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Secret
Window
A funny thing happened on the way to a crucifixion the other day
and we ended up taking in the latest Johnny
Depp film Secret Window even though it was not
the movie we bought a ticket intending to see. We had stopped by the
theater on the way back to the bunk house to check what was showing
and found that we'd already seen everything in residence except for the Depp
vehicle and The Passion of the Christ. Although Depp is almost always
entertaining on some level and Window would have been our choice given the two options, the show time
involved sitting around for forty five minutes so we half
heartedly bought a ticket for Passion. We have been aware, of course,
of the Mel Gibson directed film which has evidently become some sort
of social phenomenon and figured that if we
finally suffered through the movie no matter how dispassionate we
were about the experience, perhaps we could then participate, or at
least better understand, some of the discussion and fervor it has
generated. This cross became too much to bear almost immediately
however once we noticed a priest in the lobby standing on a chair
and giving a talk to a
flock. As it became evident that he was planning on attending the film with
what appeared to be his entire congregation, we realized that the only
logical thing to do was file past the soon to be sobbing
and fainting throngs into the empty theater next door and wait for
Johnny and the chance to view a Stephen
King inspired story that, the more we got to thinking about it,
started sounding a little too familiar. Afterall, the whole writer isolated in the woods and
wronged in love theme is not a new one to many on the Goliard staff.
In this case Depp is said writer, going by the name of Mort Rainey, and is driven to take
refuge in his country house after he discovers his wife in bed with
someone named Teddy, played by Timothy
Hutton. Six months later a black hatted stranger shows up at the
cabin door in the form of John
Turturro and accuses him (in a creepy southern accent) of
pilfering one of his short stories. Mort denies it and tries to ignore the
stranger, which is a bit of a chore given the fact that he's alone in a cabin in the woods and
the guy keeps showing up and becomes increasingly threatening. Now
under normal circumstance, we could all probably agree that the best
thing to do while living alone by a lake in the deep woods and being threatened with
violence, especially if you've come outside in
the night to find unspeakable things done to your poor blind dog, would be to
put your ass in your Jeep and drive far far away to a pay phone
which you could then use to alert the authorities. Actions that
would make sense in everyday life however rarely are mirrored by
those entrenched in films in this genre and Depp does not do
anything but stay put and bring in a private detective, Charles
Dutton, who he sends home the minute it gets dark and who, of
course, is promptly disposed of in an appropriately grisly manner. To this film's credit however, the reasons
for Depp's abnormal behavior at least become clear as
the movie soldiers along. As the body count begins to grow and Mort
struggles with anger issues as his divorce is about to become final,
we are treated to some humorous exchanges with Hutton which serve to
off set the implied terror of not knowing when Turturro is going to step out of a closet
or stroll out from behind a tree. We should mention also we suppose that Maria Bello plays Mort's
wife Amy and is mostly forgettable in a role that doesn't demand
much more of her than looking aggrieved and blonde, which she pulls
off without a hitch.  Secret
Window is typical Stephen King in many ways complete with the
isolated struggling author figure, the New England woods, the
hapless wife who gets blamed for not understanding moody, writer like
traits, the strange pet, the eerie window perhaps with secret
properties - all of which were lifted from the short story. The
movie's director David
Koepp tries to put his own hand on the work by utilizing
all sorts of Hitchcockian camera angles and dropping cinematic hints
all over the place as to the movie's eventual outcome. If you pay
close attention, this is one you should be able to figure out by the
time it all comes together but the problem we had was that
ridiculous nonsensical decisions and unexplained actions that defy common sense are so
typical to characters in this genre that one is never sure if they are catching
clues to a legitimate resolution or simply watching more stupid
behavior on screen and the crappy direction thereof. In the end,
Secret Window has a little of both but with Depp's solid performance,
and an ending that somewhat makes sense within the context of the
film, it isn't bad entertainment.
Especially if the alternative involves being subjected to two hours
of the flogging, flaying and nailing up of someone who, despite the
atrocities perpetuated in his name in the days since, was probably a pretty cool guy.
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