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Poster (c) 20th Century Fox
There is really nothing in Don�t Say a Word that�s especially original. For the most part, it�s just a typical child-in-danger scenario where the father (who always has a prominent job) cracks and does whatever he can to save her (the child is always female). The turn in the movie was welcome, although the movie doesn�t really start until about 30 minutes into it, which went by quite quickly. The rest of the movie seems to drag on and on, but I digress. There is always one kidnapper who is a little kinder, and almost folds under pressure. The mother is always handicapped in the beginning but soon rises to the occasion. There are a whole lot more clich�s I could go through, but I think I�ll stop.
I can understand how Don�t Say a Word would be Murphy�s breakout role, but it doesn�t really show how she could become today�s �it-girl� that she is now. This role isn�t one that teenagers could identify with. Come to think of it, I couldn�t identify with her. I couldn�t read her face; tell what her emotions were. For a role that required the audience to feel with her and feel what she was going through, it didn�t work. Douglas acted, well, as Michael Douglas. Nothing new.
As in all generic thrillers, there are some good, tense scenes (although it�s obvious what would happen), but nothing new. When, at the end, we find out what the numbers stand for, they throw it in our face and there�s even a line like, �I KNOW the number�s for a��, when they never even mentioned it before. Lastly, I could have done without the multiple flashbacks. It would have been more effective without them. To wrap it all up, Don�t Say a Word is not a bad movie, it�s just generic.
Rated R for violence, including some gruesome images, and language.
Review Date: November 16, 2003
