Movie Review: Secret Window

I saw the latest Stephen King-based movie, Secret Window, over the weekend on DVD. Every review I've read on the film was negative. I liked the movie. Not great, but I would give it 2 1/2 stars.

The film stars Johnny Depp as an author, Mort Rainey, holed up in his woodland home, and John Turturro as a mysterious stranger, John Shooter. Six months previous to the story, Mort found his lovely wife in bed with another man. Now they are divorced, or almost so, since he hasn't signed the papers. As the story proper begins, Shooter shows up at Rainey's door abruptly accusing Rainey of stealing his unpublished story some years before. Shooter claims to have written his story in 1997, but Rainey can prove he wrote it in 1994 by finding an Ellery Queen magazine with the original publication. Rainey tries to retrieve the issue, but mysterious events continue to block his attempts.

The movie is not a horror movie, and there are few scares. I wouldn't even call it a thriller. It is a psychological film, in the same category as the vastly superior Fight Club, and the comparable in quality Identity. Acting is solid all around, as is the direction. Like I said, not an outstanding film, but nice entertainment.