Watch Don't Say a Word For Free

Let's be realistic.

i must have seen a different film!!

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

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.

In 1991 Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Patrick Koster (Sean Bean) leads a gang of robbers to steal a valuable gem. He is double crossed by two of his gang. The movie flashes forward 10 years. Child psychiatrist Dr. Nathan R. Conrad (Michael Douglas) is brought in to examine state sanatorium patient Elisabeth Burrows (Brittany Murphy). The supposed catatonic is actually mimicking other patients and tells him "I'll never tell." Conrad is happily married to Aggie (Famke Janssen) who is in bed with a broken leg. Koster kidnaps their daughter Jessie. He wants a 6 digit number from Burrows. Burrows' doctor Louis Sachs (Oliver Platt)'s girlfriend was also kidnapped by Koster. She is killed and detective Sandra Cassidy (Jennifer Esposito) is investigating.Brittany Murphy's performance is distracting. It makes for interesting trailer material but it comes off as campy. Her character is suppose to be a superb mimic which makes it a daunting challenge for any actor. There is something wrong with her scenes. It's either her performance or the material. It doesn't come off well. It feels like bad camp. The kidnapping is more compelling and keeps my interest. I like Famke Janssen and her broken leg. That part has some tension. The rest is problematic. The investigation with Cassidy is disconnected and mostly disengaged. She doesn't add anything until she finally gets to the hospital. This movie holds some possibilities but doesn't work together.

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.

I recently quit working for ADT, where I was steered to sell video surveillance systems. So what was shown in this movie was very familiar to me and other ADT people. However, how did the Patrick gang get access to the apartment to install video and audio in every room it seemed? And how did they install a transmitting device behind the grille in the mental institution? To install video that cannot be noticed by the inhabitants of an apartment would have to be CIA-grade equipment. Even the smallest cameras on the open market would have been seen not only by the parents but by the little girl. And I suppose they broke in at night and installed everything, not! Obviously these were plot devices to enable Patrick to have complete control over his victims.