Armed only with his mysterious mental connection to the feral minds of studio executives, the Movie Guru reveals just how good or bad this week's new releases will be:

The Bourne Supremacy (PG-13)
When retired Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is wrongly blamed for the assassination of a Chinese vice-premier in a CIA operation blown by a rival agent, he’s forced to take up his former life as a trained assassin in order to set the record straight.
Now Showing: Foothills 12, Carmike 10, Tinseltown USA, West Town Mall, Farragut Towne Square

Carandiru (R)
Based on the true story of Drauzi Varella, a doctor who worked in the state penitentiary Carandiru, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Originally sent there as a social worker working on AIDS prevention, Varella finds hundreds of convicts living in squalid, degrading conditions. The situation goes full-tilt when police kill 111 men to suppress a rebellion.
Now Showing: Downtown West

Catwoman (PG-13)
When Patience Phillips (Halle Berry) uncovers her cosmetic company employer’s dark secret, the evil corporate bosses try to have her killed. Instead of dying, Patience finds herself transformed into a woman with all the speed, strength and agility of a cat. Surprisingly, she also looks really hot clad in a vinyl suit. Complicating matters is her relationship with Tom Lone (Benjamin Bratt), a cop who’s fallen for Patience but might actually be obsessed with her feline alter ego.
Now Showing: Foothills 12, Carmike 10, Tinseltown USA, West Town Mall, Farragut Towne Square

De-Lovely (PG-13)
This original musical charts the life and times of openly gay American composer Cole Porter (Kevin Kline) and the complex arrangement and understanding he shared with his wife Linda Lee (Ashley Judd). Interspersed organically throughout are performances of Porter’s unforgettable songs performed by a variety of modern artists including Elvis Costello, Alanis Morissette and Sheryl Crow.
Now Showing: Downtown West

Not-So-Secret

Arguably the finest actor of his generation, Johnny Depp runs the gamut from slapstick to bizarre with his role selections, but he proves most entertaining when he injects a glimmer of humanity into the oblivion of psychosis.

Secret Window (PG-13, 2004) opens as Mort Rainey (Depp) discovers his wife, Amy Rainey (Maria Bello), in the middle of the ultimate act of infidelity. In the proceeding months, Mort forces himself into wooded seclusion, distancing himself from his suburban Manhattan home as a means of therapy and avoidance. A writer in the midst of a spectacular mental block, Mort is unsatisfied with his productivity and spends his days on the couch in a tattered bathrobe with a terminal case of bedhead.

During an afternoon nap, Mort is interrupted by John Shooter (John Tuturro), a bullying Mississippi-native crying plagiarism over a story written by Mort years earlier. Mort denies the accusation, and Shooter gives him an ultimatum to prove him wrong.

In the days that follow, Mort scrambles to locate a copy of the manuscript dated before Shooter wrote his story, while Shooter makes the severity of his agenda apparent by slaughtering Mort’s dog and torching his Manhattan home. But Shooter’s intent is called into question when Amy’s partner in adultery, Ted Milner (Timothy Hutton), becomes more visible in Mort’s life. Their mutual disdain for each other drives Mort to paranoid delusions and furthers his descent into madness.

Depp’s portrayal of Mort Rainey is earnest and, consequently, flawless. Watching the evolution of his disintegrating mental state makes Mort fascinating and the movie entertaining. Turturro, another actor equally adept at disparate roles, is a highlight as the slow-talking, but far from dim-witted Southerner.

Overall, the movie, based loosely on Stephen King’s short story “Secret Window, Secret Garden,” feels forced into the full-length feature film format. The swift pace and superb acting make it an addictive watch, but it inevitably falls flat in its own muddled cleverness as the secret to Secret Window becomes crystal clear well before the film’s conclusion.

—Clint Casey

July 22, 2004 * Vol. 14, No. 30
© 2003 Metro Pulse