Secret Window

Stars: Johnny Depp, Maria Bello & John Turturro

Director: David Koepp

Writers: Stephen King & David Koepp

Genre: Mystery

Running Time: 96 minutes

Year: 2004

Ok lets get to another Johnny Depp movie. I grade my movies on a school type system. I rank actors, plot and writing out of ten and then add them together, divide it by highest possible score and get the percentage then give my grade. Here is the ranking system:

A+- Now that`s how you make a movie. Hide this from everyone else.

A- Great movie. Should be bought by all movie fans.

B+- Above average movie. Should be watched by all

B- Good movie. True fans of movies should buy. Casual viewers don`t need to.

C+- Average movie. Rent dont buy.

C- Ok movie. Rent if nothing else available.

D+- Bad movie. Rentable by someone who will watch anything.

D- Horrible movie. Don`t rent and don`t watch.

F- Is this a movie. Don`t even go near this movie.

Now on to the movie. This movie was based on a Stephen King novel so it was bound to have suspense but what audiences got was a pleasant surprise to the low budget King adaptations we are all used to.

Main Stars:

Johnny Depp- Some of the best acting I`ve seen from Johnny as he played Mort Rainey a twisted disturbed killer who does not realize he`s a killer. Playing two personalities of the same person during the final scenes was impressive and showed the versatility of Johnny. Grade: 10 out of 10.

John Turturro- Played John Shooter a Mississippi farmer who turns out to be nothing more than a figment of Mort`s imagination. He manages to be menancing and scary while not raising his voice. This adds a creepy factor not seen by many actors. Is commanding and controlling through his voice which is a great thing for an actor. Grade: 8.5 out of 10

Maria Bello- Mort`s wife Amy is seen seldom but impacts the other characters when she appears. Maria`s acting is good but seems to fall short when acting alongside Johnny in almost all her scenes. The ending scene with her death is not played as good as it could be. She does not seem to convey the true surprise and fear of seeing what her husband had become. Grade: 6.5 out of 10.

Plot:

The plot of this movie is top-notch which is no surprise since Stephen King did write it. A man that lives alone and is going through a divorce begins to be harassed by a man claiming that his story was stolen. Mort denies he stole the story and this begins a chain of events including the death of his dog and the burning of his old house. Mort believes his ex wife`s boyfriend Ted is the one who hired Shooter but soon learns how wrong he is. The ending is a bit of a shocker as it turns out that Shooter is not real and that Mort`s other personality is doing the killing. This new persona takes over and Mort(Shooter) goes on to change the ending of his story by killing his wife and her boyfriend. This plot is enthralling and the shock ending adds a lot to the movie. Grade: 9 out of 10.

Writing:

The writing is done by a classic author and while I`m sure that the book is better the movie still holds up. The movie delivers some memorable line including the statement of: ``the only thing that matters is the ending and this one is perfect``. Not the best writing I`ve seen from King but still a fun bit of dialogue and some superb scenes. Grade: 7.5 out of 10.

Overall this movie is a great watch and something for any Johnny Depp and Stephen King fan to watch.

Overall Grade: 41.5 out of 50= 83% which is an A.