Das geheime Fenster

Ein angenehm altmodischer und harmonisch fließender Thriller, der durch seinen fürchterlichen Höhepunkt kaputtgemacht wurde. Die große Überraschung ist heute nur noch eine abgedroschene klischeehafte Ausweiche, die im Kontext der vorigen Handlung gar nicht funktioniert. (19.05.2004)

The director and quality actors are not to blame, the culprit is ironically the "shocking" stupid twist of the screenwriting crutch. Depp was good up until the reveal, I didn't believe his transformation for a second he was on screen. (24.10.2005)

Even ignoring my aversion towards Johnny Depp, Secret Window is nothing but an average thriller. I didn’t feel any atmosphere, only the maniac played by John Turturro was unsettling in a proper King fashion. The twist is so uninteresting these days that it’s not even worth saying anything else about it. I was actually ashamed that I didn’t figure it out after a couple of minutes. The ending, on the other hand, was nice. Mixed 6/10. (12.02.2011)

Koepp hat versucht, mit der Spielfilmlänge das Beste zu erreichen, scheitert jedoch irgendwo auf halbem Weg. Die Kamera versuchte zu retten, was möglich war, und zauberte dadurch ein paar großartige Aufnahmen. Johnny Depp kann es, daran besteht kein Zweifel, aber noch besser war John Turturro, der Charisma im Überfluss hat. Schade, dass ich den Punkt bereits nach einer halben Stunde erraten habe, sonst wäre ich mit Punkten etwas großzügiger gewesen. (12.02.2010)

Decent adaptation of Stephen King's literary original, relying on the excellent acting of Johnny Depp. Although it doesn't belong to the top of the genre due to the average script, it will get a nice 70% of the overall impression from me. The twist is predictable, but the film manages to maintain its atmosphere almost until the very end, and several scenes have their own charming King-esque vibe. (03.02.2007)

The excellent Johnny Depp in a slightly above average adaptation of King’s short novella Secret Window, Secret Garden. Everything goes perfectly until Koepp begins to play around and totally revamps the whole ending of the movie. I still don’t know why he did it. Because in his novella, King replaced cliché with a surprising outcome and so the punchline is completely elsewhere. Too bad, it was a good attempt. (10.06.2006)

If I hadn't read the book first, the movie would probably get one more star. This way it's "just" a well made atmospheric flick with a reasonable running time, great Depp and Turturro. A better average. (08.09.2009)

An excellent Johnny Depp, as usual, an impressive atmosphere and a visible effort to prepare the viewer for the final "shocking" twist, which is supposed to be the main star of the whole story. The conclusion, however, is far from imaginative and surprising, and Stephen King absolutely failed to handle it as expected. As a result, David Koepp could have tried his best, but wouldn’t have saved this predictable and bland tale anyway. (02.09.2012)

A surprisingly clever, quite innovative, and very well made... uh.... psychological comedy. Seriously... (17.05.2013)

A brilliantly paced psychological thriller that gets totally buried at the end by perhaps the most perverse climax imaginable. Johnny Depp is without question superb, John Turturro is also great in a role somewhat atypical for him also great. David Koepp is otherwise a master screenwriter, but he didn't quite pull it off here. I wouldn't have any particular complaints about the direction, but the likes of Tony Gilroy and Michael Clayton definitely have the upper hand in the "writer/director" category. (01.11.2013)