Secret Window

Secret Window is a 2004 thriller, directed by David Koepp and starring Johnny Depp. It is set, mainly, at his secluded cabin at Tashmore Lake.

Initially Mort (Depp) seems like an aggressive nut-job when you see him going after his wife and the guy she is sleeping with. As the story goes on though you can see that he is quite a chilled out character, he isn’t a big drinker and isn’t a massive smoker either, you do begin to wonder why his missus would cheat on him. Then you meet John Shooter, who is claiming that Mort has plagiarised one of his stories, and basically it goes that until Mort proves that he didn’t steal it John will keep killing people in his life. His wife’s house is set alight, his neighbour and friend and murdered as well as his dog. And killing a dog just proves that this guy is a whole other kind of crazy.

The film is well made, I guess, kind of follows suit of most other psychological thrillers, you knew what was coming and I guessed the ending, it was pretty obvious. So, if you are a bit of a wimp but you want to see a good thriller, then you should see this. I wouldn’t recommend it to people who like a big scare though. 

The Prestige

“Are you watching closely?” This is probably the most famous quote from the film The Prestige. Starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson and Hugh Jackman, it is a very high-end film, and for good reason. It is a mystery thriller set at the end of the nineteenth century and based in London and Colorado Springs.  

The film, like a lot of thrillers, began with the ending, which was Angier getting killed. We then move back to the start of the story, and you see where Angier and Borden’s relationship began. Then Angier’s wife meets her end and Angier believes that Borden is responsible for his wife’s death. This is where their relationship falls apart. As the film progresses you can see that Borden is clearly the better magician, but Angier is a better showman and so their rivalry continues as they try to one up each other. As the film begins to come to a close, you’re choice of who is the antagonist and who is the protagonist changes…but why?

The acting in this film was awesome. The choice of actors for the roles was perfect but if I tell you why it might ruin the film for you, so I’m not going to talk about the roles of Angier and Borden. But the females in the film were well chosen. I feel bad saying this but I can see Scarlett Johansson being ‘the other woman’, and I love that Piper Perabo plays a damsel in distress. But my favourite person in the whole film was Cutter, mainly for the reason that he was played by Michael Caine. Now what to say about Caine…there is no acting job that he couldn’t make work, and this film is no exception, he plays Cutter well, and his acting doesn’t ruin the ending (which is what happens when an actor is in the wrong role).

The rest of the film was pretty damn good too, but one thing that stands out the most is the setting. The magic shows were a good way of showing where the character was in life. If there was a small audience, and the stage was at the same level as the audience, then you know that they probably aren’t doing very well. But if the show is in a high-end theatre, then it shows quite the opposite. I liked, also, the fact that they used real and recognised names such as Edison and Tesla. The film was very well written and in terms of the facts that they used, they were quite precise.

This film was really good, definitely one of the better films that I’ve seen. To start off with I didn’t really want to watch it, but I am quite easily convinced, so here I am, watching a film that looks pretty average. But it was obvious pretty early on that I was horribly wrong. The twists are great, the constant changes in your mind about who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist add to the effect. AND IT IS ABOUT MAGIC. This film was clearly a winner from the off. I definitely recommend watching this if you like magic, or thrillers, or any films really…it is SICK!