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Secret Window
Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment


6.1

based on 34 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 48 votes
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FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for violence/terror, sexual content and language

Starring Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Maria Bello, Charles S. Dutton, Timothy Hutton, Len Cariou, and Gillian Ferrabee

Mort Rainey is a best selling author whose imagination thrills his reader to the core. But one of his stories holds a secret that comes to life. A secret that even he can't imagine. (Sony Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Drama \| Horror \| Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	David Koepp Stephen King (novella Four Past Midnight: Secret Window, Secret Garden)
DIRECTED BY:	David Koepp
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: June 22, 2004 Video: June 22, 2004 Theatrical: March 12, 2004
RUNNING TIME:	106 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Bloody, bone-chilling fun.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Depp gives a smart, subtle performance, and Turturro is terrific as a foe who's both exactly what he seems and exactly the opposite. Koepp's makes his (literally) corny tricks seemfresh and surprising.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

It's a taught, entertaining motion picture that serves its purpose.

USA Today Claudia Puig

A potent psychological thriller bolstered by strong performances and an offbeat sense of humor. What renders it an unsettling cut above many thrillers is the casting of Johnny Depp in the lead.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The story is more entertaining as it rolls along than it is when it gets to the finish line. But at least King uses his imagination right up to the end, and spares us the obligatory violent showdown that a lesser storyteller would have settled for.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Even if a certain glibness in the plotting deflates its impact somewhat at the finish, it remains an eerie, playful thriller and an all-around entertaining time at the movies.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

A jokey, junky potboiler.

Variety David Rooney

The resourceful actor (Depp) invigorates Secret Window with a playful personality and wryly humorous aplomb not front-and-center in the script, making the psycho-suspenser more compelling than it might otherwise have been.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

"The only thing that matters is the ending," says Rainey toward the end of the movie. He's talking about the writers' craft. Koepp, despite the best efforts of his cast, sends this comment soaring into the ether of irony.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Secret Window leaves you unsatisfied and frustrated. Depp's performance both makes the film and undercuts it. He's a poet caught in a machine.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

A poet is not a pirate (except in his dreams), and, minus the gold in his teeth and kohl over his eyes and trinkets in his tresses, Depp is handicapped here -- for all his deft brushwork, he can only do so much with a flat character on a small canvas.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Koepp, an often ingenious writer, should have followed King's example and covered his tracks better. If he had, Secret Window might have been as good as "Stir of Echoes," and not simply a mini "Misery" and a not-quite "Shining."

New York Post Megan Lehmann

The film is ultimately a one-man show -- and when that man is the singularly crafty Depp, it's hard to look away.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

The movie telegraphs its intentions too early and relies too much on a single actor, Johnny Depp, to achieve its emotional force.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Doesn't keep any secrets but an open one: that Johnny Depp is on a roll, and actor's block is definitely not his problem.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

This Window ultimately feels like one most of us have climbed through before.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The picture isn't nearly enough on any level: not scary, not suspenseful, not complex, not atmospheric.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

It's a slight story to begin with, and the movie teeters on camp with its jokey filler material -- the typical King stuff including colorful locals, small puns and asides and a faint whiff of the supernatural.

Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis

Unsteadily pitched between horror and comedy, Secret Window turns out to be neither terribly scary nor especially funny.

Premiere Peter Debruge

Secret Window's premise is certainly new, even if King appears to be plagiarizing themes from himself.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Instead of taking us someplace we fear to go, Secret Window leads us to a place we've already been -- we know it so well, we could write the book on it ourselves.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Secret Window has an ending that lets one of our most reliably interesting actors pull out all the stops. But getting there from a good beginning followed by a slow, repetitive middle is a test of resourcefulness for him and a test of patience for us.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

In the end Secret Window asks too much, demands allegiance when only incredulity can be mustered.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

The film never kicks in as a character study or a star vehicle.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Secret Window is almost worth seeing for his characteristically assured performance alone, but Koepp sabotages Depp and his surroundings with an ending so atrocious, it callously betrays everything that came before it.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The movie's "shock" payoff still feels like a cheap trick.

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

This is fun for a while, but the ending is so ridiculous, and obvious, as to sully all the small joys that come before it.

Village Voice Dennis Lim

"The only thing that matters is the ending," Mort declares in the closing seconds, just as the director is serving up a colossal (and literally corny) stinker. But for Depp, it's yet another daunting mission accomplished with wit and ingenuity.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

The tricky plot has an interesting payoff, but it's a slow and bumpy ride getting there, and Koepp fares better with special effects than with generating either suspense or interest in the characters.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

You can boost mediocrity a little, but you cannot raise it from the dead.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

The ultimate test of one's tolerance for King's self-aggrandizing postulations about writer's block, obsessive fans and the potentially frightening manifestations of the writer's id...It's just plain lousy.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

This movie is a suspense thriller whose only suspense comes from an audience wondering if the picture will hit its promised 97-minute running time.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

The film itself is an effective enough metaphor for out-of-control bullshit that frankly, Koepp aside, was part and parcel of King’s novella from page 1.

Film Threat Kevin Carr

The worst sin of omission in Secret Window is the removal of the fact that Rainey had actually plagiarized in the past. In the story, this is critical because it is the source of Rainey’s guilt -– and arguably the reason for his success.

The average user rating for this movie is 6.1 (out of 10) based on 48 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

gave it a0:
stupid. pintless. horrible ending.

Kevin B. gave it a9:
It has been a very long time where a "scarey" movie, actually scared me. So many movies out there like the grudge and ghost ship...give me a break! the only scarey part of the horror movies of today is that people waste their money to go see it. This movie truly surprised me. I heard so many bad things about it and i just happened to see it on tv without knowing what it was until it was too late(i was interested in it by then) What makes this so bad in peoples eyes today is because most people are full of crap when it comes to scarey movies. "like, omg! the ring was so TOTALLY scarey" these are the people who dont understand what makes a good movie

James gave it a0:
This movie sucks! It wasn't scary, the acting was bad, and it was a crap storyline!

Matt S. gave it a10:
How can you not like this film? I have scanned through a few of the reviews and they are all like, a bit of the plot is missed out which doesn't explain this... and whatever, but can't you just watch a film and not care about how it works, just enjoy it? I found this one of the most disturbing but also one of the best films I have seen in a long time. I didn't have to concentrate on it to understand it, the cinemotography is good, and the acting is just excellent, especially from Johnny Depp.

Dan C. gave it a5:
Not very satisfying. Johnny Depp is good in the lead role, but the whole enterprise seemed flat to me. Turturro was effectively menacing, but I didn't think the director maintained the tension. The ending seemed anti-climactic to say the least.

Mike H. gave it a 2:
Another Rod Serling Copy cat type plot. Rod Serling was the master! Many writers want to be a Twilight Zone creator! Not very original.

Kelsey C. gave it a 10:
This movie is the best movie since Radio. Johnny Depp had an outstanding preformence. I loved every second of it. Every time you sit down to watch it, it gets better and better. It will keep you guessing until the end....and you will still be wrong...

Secret Window Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment

Secret Window
Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment