Mort Rainey, a writer just emerging from a painful divorce with his ex-wife, is stalked at his remote lake house by a psychotic stranger and would-be scribe who claims Rainey swiped his best story idea. But as Rainey endeavors to prove his innocence, he begins to question his own sanity.
Adapted from a Stephen King novella, the film lurches tiredly through the author's favorite masochistic-narcissistic fantasy, subjecting a woebegone writer to a gauntlet of abuse.
– Dennis Lim,
Village Voice,
16 Mar 2004
rotten:
The plot certainly has possibilities, but far too many of them are botched by writer-director David Koepp, who's a better writer than director.
– Jonathan Rosenbaum,
Chicago Reader,
16 Mar 2004
rotten:
Has no story, no ending and no redeeming value.
– Rex Reed,
New York Observer,
18 Mar 2004
fresh:
The story is so basic that it makes a fine template for an exercise in style, and Koepp layers on the details with great relish.
– Stephanie Zacharek,
Salon.com,
21 Mar 2004
rotten:
Mr. Depp demonstrates once again that he never disappoints as an actor, even in something as fraudulent as Secret Window.