Depp’s mannerisms and quirkiness add another aspect to the Mort Rainey character that you wouldn’t have seen (or ever imagined) if someone else had played the role. On paper I couldn’t see him as Mort, but on screen he pulls it off with his awful appearance and hilarious comments to himself. He is right on the edge of believability; however, in scenes where he plays a “tough guy” here, but nonetheless his tense scenes with Ted (Hutton) are hilarious! Depp makes this movie more enjoyable than it probably deserves to be. The premise here is an interesting one: scary hick comes out of nowhere threatening to do nasty things to famous author unless he admits he stole his story and changes his ending, but aside from the solid acting efforts the story kind of falls apart once its secrets are revealed. Without giving anything away there is a “surprise” or two but unfortunately I saw them coming a mile away.

Secret Window’s director and writer David Koepp is known mostly for his writing, and while I liked the storyline, and the talented cast (the supporters here do a great job as well), I didn’t like the cheesy ending and the final sequences that lead up to that ending. Apparently the film’s finale is different from the book’s. My guess is someone, ahem, should have left the book’s ending alone. On the positive, some eerie Panic Room-like camera movement (working with David Fincher has obviously rubbed off on Koepp), mixed with the odd characters, create a great mood for the film. The mood was definitely there and the film was on the right track, I just think it came apart at the end. If you are looking for a thriller, there are many better ones, but I would still recommend giving this one a try. If you’re a fan of Johnny Depp, don’t miss this one.

I saw this film at Cinemark’s Tinseltown 17 Theater on Peach Street in Erie, PA.