Rating: 
Summary: I'll say a word if i want ; >
Review: I glanced at a few reviews and noticed a lot of people were talking about plot and everything like that. I thought about it for a second and came to this conclusion. Isn't almost any movie out the same as another movie? Different titles, different actors, different motives, but plot is always the same. I'm not sure why I actually like movies, might just be because i think it looks good and figure i'll see it. Anyways enough about ranting about the plots of movies and how they are predictable most of the time, lets talk about this one. The movie starts with the father (a psychologist) on his way home with the family turkey for thanksgiving. all is well until later on, the daughter is kidnapped by a few thieves that want a code in exchange for her life. The thieves have everything recorded from the psychiatrics workplace to his home with his bedridden wife that has a broken leg. The complicated part is the code is only held by a patient in the psych ward that is so tramatized that the thieves killed her father when she was younger that she doesn't even remember the code. With less than 24 hours to get the code, and a detective in pursuit, this movie is a must see.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable Character-Driven Thriller
Review: Dr. Nathan Conrad (Michael Douglas) is a highly trained and highly paid psychiatrist. His patients usually consist of those wealthy enough to afford his fees, but he cannot turn down his friend's request for help. Dr. Louis Sachs (Oliver Platt) is desperate for someone to break through with a female patient who recently killed someone and could end up jailed in a mental institution for the rest of her life. What Nathan doesn't know when he agrees to help is that locked inside Elisabeth's mind is a series of numbers that Patrick Koster (Sean Bean) is more than willing to kill for...Don't Say a Word wasn't particularly original, but I thought that all of the actors in the film did a superb job, which pushed the movie up from a three star rating. Michael Douglas has long since perfected the role of innocent bystander who is sucked into a nefarious plot and manages to turn it all around, but I also truly believed that he created a bond with his patient and, while he cared for her, he cared for his daughter a great deal more. Brittany Murphy was riveting as the disturbed Elisabeth and I love her vocal inflection when she says "I'll never tell." Sean Bean was also wonderful in his role as the kidnapper/killer/thief and is constantly underrated, if I do say so myself. The weakness in this movie is the plot seems pretty contrived and easy to figure out. You know exactly how the movie will end before you even start watching it, but you want to see how they manage to get there. There were also some jarring inconsistencies that bothered me while I was watching the movie such as why Patrick killed Elisabeth's father before he told him where the diamond was (and in front of so many witnesses, too!) and why Detective Sandra Cassidy (Jennifer Esposito) was always at the right place, at the right time - every time the movie cut to her and her role it was jarringly out of place and felt like it wasn't a part of the story. Anyway, aside from small complaints like that, this is a fine movie to watch late at night from home. Enjoy it as a rental.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best thrillers in YEARS.
Review: Before I sat down to watch this movie, I suspected it to be an average B movie thriller with nothing new or interesting. This film ROCKED. It takes you for the ultimate thrill ride. The film is a little like the Fugative in a sense but it has its own creative plot. It is definately not like any movie I have ever seen. The acting was wonderful, the best being Britany Murphey's. The cinematography was good as well as the score. For any fan of thrills and die hard action this is definately the movie for you. Two thumbs way up.
Rating: 
Summary: DON'T SAY A WORD Doesn't Say, "Buy My Today!"
