Sick Product of a Sick System

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Don't Say A Word is in many ways a run-of-the-mill thriller. Michael Douglas and Famke Jannsen play a middle-class urban couple with a cute young daughter and the perfect American life. Douglas plays Dr. Nathan Conrad, a respected psychiatrist. On the day before Thanksgiving their lives are turned upside down when their daughter is kidnapped. The kidnappers don't want money, as such; they want Dr. Conrad's services. If he wants to see his daughter again, he must convince a psychiatric patient to reveal a long-kept secret.Director Gary Fleder (Kiss the Girls) owes a few debts here. This film borrows plot devices from Ransom, Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Negotiator, and What Lies Beneath. The biggest flaws of the film are its over-reliance on cliches and some grand implausibilities. The cliches are integrated well enough into they story line that they tend to work for the most part. The one exception has to do with a disappearing body. I saw it coming a mile away. Implausibility is not a fatal flaw in a film, but this one clearly pushes the limits with unanswered questions. One example that doesn't reveal too much will make the point. The villain has waited ten years to get this information, but gives Dr. Conrad a few hours. Sometimes implausible plot points are necessary to get where we want to go; this one seems to be a result of sheer laziness.In spite of these flaws, the film is not without redeeming value. The pacing of the film is nearly flawless, and the director does an excellent job with the editing and visual elements of the film. Performances are solid and occasionally inspired. Particularly noteworthy are the performances by the hero (Michael Douglas) and the villain (Sean Bean who played a similar type in Patriot Games). Skye McCole Bartesiak does an excellent job as the kidnapped daughter and Brittany Murphy is excellent as the psychiatric patient. This film was number one at the box office this past weekend and will probably continue to do well. It is not a great film; it might be a moderately good film. If audiences keep coming it will most likely be for the therapeutic value. Like most crime films and many Westerns, this film presents a model family whose lives are disrupted by a seemingly random act of violence. We sit on the edges of out seats and watch hopefully, as order is restored and good triumphs over evil. This is a message that touches our deepest longings for order and justice, and this is a message we long to hear, perhaps now more than ever.

Adapted from Andrew Klavan's bestselling suspense novel, Don't Say a Word is a suitable companion to director Gary Fleder's earlier hit Kiss the Girls, with solid performances serving a plot that begins promisingly. This psychological thriller film is based on the novel of the same title by Andrew Klavan. It stars Michael Douglas,Sean Bean and Brittany Murphy.Guy Torry,Jennifer Esposito,Famke Janssen and Oliver Platt co-star to play key supporting roles.Dr. Nathan Conrad is a respected adolescent therapist faced with a nightmarish scenario when his young daughter is snatched by Koster, a criminal with a talent for high-tech surveillance. Conrad learns that the kidnapper is desperate for a critical piece of information known only to Elisabeth Burrows, one of his catatonic pro bono patients. While his wife Aggie remains at home, bedridden due to a broken leg, Conrad races to unlock the secret stored in Elisabeth's fractured mind, while a New York City detective inches closer to discovering the Conrads' dilemma.As an odyssey of paternal qualm, Fleder's forgettable thriller has a convincing edge, and Douglas remains unchallenged as Hollywood's most tremulous and disquieting dad-under-pressure.As generic as the title suggests, this routine psychological thriller about a yuppie shrink whose daughter is kidnapped can't be saved by the talented cast for it is merely a routine and it stretches believability with many eye rolling moments.

Despite what others say about the ridiculous plot, I liked this movie. Michael Douglas did a fantastic job as a passionate father willing to do anything to preserve the life of his daughter. His wife however (Famke Jansenn) really kicks some serious butt, for a lady on crutches. She's very intuitive and although being confined to a bed for most of the movie, she still manages to play an integral role. The main villain Patrick, didn't sound the part with his rather refined English accent, but he certainly played the part well through his manipulation of the Conrad family.Brittany Murphy did a stellar job in her role as a neurotic young lady who holds the key to the mystery of the movie, a numbered code. Finally, Jennifer Esposito, surprised me in that she's dropped dead gorgeous, but she proved to be as tough as nails and persistent in trying to find the connections between a number of unsolved deaths. At the end she takes a bullet for a worthy cause and is the x-factor hero, so to speak, of the entire film. Generally, the movie presents a nice mix of suspense and action to keep most thriller fans interested. It won't blow you out of your seat, but at least it will keep you thinking.

'Don't Say a Word' covers familiar territory, to say the least. The first few minutes shows us what Dr. Nathan Conrad is in for: A jewel he must find to get his kidnapped daughter back. For the most part, the movie does work, and Sean Bean makes an effective villain. What didn't work for me, however, were the scenes where this poor doctor has to visit a mental patient (played by Murphy). I didn't buy her as this character. Or maybe it was they way she was acting, I don't know. She should have been either less shy, or more crazy. Take her scenes away, and this movie could have better than it is. I do give the movie credit for trying to be original, but the half of the movie featuring Murphy is a misfire.**1/2 out of ****