SECRET WINDOW (PG-13) As with so many recent Johnny Depp projects, it often seems like Depp is pretty much the whole show in Secret Window. The plot itself is nothing special — a distraught writer (Depp) is menaced by an ominous redneck (John Turturro) who accuses him of plagiarism — but the movie is filled with pleasantly eccentric touches that you wouldn't expect with routine thriller material like this. Chief among those pleasant eccentricities is Depp himself, who spends much of the movie in a ratty bathrobe and perennially mussed, fright-wig hair, ranting and mumbling to himself. Likewise, there's a lushly mysterious musical score by Philip Glass that makes us feel that there's more going on here than there really is. Unfortunately with Secret Window, what you see is what you get. The film is based on a very minor short story by Stephen King, and even Depp's performance can't save what boils down to a thinly derivative version of Cape Fear meets Psycho. Maybe Robert Mitchum in Turturro's role would have helped. Also stars Maria Bello and Timothy Hutton. 
SPARTAN (R) David Mamet is in full hard-boiled mode with his latest feature, a stripped-down political thriller about a seasoned special ops veteran (Val Kilmer) charged with rescuing the kidnapped daughter of a powerful politician. Spartan is a strange bird, filled with typically edgy, incisive moments, but also with implausible plot turns and flashes of uninspired business where Mamet appears to be eager to enter John Clancy territory but unsure about how to do it. As a result, the film occasionally winds up seeming phony and even a little bit trite, like a Hollywood action movie directed by someone who just flew in from Mars. As with most Mamet projects, the writer-director's attention to language and details is what allows the movie to breathe, but only in fits and starts. Spartan's themes and tone are compelling, but its narrative lacks the focus we expect from Mamet. The film lurches about, arriving at dead-ends, backtracking and then going for undesirable short-cuts, resulting in one of Mamet's least satisfying efforts in some time. Also stars Derek Luke, Kristen Bell, William H. Macy and Ed O'Neill.
STARSKY AND HUTCH (PG-13) The jokes are hit-or-miss and the action is routine in this shizoid and scattershot adaptation of the late '70s television series about buddy cops. Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson display more of that easygoing chemistry that made Zoolander so enjoyable, but that's about all Starsky and Hutch has going for it. The movie can't decide if it wants to be a spoof, an homage or some sort of quirky but more-or-less serious crime caper, and it's not particular adept at any of those. Even the whole '70s nostalgia thing feels disappointingly bland and joyless here. Also stars Vince Vaughn, Snoop Dogg, Fred Williamson and Jason Bateman.
TAKING LIVES (R) Nothing sets Taking Lives apart from countless other crime thrillers (except Academy Award-winner Angelina Jolie's bare breasts). Jolie plays the foxy, fearless Illeana Scott, a top FBI profiler hired to track down a serial, chameleon-like killer who steals the identities of his victims. The movie takes a twist when Jolie's character finds herself the victim of deception. Certain aspects of the story are confusing and irrelevant, which is sort of a hallmark of this genre, as is the predictable ending and the inhospitable local police team threatened by a talented, methodological agent helping to solve a case. As holes gape in the plot, the movie's appeal fades. Director D.J. Caruso (The Salton Sea) doesn't seem to realize it takes more than a luscious set of lips to make a good movie. Also stars Ethan Hawke and Keifer Sutherland.1/2—Whitney Meers/Cooper Cruz
TWISTED (R) Ashley Judd is the only thing remotely worthwhile about this depressingly sub-generic thriller from once-reliable director Philip Kaufman (The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Henry and June). Judd stars as a newly promoted homicide detective investigating a series of murders in which she's the prime suspect. (It seems the gal's given to self-destructive one-night stands, slurping mass quantities of wine, then passing out and waking up with her bed-partner dead.) Then again, this is one of those idiotic movies where everyone acts guilty and where everyone's a potential killer, but none of it matters because nothing makes sense and no characters are developed enough for us to remotely care about them. Samuel L. Jackson's here too, walking through this mess of a movie just long enough to collect a paycheck. Also stars Andy Garcia. Reviewed entries by Lance Goldenberg unless otherwise noted.
