Mort Rainey est un écrivain de romans policiers à succès. Mais son divorce doublé d’une panne d’inspiration le conduit à vivre reclus dans son chalet au fond des bois. Jusqu’à ce qu’un homme, John Shooter, frappe à sa porte en l’accusant de plagiat.

Efficace, Fenêtre secrète applique consciencieusement, mais de façon parfois un peu convenue, la recette du thriller en introduisant habilement quelques coups de stress et en nous faisant partager l’angoisse de son personnage principal. Plus proche néanmoins de Misery (Rob Reiner) que de Shining (Stanley Kubrick), le film explore une des plus fréquentes préoccupations de King : les démons intérieurs de l’écrivain. Jouant avec nos nerfs et profitant de l’interprétation ironique de Johnny Depp et de celle, inquiétante, de John Turturro, le film tire également une certaine qualité esthétique de ses décors lumineux, tournés dans le Québec automnal. Comptant sur un rebondissement final inattendu et intéressant, Fenêtre secrète fait partie de ces films parfaits pour jouer à se faire peur. – Helen Faradji

Review
The mystery certainly isn't in the characters. From the tortured writer, to the gruff private investigator, and all the way to the wary yet sympathetic ex-wife, the cast of Secret Window staunchly adheres to their respective caricatures. The ending is hardly a revelation, either; it could have only been more clich had the culprit been a butler. Based on a novella by the ever prolific Stephen King, the secret in Secret Window lies somewhere inside the film's unrealized potential. The shorter length could have eased the heady task of adapting the written word of King, which has, in the past, dedicated hundreds of pages to subjects ranging from omniscient turtles to a gargantuan imaginary library subject to exploitation by malevolent aliens. With no lengthy, abstract concepts to omit or include at risk of hindering the plot, Secret Window had the means to have been something much greater than it was. Unfortunately, it could never quite decide between being a horrific journey of self-discovery, or a divorce comedy with a macabre twist. The result is a film that seems thoroughly uncomfortable in its own skin, and hovers on the fine, mediocre line between boring and suspenseful for just long enough to make its ultimate degeneration that much more disappointing. Johnny Depp plays Mort Rainey, a moderately successful author whose depression and subsequent writer's block stem from three things: the split from his wife, his feelings of guilt and anger regarding the split from his wife, and the awareness that when it comes to writing, he's just a hack at heart. Depp does an admirable job with his limitations, and despite being a pitiful character with potentially psychotic undertones, he is easy to like. Similarly, John Turturro in the role of an unhinged author bent on avenging what he believes is plagiarism by Mort, is easy to hate, particularly after he begins driving screwdrivers into innocent heads of both the canine and human variety. However, the actors could not wholly save an essentially weak film; they could only provide a temporary distraction. In the end, the 'secret window' offers little more than a glimpse at a story that lost its originality long ago. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

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