnny
Insane People Shouldn't Write Reviews!!/Let Me
(CAUTION - PARANOID PSYCHOSIS & MENTAL ILLNESS STEREOTYPE & STIGMA SPOILERS)
"I'm Sure Eventually that her Death will become a Mystery even to me"

Secret Window [Region 2]
Starring: Johnny Depp , John Turturro , Maria Bello , Timothy Hutton , and Charles S. Dutton
Director: David Koepp
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Thrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video