Mort Rainey is a writer whose stories are very dark and filled with murder and the most unseemly of characters and plots. His writing has always been an outlet for him and he finds himself losing touch with reality and misses all the warning signs that his marriage is in trouble. That is until he catches his wife Amy in bed with her lover in a seedy motel and almost completely loses it. The next six months for him are a complete downward spiral as he finds himself falling into depression and napping much of the day. He even finds it hard to write now days as his pending divorce with Amy is all he can think of. That is until a stranger knocks on his door and claims he has stolen one of his stories. Now he finds himself being stalked at his remote lake house by this psychotic stranger called Shooter. Shooter wants him to admit that he stole the story and to fix the ending that Mort changed. Shooter is willing to go to any ends to make sure that his story is fixed and as Mort continues to deny taking the story Shooter becomes more and more aggressive and violent. Now Mort must not only worry for his own life but Amy’s as well as it is clear that Shooter will kill them both unless he is able to find away to stop him or prove he did not steal the story something he is not even sure if he did or did not.

The movie is based on a novella by Stephen King and if there is one thing about Stephen King books or short stories it is the fact that they translate very well to the big screen. There is just something almost sinister in nature in his stories that draw us in not only as readers but also as moviegoers. This is also one of his best types of stories to be translated and that is a story that is more suspense and thriller than horror. I am not much of a horror fan but I am a big fan of movies that are incredibly suspenseful and you keep you on the edge of your seat. I was entranced throughout the movie as I tried to figure out what was going on and whether the characters were just crazy or of a supernatural sort. I have to admit I also have a taste for dark movies and dark endings, and this movie is great in that aspect as being very dark with an even darker ending. Johnny Depp does a masterful job and its amazing that Hollywood and moviegoers are just finding out now what an incredible actor he is. You couldn’t have cast a more perfect actor for the part and he even looks a lot like King who makes you wonder if he based the story on himself. It all fits very well from the great acting, to a great story, to a movie that completely draws you in and keeps you wondering what is going to happen next while completely and totally entertaining you. If you have a taste for King’s kind of stories or a taste for dark movies this is a must see.
4 stars out of 5