Plagiarism is an issue every journalist, poet and author always keeps in the back of his or her mind. For Mort Rainey it unexpectedly begins to plague his life.
Johhny Depp plays Rainey, a suspense novelist, in the new film, "Secret Window," which was based on Stephen King's novella "Secret Window, Secret Garden," and adapted for the screen by director David Koepp.
The plot concerns Rainey, who becomes suddenly involved in his own life-threatening tale of insanity, and it's just as clich?(c) as the tagline: "Some windows should never be opened."
The same story was told in 2003 with the independent film, "Swimming Pool," except that time the tagline was, "On the surface, all is calm." Each film involved a writer living the trials they would usually only write about.
In this tale, the man responsible for Rainey's death threats is John Shooter (played by John Turturro). He's a Mississippi man who accuses the author of stealing his story, and he won't let Rainey rest until he's proven he wrote the story before him, or he changes the ending.
Turturro, who has given great performances before ("O, Brother Where Art Thou?" "The Big Lebowski," "Quiz Show"), isn't believable as the southern psychopath he plays. His drawl is more comical than frightening and he's just not very threatening.
Depp does a sufficient job of portraying a lazy, recluse writer, and he's able to keep the story interesting enough to enjoy it. Some of the most entertaining moments of the film come as he talks to his only companion, which happens to be his dog.
Even though the film had four casting directors, they still managed to get it all wrong. Turturro and Depp are more victims to their misdirection than poor acting.
The role the casting directors nailed, however, was Timothy Hutton's. He plays Ted, the annoying new love interest of Rainey's ex-wife, Amy (Maria Bello).
Hutton pulls it off, as he's easy to hate and gets the audience wanting him to be killed off somewhere before the end of the suspense thriller.
Bello seems completely different in appearance and acting from her great performance in last year's "The Cooler." Her fake tears and pseudo-sympathy for her ex-husband, Rainey, are unbelievable and most lines she delivers seem painful and forced.
There is an upside to the film though.
The scenery is absolutely beautiful. Koepp picks a remote location buried in the woods of Connecticut, to situate Rainey in his lonely get-away home upon a calm blue lake.
It's clear from the opening shots that he doesn't have any neighbors close by, which adds nicely to the feeling of desperation and helplessness - key factors in a suspense film.
The film also begins in cold blistery Northeast winter and concludes in sunny, serene summer, which is wonderfully fitting for the story line and setting of the tale.
Cinematographer Fred Murphy, who also shot the thriller "Freddy vs. Jason", does a nice bit of camera work. His low-angle shots suffocate the audience in theater, and his swirling crane shots disorient as well as nauseate with fear.
The key to any suspense film is of course the ending. King still has the touch of evil in this film, as he takes the story in a direction not completely expected.
The last 20 minutes of the film is when Depp really shines, as the story comes to its climax. Without him, the film would probably be a miserable failure.
Fortunately Koepp had an actor like Depp, a great novelist like King and a cinematographer like Murphy to help him create this film. Otherwise the "Secret Window" probably would have cracked and fallen to pieces.
