Secret Window on DVD

If you’ve seen certain other movies before, the ending of Secret Window is just not all that thrilling.

To be fair, had these films not previously been released (or if you haven’t seen them), Secret Window’s twist would ultimately be much more satisfying. As it stands, though, you can probably figure it out from the very first scene in the film.

Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) is a novelist who’s going through a divorce. He lives in a cozy house in the woods and spends most of his time by himself, writing. One day there’s a knock at his door, and standing on the other side is John Shooter (John Turturro), claiming Mort stole his story.

Shooter is clearly a little off, but he’s also clearly a force to be reckoned with. He tells Mort to publish Shooter’s ending or there’ll be hell to pay.

Things get considerably worse when he starts to pay hell. Shooter will resort to murder in order to get his point across, and unless he acts quickly, Mort Rainey could be the next victim.

Of course, it would be harder for Shooter to get his story published that way...

Secret Window is the kind of movie that gets going right away and keeps going until it’s over. It never wastes any time, but still manages to develop the characters, back-story, and subplots.

It’s not Johnny Depp’s best performance, but the man seems incapable of giving a bad one. Mort has a few problems, obviously, and Depp gets them across without even trying.

Writer-director David Koepp is best known as a screenwriter on films like Jurassic Park and Spider-Man, and his directing style seems to be taken mostly from more high-profile directors (though he still manages to keep some style for himself).

Supporting players Turturro, Maria Bello, Timothy Hutton and Charles S. Dutton are all good, though all but Turturro seem there only to fill in gaps.

Secret Window sets the mood early and doesn’t let up. It may seem like more of the same if you’ve already seen the movies with similar twists at which we hinted above, but it’s still a good enough movie to be worth checking out.

Columbia Tristar has put together a pretty good DVD, with excellent audio and video, and some good extras. Presented in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen, the picture has great color, detail, fleshtones, and is very clean. Sometimes the blacks are a little too dark and a few scenes are a bit soft, but otherwise the transfer is great.

Audio features great separation of effects and a haunting score by Philip Glass that fills the room nicely. Surrounds are subtle but effective, coming into play most often during quiet scenes. Birds chirping, crickets cricking, leaves rustling; the rear speakers seem to be there to lull you into a false sense of security until the action starts. The subwoofer also rumbles very well when the score is at its peak.

Writer-director Koepp provides an audio commentary in which he discusses his approaches to the project, the casting (of Depp in particular), and other aspects of the production. He may not be the most entertaining of commentators, but the track is worth a listen if you’re hardcore into this stuff. Four deleted scenes (with optional commentary) shed a little bit more light on things, but are not necessary.

There are also three featurettes (“From Book to Film,” “A Look Through It,” and “Secrets Revealed”) that feature typical cast and crew interviews interspliced with behind-the-scenes footage and clips from the film. None go in-depth enough to really be informative, but all of them are fairly well produced. Finally, some animated storyboards and a series of trailers are also included.

Secret Window, from Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment
96 minutes, anamorphic widescreen (2.40:1, 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby Digital 5.1
Starring Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Maria Bello, Timothy Hutton, Charles S. Dutton
Produced by Gavin Polone
Screenplay by David Koepp, Directed by David Koepp

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