DON'T SAY A WORD
Released: September 28, 2001
The latest Michael Douglas movie sees the predictable annual return of "the Michael Douglas movie character". You know, an amalgamation of his past roles like the guys from "The Game", "Wall Street", "A Perfect Murder" and "Disclosure" all roled into one. But hey, that's OK. It's what we are paying to see here. When the daughter of a psychiatrist played by Douglas is kidnapped, he's horrified to discover that the abductors' demand is that he break through to a catatonic young woman who knows the location of a stolen diamond. Directed by Gary Fleder, who I've been hard on because of his "Seven"/"Silence Of The Lambs" hack job "Kiss The Girls", actually comes through this time, almost redeeming himself. Because this is a Michael Douglas movie that isn't "Wonder Boys" we know this is gonna be a somewhat standard ride but Fleder gains points by unleashing multiple concurrent storylines that keeps you entertained. Sean Bean, the evil bad guy from the Bond flick "GoldenEye" turns in another good role, this time as a heartless kidnapper hot on the trail of the lucrative diamond. Famke Janssen plays the Douglas character's young wife, mirroring his equally young real life wife Catherine Zeta Jones. The plot neatly comes together through an interwoven series of events with the anchor of it all the girl with the secret locked in her mind played by Brittany Murphy (the voice of TV's Luanne on "King Of The Hill"). She costarred with Angelina Jolie in "Girl, Interupted" and I was even reminded of Jolie in her portrayal of the emotionally damaged teen Douglas works to save as he tries to save his own kidnapped daughter. Also along for the ride in otherwise thankless roles are Jennifer Esposito and Oliver Platt. There are some creative ideas in "Don't Say A Word" and it is a good suspense yarn but it's still a safe, easy film to watch. The ending seems a liitle too much, in terms of what happens to Murphy's character. Is she returned to the psychiatric ward or prison for her ghastly murder of a hospital worker or welcomed into Douglas's family as a new daughter? Whatever the weaknesses are here, there is enough going on to keep even a jaded film buff entertained.
120 Minutes
Village Roadshow Pictures/20th Century Fox