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Its star raises 'Secret Window'

Johnny Depp's acting genius is the not-so-secret ingredient that fleshes out what could have been an overstretched plot.

Anyone who still needs proof of Johnny Depp's acting prowess should see the way he lifts Secret Window from negligible material to a novelty worth checking out. Depp is cagey enough to realize when the right stuff isn't on David Koepp's screenplay pages, so he fills in the considerable gaps with tics and flourishes, creating a thoroughly enjoyable performance in the midst of dreck.

Depp plays author Mort Rainey, a disheveled recluse in an upstate New York cabin since he caught his wife Amy (Maria Bello) in bed with another man (Timothy Hutton). Mort is a mess, his hair progressively more disheveled, his bathrobe almost as frayed as his psyche. Now a sinister hick named John Shooter (a miscast John Turturro) is claiming that Mort stole his idea for a short story about a man who murders his wife.

Koepp adapted and directed Secret Window from a novella by Stephen King. There's usually a good reason why they're called novellas. Shorter and less detailed than novels, the format forces a tough decision on filmmakers: Do they pad the running time with embellishments that may compromise the plot, or do they simply stick to the slim outline and hope for the best?

Koepp chooses the latter, possibly because instincts told him someone like Depp - and how many of those exist, really? - could flesh out drama that occurs chiefly inside the character's mind. Rather than spoiling the plot, let's just say that while taking notes I jotted down the title of a similarly framed movie from a few years ago that predicted the twist of Secret Window an hour before Koepp reveals it. Even though I knew what was coming, Depp's performance kept me hanging on, wondering what this mischievous artist would do next.

The wonder of Depp is the way he allows viewers into the most private moments of unappealing characters like Mort without any regard for his own ego. Somehow that makes the jerks he plays appealing, as in Blow, Pirates of the Caribbean and Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Depp is drop-dead handsome, but isn't compelled to show it off. He's bright, yet doesn't mind playing dumb. And he finds those little moments - the way Mort shakes his hands dry after washing them, or stretches his jaw as if it hurts - that aren't movie-star attractive yet add something special to the character.

I've never seen Depp sleepwalk through any role. He could coast on his "Sexiest Man Alive" title like so many Harry Hamlins and Pierce Brosnans. Depp refuses, creating a conspiracy of sorts with moviegoers who are completely aware that he's "acting" in roles less cool than himself and who love him for it. Jack Nicholson has done it for decades.

Secret Window isn't a particularly good movie. What it is, however, is another chance to see how effortlessly Depp can transform hack material into something approaching art. It's always nice to see America's best actor at work, even if he chooses to live in France.

Grade: B-

Director: David Koepp

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

Screenplay: David Koepp, based on the novella Secret Window, Secret Garden by Stephen King

Rating: PG-13; profanity, mild violence, brief sexual situations

Running time: 99 min.