Secret Window is written with menace

This one, from a Stephen King short story, won't disturb the dozing gray cells, though it's mildly satisfying in an unsatisfying way.

Secret Window

Director: David Koepp

Cast: Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Maria Bello, Timothy Hutton, Charles S. Dutton

Cert: 15.

This one, from a Stephen King short story (where would Hollywood be without the alarmingly prolific Mr King?), won't disturb the dozing gray cells, though it's mildly satisfying in an unsatisfying way.

It's a horror, in a way, but not one of those white-knuckle, hide-behind-the-sofa horrors. It's merely OK, and it's saved only by another good performance from Depp and a ham of a contribution from the manic Turturro.

Depp plays a writer who is accused by Turturro of stealing a story. Depp, menaced by the strange accuser, sets out to disprove the accusations. It's a sort of second division Misery.

The trouble is that Koepp lets us into the secret far too early in the plot development and leaves us with nothing to work out for ourselves.

Still, anything with Depp in it is worth catching and here he shows that everyone seems to have had a lot of fun making Secret Window.

Star Rating: 3/5