"Secret Window" review

Secret Window (2004)

Directed by David Koepp
Writing credits David Koepp

Johnny Depp.... Mort Rainey
John Turturro.... John Shooter
Maria Bello.... Amy Rainey
Timothy Hutton.... Ted Milner
Charles S. Dutton.... Ken Karsch

While my dad and I were driving to the theater, he asked me what was the buzz on "Secret Window". I told him that we were going to watch Johnny Depp get terrorized by a guy with a big hat. As you know, any movie with a bad guy in a big hat has got to be good. It's a movie law. He agreed with my assessment and was ready to see the movie.

"Secret Window" is not a great big hat movie but it was an OK exercise in big hat wearing terror. Depp is suffering writer's block. He's in Misery. A guy in a big hat shows up to tell him he has plagiarized his story. "You stole my story. It ain't finished yet." Depp reaches out to a bunch of people to help him with his big hat problem. In the end, Depp will have to make a final stand against the hat. You'll have to see the movie to figure out who wins.

I've often thought the hat makes the man. "Secret Window" proves that point. In reading up on this movie, I see it was originally a short story. That makes a lot of sense because "Secret Window" felt like it should have been a "Tales from the Darkside" episode but was stretched out to movie length. Thankfully, Johnny Depp once again proves he's the man by saving "Secret Window" from big hat mediocrity.

SCORE: 2.5 out of 4 big hat attacks