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.
Mr. Depp demonstrates once again that he never disappoints as an actor, even in something as fraudulent as Secret Window.
– Andrew Sarris,
New York Observer,
1 Apr 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:
Has no story, no ending and no redeeming value.
– Rex Reed,
New York Observer,
18 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:
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.