Secret Window (2004)

A successful writer in the midst of a painful divorce is stalked at his remote lake house by a would-be scribe who accuses him of plagiarism.

Director:

David Koepp

Writers:

Stephen King (novel), David Koepp (screenplay)

Stars:

Johnny Depp, Maria Bello, John Turturro

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Johnny Depp	...	Mort Rainey
John Turturro	...	John Shooter
Maria Bello	...	Amy Rainey
Timothy Hutton	...	Ted Milner
Charles S. Dutton	...	Ken Karsch
Len Cariou	...	Sheriff Dave Newsome
Joan Heney	...	Mrs. Garvey
John Dunn-Hill	...	Tom Greenleaf (as John Dunn Hill)
Vlasta Vrana	...	Fire Chief Wickersham
Matt Holland	...	Detective Bradley
Gillian Ferrabee	...	Fran Evans
Bronwen Mantel	...	Greta Bowie
Elizabeth Marleau	...	Juliet Stoker
Kyle Allatt	...	Busboy
Richard Jutras	...	Motel Manager

Storyline

Mort Rainey is a successful writer going through a rather unfriendly divorce from his wife of ten years, Amy. Alone and bitter in his cabin, he continues to work on his writing when a stranger named John Shooter shows up on his doorstep, claiming Rainey stole his story. Mort says he can prove the story belongs to him and not Shooter, but while Mort digs around for the magazine which published the story in question years ago, things begin to happen around Shooter. Mort's dog dies, people begin to die, and his divorce proceedings with Amy continue to get uglier. It seems that Shooter has Mort over a barrel, but perhaps Mort has his own ideas on how to resolve all the problems that plague him lately.

---

Plot Keywords:

writer | cabin | investigator | stranger | writer's block | 

---

Taglines:

The most important part of a story is the ending.

---

Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence/terror, sexual content and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 March 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Secret Window, Secret Garden

Filming Locations:

Bromont Sur Le Lac, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$18,237,568, 14 March 2004, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$48,022,900

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$92,913,171

Company Credits

Production Co:

Grand Slam Productions, Columbia Pictures Corporation, Mel's Cite du Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

James Newton Howard was going to compose with Hans Zimmer, but when he was replaced, Zimmer bowed out as well. Philip Glass and Geoff Zanelli came into the project instead.

---

Goofs

When Mort shoves Ted at the gas station, the car behind Mort has the driver window down and the rear driver window up. In the next shot, however, the rear driver window is down as well.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Mort: [voiceover] Turn around. Turn around. Turn the car around and get the hell out of here. Right now. Don't go back. Do not go back there.

---

Crazy Credits

At the end of the credits Johnny Depp can be briefly heard singing "Shortnin' Bread".

---

Alternate Versions

The camera pans down to the garden, fading to black when it reaches the dirt. The alternate ending continues underground to the roots of the cornstalks, where Ted and Amy's bodies lay.

---

Connections

References Dolores Claiborne (1995)

---

Soundtracks

Chico and the Man
Written by José Feliciano

User Reviews

No Secret Here

Not exactly a memorable or path-breaking movie of its genre, 'Secret Window' does manage to be fun to an extent. The story is easily predictable and there are plenty of unintentionally funny moments (which were supposed to provide thrills). It is pretty much just another thriller but the locations (especially the landscape and nature round the lake house) are very pleasing to look at and the cinematography is quite impressive, even though it's highly overdone in the end sequence. The way the 'revelation' is displayed towards the end is hilarious and overly dramatic. Perhaps 'Secret Window' would have worked better had it been more subtle. The plot holes do not provide much advantage to the film. Johnny Depp is great at what he's given to do but the role itself suffers from poor writing. Torturro is adequate. The supporting cast are just there. They don't contribute much and the actors are just okay. If it weren't for Depp and the nice lakeside view, this would be just another mediocre thriller