Review: DON'T SAY A WORD should and could have been a better movie, and it probably was the first couple hundred times I saw it. This movie is a hodge-podge collection of other films all rolled in to one. DON'T SAY A WORD didn't have to say jack for me to see right through it, call the superficial ending from a mile off, and realize that the crazy chick won't do her job and scare the hooey out of me like she should. I rolled to the flick expecting quite a bit more than simply one desperate father's race against time to save his kidnapped daughter from the clutches of some bank bandits with big grudges who demand that our father/psychiatrist dig through the mind of a seemingly insane teen in search of a single six-digit number for God only knows what kind of sick, perverse reason. That should rap it up. Close the friggin' book. Pop some popcorn. Eat a sandwich. Turn off the TV. Kiss the wife. Go on back to bed. Honestly though, I said it could have been better, that doesn't mean that it completely reeked. It had some high points. Michael Douglas (BASIC INSTINCT, TRAFFIC, ROMANCING THE STONE, WONDER BOYS) always does a great job no matter what the role. In FALLING DOWN he was crazy. In THE GAME he was rich. In BASIC INSTINCT he was pleasured. And in every film, he did his job well. DON'T SAY A WORD doesn't say anything bad about Douglas. He plays Dr. Nathan Conrad, the father mentioned above and you already know his role in the scheme of things. I choose not to go any further. His acting is intense and he acts like a concerned father would act: irrational, desperate, super-stressed, etc. One nice thing about the antagonist in the film is that you can almost feel sorry for him at times. Sean Bean (PATRIOT GAMES, RONIN) plays PATRICK COSTER, a thief who gets roasted by some "buddies" in the initial, intense, bank-heist, opener. (P.S. This isn't the greatest heist in movie history. That title would be reserved for HEAT or maybe THE GETAWAY.) Bean is certainly a memorable villain, because you believe it when he threatens to kill someone. Famke Janssen (X-MEN, ROUNDERS) throws around way too much sex-appeal for a mom as Aggie Conrad. Moms are not that attractive. I just don't want to talk about it. I've had enough. Our little lost girl, Skye McCole Bartusiak (THE PATRIOT, RIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS) talks quite a bit more in this flick than she chose to in THE PATRIOT. She plays JESSIE CONRAD, and actually talks too awful much. Brittany Murphy (GIRL INTERRUPTED; 8-MILE) is disappointing as ELIZABETH BURROWS. When you play a nut, I need you to act just a little bit more insane. And, if you play someone who is just extremely talented at acting crazy (i.e. Edward Norton as Aaron/Roy in PRIMAL FEAR), you need to act like a friggin' genius and not make stupid moves. One more addition, if you are going to play stubborn, you can't give in to the probing doctor with anything more than 45 minutes remaining in the film. These are rules to live by. Be crazy or don't; be genius or don't; be obstinate or quit wasting my time. When in doubt, ask yourself what Al Pacino would do. Now, doesn't that clear things up? Overall, this movie isn't just terrible, but I'm not recommending you all rush out and spend $7 or $10 or whatever it costs these days to glimpse the magic of film at your local theatre. Anyway, when you get the chance, rent it, snuggle up on the couch one dark night, and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: PREDICTABLE
Review: In Brief
Eminent Psychiatrist Nathan Conrad is swept up into a race against time to extract a six-digit number from a faux-catatonic teenager or else his kidnapped daughter will be killed. With his family under surveillance he is forced to comply, while unknown to him a persistent detective is also on the trail following the dead bodies and clues to a final showdown. Review
Director Gary Fleder broke onto the scene back in 1995 with a stylish debut in the noir `Things to do in Denver when you're dead.' Since then with his follow up `Kiss the girls' and now this month's `Don't say a word,' it appears he will never truly regain the magic present in the first film. A casual observer of his three works to date might be correct in saying that it's the work of a man trying to recapture or duplicate something, rather then push themselves in a new direction. Don't say a word, is what has become typical Fleder: A great TV movie with a bigger budget, a star name in the leading role, and some flashy camera moves or choppy editing. This is a by the book thriller, taking the Hitchcockian `fish-out-of-water' hero and letting him struggle against all odds just one more time! Indeed, to watch the performance of Douglas, one is given the feeling that there is nothing to really stretch himself within the confines of the character, and this is rather more a paid job than a chance to perform! While `Kiss the girls' gave the viewer an interesting take on the issue of voyeurism, this film has nothing to challenge the audience. However it must be said that the camera work is competently done and the production design by Nelson Coates is beautiful; each of the autumn leaves on the trees in the final scene are silk and were sown on by hand! What truly lets this film down is the third act and conclusion: Throughout the film Detective Sandra Cassidy (Jennifer Esposito) has been on the trail of the kidnappers. This one-dimensional character never really seems to fit; superfluous, she flits in and out of the film managing to take away any tension surrounding Conrad's fight against all odds. Never truly a consistent character, she completely disappears for the bulk of the third act only to reappear in a clichéd `nick-of-time' moment. Unfortunately the director seems unaware of the candyfloss content of his film and the ending is drawn out as if the audience needs time to recover when in fact the typical selection of slow mo reunions make you want to run for the door, rather than savour the moment.
The Verdict
Don't say a word, is a typical Hollywood thriller, its only purpose is to give the studio a return. Its not a classic and I only hope Fleder's next film with Gary Sinise is better as he finally breaks away from the sort of thing that I would quite happily sit and watch for free on TV but would definitely not pay to go to.
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