Just when Michael Douglas was shying away from his "thriller" stereotype (Disclosure, Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, A Perfect Murder, etc. etc. etc.) with turns in last year's Traffic and Wonder Boys, he tucks tail and jumps back into the genre once again. Mind you, this time it isn't a woman that's messing him up. No, this time around it's Sean Bean; you know, the actor who must have signed a contract that states he is prohibited from playing a good guy in any movie until the year 2008 (see Patriot Games and Goldeneye).
Douglas plays a New York shrink named Dr. Conrad, who is married to Famke Janssen because the screenplay calls for someone who looks like Catherine Zeta-Jones. On the week of Thanksgiving, he is assigned a psychiatric case from the unkempt Dr. Sachs (Oliver Platt). The next day his daughter (Skye McCole Bartusiak) is kidnapped and he has until 5 p.m.(!) to retrieve a 6 digit number from the head of the patient(!?!). The patient is Elizabeth (Brittany Murphy), who is somehow first mentioned as a catatonic, squirming patient and by the end of the picture is running around New York and the surrounding area with Douglas by her side. There are other subplots, including a completely unnecessary female cop who is trying to "solve the mystery" (Jennifer Esposito), but everything that is carefully constructed over the first two-thirds of the film vanishes back inside the scriptwriters' heads, and can only be unlocked with a Q-Tip.
It's directed by Gary Fleder (Kiss the Girls), who actually does a good job of building suspense. I found the story established a nice momentum, but everything washed away when the characters started doing unbelievable things. For the most part, the performances are good, but nothing great. It was interesting to note the World Trade Center hadn't been digitally removed from any scenes for "sensitivity purposes".
Suffice it to say, this movie doesn't sit still long enough to rise above its subject matter. Despite all the trailers from TV and supposed hype, Don't Say A Word earns the dubious distinction of being the most mediocre picture of the year.
