Please be advised that that the following may give away the premise behind "Secret Window."

Johnny Depp is the main attraction in "Secret Window." He’s Mort Rainey, a writer suffering from writer’s block, a bruised ego, and a wounded heart. His wife has left him for another man. To make matters worse, a weird guy named John Shooter, in the guise of John Torturro, claims Rainey has plagiarized one of his stories. He wants Rainey to set things right -: if not by giving him credit for the story, then by changing the end of the story - or else.

The ‘or-elses’ provide the thriller aspects of "Secret Window" with bodies piling up one after the other. But it’s Depp take on Rainey’s paranoia that is the meat and potatoes of Stephen King’s story, if not its heart and soul. He adds so much more to Rainey’s character than could possibly fit on the printed page with a series of tics and mannerisms one might associate with tourette syndrome. Maria Bello is adequate as his exasperated wife, Amy and Timothy Hutton is serviceable as her future husband, Ted. Hutton’s presence in "Secret Window" should be an indicator for the ‘surprise’ ending, having appeared in "The Dark Side" - another Stephen King adaptation with a similar premise at its core. Charles Dutton is a welcome presence as private investigator, Ken Karsch, who does some sleuthing for Rainey.

"Secret Window" is not a bad movie, but there is nothing exceptional about it. It’s a tale of jealousy, rage, madness, and art. Everything you might expect from a made-for-TV movie, but not from writer/director David Koepp who helped pen such classics as "Spider Man," "Jurassic Park," and "Carlito’s Way" among others.

Copyright 2004

"Apartment Zero" (1988) - Colin Firth is a film afficionado in Buenos Aires who takes in a mysterious boarder, American Hart Bochner, who begins to have an adverse effect on every aspect of his life. The story has shadings of "The Third Man" and "The Quiet American."

"Bad Influence" (1990) - Rob Lowe is a low life who helps James Spader out of a jam. Spader offers his friendship in return much to his regret. Lowe starts to control every aspect of his life (sound familiar?) with dire consequences. Better than it sounds and a change of pace for Lowe at the time.

"A Stir of Echoes" (1999) - Kevin Bacon is a working class stiff who begins to have nightmares - or visions? - after he lets himself be hypnotized for kicks at a party. Ghosts, murder, and mayhem all figure in his quest for a cure for his newly acquired curse, but only the truth will set him free. Koepp also directed.