"Don't Say a Word", is the perfect example of good idea gone cliche. It is the story of a successful psychiatrist forced to retrieve important information from the mind of a patient in order to save his daughter's life.
Michael Douglas plays Dr. Nathan Conrad, psychiatrist, husband and father. He agrees to take on a colleague's case , with no idea what's in store for him and his family. Soon after meeting his patient Elisabeth(Brittany Murphy), his young daughter is abducted. To get his daughter back, he must convince Elisabeth to reveal six important numbers that will lead the abductors to a jewel worth ten million dollars. To raise the stakes, Conrad is given until 5pm the same day to do it. No problem!
I can't help but be disappointed, because this could have been a really enjoyable movie. All of the pieces were in place, a strong premise and good actors (Michael Douglas, Famke Janssen, Oliver Platt and Brittany Murphy who I had never heard of until now). Unfortunately it also had every Hollywood cliche except for the token "take time for gratuitous sex". It could have been so much more.
I was disappointed that a girl being so afraid and unstable in the beginning could be won over so quickly. I don't care how charming Michael Douglas is (and he must be exceptionally charming to marry Catherine Zeta), the movie should have spent much more time with him struggling to get through to Elisabeth. I loved watching her in the beginning with her "I'll never tell" that you've probably seen in all of the previews. Unfortunately they spent too little time with Douglas and Murphy in combating roles, and too much with Douglas as her father figure.
I also love Oliver Platt. He is great in everything he does. Unfortunately here he only does it for the first half of the movie. Apparently he had somewhere else to be for the second half of shooting, because he was basically dropped from the movie at the mid-way point, along with his entire story line. Use him or lose him, just don't do it half way through a movie!
Finally, we have a cop who is a waste of space. Take her off the screen, use that screen time to expand Dr. Conrad's time appealing to his patient, and then you'd have had a really interesting movie.
Overall, it isn't a bad movie. It just isn't as good as it could have been either. Save it for cheap movie night, don't get your hopes up for anything original, and enjoy the performances (especially Brittany Murphy). Dr.'s orders.
Michael Douglas plays Dr. Nathan Conrad, psychiatrist, husband and father. He agrees to take on a colleague's case , with no idea what's in store for him and his family. Soon after meeting his patient Elisabeth(Brittany Murphy), his young daughter is abducted. To get his daughter back, he must convince Elisabeth to reveal six important numbers that will lead the abductors to a jewel worth ten million dollars. To raise the stakes, Conrad is given until 5pm the same day to do it. No problem!
I can't help but be disappointed, because this could have been a really enjoyable movie. All of the pieces were in place, a strong premise and good actors (Michael Douglas, Famke Janssen, Oliver Platt and Brittany Murphy who I had never heard of until now). Unfortunately it also had every Hollywood cliche except for the token "take time for gratuitous sex". It could have been so much more.
I was disappointed that a girl being so afraid and unstable in the beginning could be won over so quickly. I don't care how charming Michael Douglas is (and he must be exceptionally charming to marry Catherine Zeta), the movie should have spent much more time with him struggling to get through to Elisabeth. I loved watching her in the beginning with her "I'll never tell" that you've probably seen in all of the previews. Unfortunately they spent too little time with Douglas and Murphy in combating roles, and too much with Douglas as her father figure.
I also love Oliver Platt. He is great in everything he does. Unfortunately here he only does it for the first half of the movie. Apparently he had somewhere else to be for the second half of shooting, because he was basically dropped from the movie at the mid-way point, along with his entire story line. Use him or lose him, just don't do it half way through a movie!
Finally, we have a cop who is a waste of space. Take her off the screen, use that screen time to expand Dr. Conrad's time appealing to his patient, and then you'd have had a really interesting movie.
Overall, it isn't a bad movie. It just isn't as good as it could have been either. Save it for cheap movie night, don't get your hopes up for anything original, and enjoy the performances (especially Brittany Murphy). Dr.'s orders.