When it comes to the decade that had the best movie adaptations of Stephan King's work, it's a debate between the 1980's, 1990's, and the 2010's. The weakest decade of Stephan King movie adaptations has got to be the 2000's though. While there are some decent films such as "The Mist" or "1408", they aren't going to be recognized as one of King's best film adaptations anytime soon. One film that came out that decade and has been one of the more polarizing adaptations when it comes to quality is the 2004 film, "Secret Window", based on King's novella of the same name. Despite its mixed reputation, I might consider it as the best film of his works during that rather dry decade. The story follows Mort Rainey, an acclaimed writer who is in the process of finalizing a divorce between him and his estranged wife. As he's in the middle of a writer's block and a stage of depression, he is confronted by a man named John Shooter. Shooter is furious over Mort for seemingly plagiarizing his work as well as changing the ending, despite Mort constantly claiming that he never heard or read anything resembling Shooter's story. As he argues to bring proof that he came up with the story first, Shooter starts to stalk and threaten Mort to the point where Mort is afraid of Shooter killing him. The story has a great hook for a thriller as the viewer hopes to learn what is really going on and if Mort actually plagiarized Shooter's work or not, which spirals to anxiety and death as the film progresses. On top of that, Mort also has to deal with finalizing the divorce papers for his wife and her boyfriend, which he is constantly avoiding out of spite. I will talk about the twist ending later, but for the general story as a whole, it's pretty solid, but I do feel that there's a bit too much attention with the divorce and it does drag the story a bit at times as it's not as engaging between the dispute of Mort and Shooter. The tone of the film is perfect Stephan King in my opinion with shades of nail-biting suspense and odd doses of humour and charm. It might not have worked if Johnny Depp wasn't in the film, but because Depp is front and centre, the tone perfectly works in switching from serious drama and thriller to a bit of an oddball comedy.
Johnny Depp just came off from his Oscar-nominated role as Jack Sparrow, so you can tell that the filmmakers just wanted Depp to just be as quirky as possible while also being grounded in ways. Mort is honestly one of Depp's better roles and one that I feel only he can really play. Not only does he look and behave the part of an insecure, depressed writer, but Depp gives him so much personality and charm that the viewer not only roots for, but sides with him even if he does some questionable things. John Turturro plays John Shooter, the southern writer with a grudge against Mort, who might be Turturro's most intimidating role he has done so far in his career. I normally see Turturro as the comedic, zany actor, but his performance as Shooter really works in not only scaring Mort, but give the viewer a sense of anxiety. The character might be a bit over-the-top in his quest for revenge, but as the film progresses, not only do you not care, but you understand his role in Mort's arc as a whole. Maria Bello plays Amy Rainey, Mort's estranged wife who tries to fake sympathizing her husband in order for him to finish the divorce papers. Amy, by design, isn't meant to be a likeable character. While the film offers ideas as to why she cheated on Mort, her tendency to never admit her faults or actions really makes her a despicable character and one who ultimately deserves her fate. The side characters include Timothy Hutton's Ted Milner, Amy's boyfriend who despises Mort, Len Cariou's Sheriff Newsome, the local sheriff who appears not very helpful to Mort due to his age and his assumption of Shooter's crimes, and Charles S. Dutton's Ken Karsch, a private investigator that Mort hires in order to check his house and capture Shooter. The cast as a whole are very good in their performances, though some might be a bit too unlikeable or over-the-top for some viewers. As for me, it's really Depp and Turturro's performances that steal their show for their right amount of zaniness as well as taking their characters very serious to create an electrifying rival dynamic.
David Koepp is far well known for his writing credits on beloved films rather than his directorial efforts. However, not only does Koepp have a good screenplay to attach the film, but he also manages to direct perhaps the best film of his career. A good example is how he creates a mood and atmosphere that we have all seen before, but portrayed a bit differently. You'd think that a film like this will mostly take place at night as it makes the cabin and the surrounding woods more scary in order to give off some chilling suspense. However, Koepp decides to go for more daytime shots to allows more warm lighting and colours in the environment. Not only does it feel far less cliche for the genre, but it honestly makes sense for the story as we later find out it's all a part of Mort's mind. Mort's cabin is not only characteristic and somewhat comforting to be in, but also has a tad bit of creepiness due to the overall size and the isolation that it creates. The cinematography by Fred Murphy also gives out his best work in his career as he offers some great sequences that is enhanced by Jill Savitt's editing. Although Murphy's camerawork is mostly standard with some nice angles and close-ups from time to time, it's the false one-shot sequences in the beginning of the film and the establishing sequences of Mort's cabin that are well edited and creative, especially for Murphy's resume. The score by Phillip Glass is also very good with a nice use of bass and orchestra. It might not be one of his best works, but it's pretty good for this film. The last thing to really mention will be the twist ending, which reveals that Shooter was in Mort's head the entire time and is a split personality that takes form and is behind the killings of the movie. It's a very different ending from the original novella and it's honestly a great and somewhat satisfying ending to watch as Mort/Shooter succeed in killing Amy and Ted and manages to get rid of the evidence by making them decompose overtime in corn crops he has made in his garden, despite the sheriff's and the town's suspicion. It's not a perfect execution though, as while the twist itself makes sense, it can be pretty obvious to some viewers as the film progresses. To Koepp's credit, it's a hard plot element to keep hidden until the end and it could have been handled worse if they had scenes of him and Shooter public or something. Koepp might have written better films in his career, but this is clearly the best film he directed himself.
"Secret Window" is probably never going to cracking the top ten lists of Stephan King movies anytime soon, but it's at the very least the best adaptation of King's works in the 00's. While there are a few issues such as the side plot of Mort's divorce taking a bit too much runtime, the somewhat over-the-top tone and characters can be jarring at times, the characters of Amy and Ted are written to be somewhat completely unlikeable whatsoever, and the twist ending could have been a bit more hidden, it doesn't ruin the film that much. From a very interesting story along with a great twist reveal, the tone being perfectly balanced with serious drama and suspense with doses of humour and zaniness, Depp fitting perfectly to the role of Mort, Turturro offering a really eerie, albeit, over-the-top performance as Shooter, the cast as a whole doing great jobs with their characters, Murphy's cinematography being creatively ambitious at times with help of Savitt's editing, Glass's score giving some power and dread into the music, and Koepp's directing manages to have a standard thriller have a unique feel from the execution of the tone to the location being much more grounded and warm than being dramatically gothic and bleak. It helps that this film has a meta feel to it as its story not only parallels King's career, but flips the script by having the story change the ending, which not only makes it more effective, but makes it one of the more interesting adaptations of his work.
Verdict: 8/10. A great thriller and Stephan King adaptation as a whole, but won't go down as the most groundbreaking or memorable film compared to others. Check it out if you haven't seen it!
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