|

Now Playing
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search
Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

26
Babylon A.D.
19
Bangkok Dangerous
15
College
82
Dark Knight, The
42
Death Race
15
Disaster Movie
36
Fly Me to the Moon
54
Get Smart
49
Hancock
34
Happening, The
78
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
71
Horton Hears a Who!
55
House Bunny, The
61
Incredible Hulk, The
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
79
Iron Man
57
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
73
Kung Fu Panda
52
Longshots, The
24
Love Guru, The
51
Mamma Mia!
43
Meet Dave
35
Mirrors
31
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The
64
Pineapple Express
53
Rocker, The
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
63
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
36
Space Chimps
35
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
51
Step Brothers
47
Swing Vote
60
Traitor
71
Tropic Thunder
70
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
93
WALL-E
64
Wanted
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
93
WALL-E
82
Dark Knight, The
79
Iron Man
78
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
73
Kung Fu Panda
71
Tropic Thunder
71
Horton Hears a Who!
70
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
64
Wanted
64
Pineapple Express
63
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
61
Incredible Hulk, The
60
Traitor
57
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
55
House Bunny, The
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
54
Get Smart
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
53
Rocker, The
52
Longshots, The
51
Mamma Mia!
51
Step Brothers
49
Hancock
47
Swing Vote
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
43
Meet Dave
42
Death Race
36
Space Chimps
36
Fly Me to the Moon
35
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
35
Mirrors
34
Happening, The
31
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The
26
Babylon A.D.
24
Love Guru, The
19
Bangkok Dangerous
15
Disaster Movie
15
College
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

85
Alexandra
40
America the Beautiful
66
American Teen
74
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
65
August Evening
xx
Bachna Ae Haseeno
62
Baghead
58
Beautiful Losers
xx
Beer for My Horses
47
Before the Rains
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
56
Bottle Shock
75
Boy A
55
Bra Boys
61
Brick Lane
64
Brideshead Revisited
47
Burn After Reading
61
Bustin' Down the Door
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
54
CSNY: Déjà Vu
xx
Cthulhu
86
Edge of Heaven, The
66
Elegy
52
Elsa & Fred
80
Encounters at the End of the World
26
Everybody Wants to Be Italian
64
Fall, The
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
82
Frozen River
71
Girl Cut in Two, A
62
Girls Rock!
xx
Goal II: Living the Dream
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
54
Hamlet 2
25
Hell Ride
44
Henry Poole is Here
76
I Served the King of England
72
I.O.U.S. A
63
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
46
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
67
Jellyfish
62
Kabluey
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
78
Last Mistress, The
50
Last Stop for Paul
70
Love Songs
61
Man Named Pearl, A
89
Man on Wire
62
Mister Foe
85
Momma's Man
74
Mongol
46
My Mexican Shivah
80
Order of Myths, The
66
Patti Smith: Dream of Life
54
Ping Pong Playa
77
Pool, The
72
Priceless
61
Red
71
Roman de gare
78
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
51
Savage Grace
55
Save Me
73
Secret, A
57
Sixty Six
58
Sukiyaki Western Django
xx
Surfer, Dude
83
Tell No One
56
Then She Found Me
71
To the Limit
72
Transsiberian
81
Trouble the Water
83
U2 3D
86
Up the Yangtze
79
Visitor, The
61
Wackness, The
54
What We Do Is Secret
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
67
XXY
54
Year of the Fish
xx
Young People F**king
75
Young@Heart
89
Man on Wire
86
Edge of Heaven, The
86
Up the Yangtze
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
85
Momma's Man
85
Alexandra
83
U2 3D
83
Tell No One
82
Frozen River
81
Trouble the Water
80
Encounters at the End of the World
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
80
Order of Myths, The
79
Visitor, The
78
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
78
Last Mistress, The
77
Pool, The
76
I Served the King of England
75
Young@Heart
75
Boy A
74
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
74
Mongol
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
73
Secret, A
72
Priceless
72
Transsiberian
72
I.O.U.S. A
71
To the Limit
71
Girl Cut in Two, A
71
Roman de gare
70
Love Songs
67
XXY
67
Jellyfish
66
Elegy
66
Patti Smith: Dream of Life
66
American Teen
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
65
August Evening
64
Brideshead Revisited
64
Fall, The
63
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
62
Kabluey
62
Mister Foe
62
Baghead
62
Girls Rock!
61
Bustin' Down the Door
61
Wackness, The
61
Man Named Pearl, A
61
Red
61
Brick Lane
58
Beautiful Losers
58
Sukiyaki Western Django
57
Sixty Six
56
Bottle Shock
56
Then She Found Me
55
Save Me
55
Bra Boys
54
Year of the Fish
54
Hamlet 2
54
Ping Pong Playa
54
What We Do Is Secret
54
CSNY: Déjà Vu
52
Elsa & Fred
51
Savage Grace
50
Last Stop for Paul
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
Before the Rains
47
Burn After Reading
46
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
46
My Mexican Shivah
44
Henry Poole is Here
40
America the Beautiful
26
Everybody Wants to Be Italian
25
Hell Ride
xx
Young People F**king
xx
Bachna Ae Haseeno
xx
Cthulhu
xx
Goal II: Living the Dream
xx
Surfer, Dude
xx
Beer for My Horses
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Don't Say a Word
20th Century Fox Film Corporation
FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for violence, including some gruesome images, and language
Starring
Michael Douglas,
Brittany Murphy,
Famke Janssen,
Sean Bean,
Jennifer Esposito,
and
Oliver Platt
In order to save his kidnapped daughter, a noted adolescent psychiatrist (Douglas) must retrieve a critical piece of information from a troubled patient (Murphy).
| GENRE(S): |
Suspense/Thriller
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Patrick Smith Kelly
Anthony Peckham
Andrew Klavan (novel)
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Gary Fleder
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: February 19, 2002
Video: February 19, 2002
Theatrical: September 28, 2001
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
115 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
80
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
Smart, stylish and, most important, satisfying.

