- Gary Fleder
is not an imaginative director, but always
delivers the goods. The film
starts, like most thrillers do, with
action. This time, it begins with a bank robbery and then cuts to a
happy person who is about to enjoy a holiday with
his family. The person turns out to be a
successful psychiatrist, called Dr. Nathan Conrad,
who is played by Michael Douglas. Of
course there is a but, like all thrillers, it has to
hint of bad things to come and this time the
film shows a body in the river, as he drives
on past blissfully unaware. No
guesses what is coming... Sean Bean
plays a very convincing bad guy as Patrick Koster
who kidnaps the doctor's daughter, called Jessie,
played by Skye McCole Bartusiak, on Thanksgiving morning!
The good Dr. is then horrified to discover that the
abductor's demand is that he breaks
a catatonic young girl who knows a secret...
Now what could that be? "I'll never tell."
As predictable as the date that Christmas falls
on, this film nevertheless is surprisingly
entertaining. One thing I have to ask
is, why is Hollywood using so many actors from
the UK, as bad and evil people? Anyway,
back to the review, this film because it
lacks imagination gets two stars.
Worth a watch, but not very memorable compared
with other films of its type.
Cast
first credits only:-
Michael Douglas
plays Dr. Nathan Conrad, Sean Bean plays Patrick Koster,
Brittany Murphy plays Elisabeth Burrows, Skye McCole Bartusiak
plays Jessie Conrad, Guy Torry plays Martin J. Dolen,
Jennifer Esposito plays Detective Sandra Cassidy, Shawn Doyle
plays Russel Maddox, Victor Argo plays Sydney Simon,
Conrad Goode plays Max, Paul Schulze plays Jake,
Lance Reddick plays Arnie, Famke Janssen plays Aggie Conrad,
Oliver Platt plays Dr. Louis Sachs, Aidan Devine
plays Leon Croft and Alex Campbell plays Jonathan.
Film Review by Patrick Trollope.
|
Film
review:- Don't Say a Word.
Sound Mix:- DTS / Dolby Digital