MovieChat Forums > Secret Window (2004) Discussion > Watched for the first time today.

Watched for the first time today.


I've heard about this movie for a while, and was aware that it had a reputation for, basically, crumbling in the last half an hour with a mediocre twist. Well, its reputation was well deserved. The movie's not terrible or even bad, in my opinion, I think it's a solid movie, but one that thinks it is more clever than it is and doesn't reach the heights it believes it does.

Having not read any spoilers, it was easy to telegraph the twist, and perhaps that's due to so many of these sorts of movies existing. However, the twist would've been bearable if the movie did not transform into a comedy at the end, and have Johnny Depp playing...well...Johnny Depp...when he was figuring out that he himself was Shooter. I could not take him seriously, and the intention of the movie was not to have me groaning and later laughing. Johnny Depp's character was the only one developed, there was no reason to care about his wife or her new man. They try to make you sympathise with her when she mentions the baby they never had, but it's treated in such a throwaway line that you don't care. It doesn't impact the movie, her, or Depp in any manner, and it doesn't matter if you heard about it or not. I was rooting for Depp to kill her, and thankfully he did, shame they didn't show it.

It's just such a shame that it started out strongly and could've even survived the predictable twist. I think there are an array of better actors who could've starred than Depp, because, while I don't hate him, he's just the same in every movie with his 'comedic' mannerisms, and they could've made his wife and her partner more likable so you actually have a reason to want them not to die at the end.

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I really enjoy the movie. While it wasn't one of the more memorable King works I enjoyed the short story and had read it before I saw the film in the theater. So I knew the twist and was incapable of being upset because I'd figured it out too soon. Also it came out during my last (and wildest) year of college so my buddy and I were completely hammered (at like 1pm on a weekday) when we went to see it. We probably would have enjoyed anything in our condition. But I've seen it many times over the years when I wasn't in an altered state and still enjoyed it. Even with its problems it is one of the better adaptations of King's work. Obviously not up there with The Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me, The Green Mile, The Shining, etc. But for every one of those there are usually 2-3 really terrible adaptations, usually a made-for-TV mess. I always found Depp a strange casting choice but I thought he did pretty good. I don't know, I think it's pretty good, but I don't take horror movies very seriously. Don't get me wrong, I love horror and it's probably my favorite genre, but I'm a child of the 80's when so many horror movies were silly either by accident or on purpose.

"Dan Marino should die of gonorrhea and rot in hell. Would you like a cookie son?"

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It wouldn't be so bland and boring had the writer douche been played by someone else. Turturos good performance and nice cinematography weren't enough to save the drivel, cause every scene derp was in was pathetic, it's like some delusional teen wannabe trying to act, perhaps it should stick to costume fantasy stuff

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I agree, it is a fairly predictable twist. Fortunately that really only matters for the first viewing of the movie. After that you already know the twist and can see where it is foreshadowed in the first half. Things like Chico ignoring Turturro and the guy's confusing story about Mort standing there talking to himself make a lot more sense when you realize that it is in his head.

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