80
Village Voice
Michael Atkinson
Fleder's forgettable thriller has a convincing edge, and Douglas remains unchallenged as Hollywood's most tremulous and disquieting dad-under-pressure.

75
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
A fairly nifty piece of suspense filmmaking, with a strong if relatively undemanding performance from Douglas.

70
Variety
Todd McCarthy
Generates tension from the get-go, albeit of an increasingly unpleasant variety, on its way to a disappointingly generic climax.

67
Austin Chronicle
Kimberley Jones
Murphy's screentime takes a back seat to Douglas', of course, but from that back seat she makes a very big noise.

67
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
If there's such a thing as joyless competence, it's exemplified by the grimly sensational kidnap thriller Don't Say a Word.

63
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
Almost nothing new to offer -- despite its good actors, flashy visuals and well-textured New York gloss and grit. But there are teasing hints of another, better movie buried inside somewhere.

63
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
The movie as a whole looks and occasionally plays better than it is.

63
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
I left the film wondering where at the Bellevue-like psychiatric facility that schizophrenic teenager obtained such a becoming brick-red lipstick.

50
Miami Herald
Staff (Not Credited)
Until it collapses into a pile of contrivances, Don't Say a Word makes for a serviceable, workmanlike thriller.

50
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Heartlessly efficient kidnap thriller.

50
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
This by-the-numbers (no pun intended) psychological thrill ride is efficient and utterly soulless.

50
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
Don't Say a Word can be thought of as a case of Dial B for Boring.
50
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
The movie has promise as a psychological thriller, but the filmmakers show far more interest in chases and shoot-outs than characters and ideas.

42
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
The movie is just grindingly by-the-numbers: an uninspired brew of all the clichés of the kidnap-thriller genre, liberally seasoned with brutality, stirred at adrenaline-rush speed by a director with a heavy hand and very little imagination.

40
Mr. Showbiz
Kevin Maynard
This is nothing more than one more run-of-the-mill, surprise-free, suspense programmer.
40
Film Threat
Michael Dequina
The oh-so-convenient convergence of plot threads at the climax make the film feel that much more run-of-the-mill.

40
LA Weekly
Manohla Dargis
Director Gary Fleder can only fling the camera about and indulge in some familiar screen sadism (and no wonder -- his last feature was "Kiss the Girls") as he tries to squeeze a few thrills from material as desiccated as his leading man.

38
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
A miler trying to run a marathon, a fair middleweight idea trying to deliver heavyweight thrills.

38
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
Maybe this is a psychological thriller after all: Every thinking member of the audience will be driven insane.

38
USA Today
Mike Clark
Don't say you weren't warned. There are instant clues that this ill-timed Michael Douglas vehicle is a dually unfortunate viewing experience.

30
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
Thankfully, after its terrific start, Don't Say a Word transmogrifies so totally into Hollywood hooey that it's actually a relief. I'd hate to see a disturbance in the karmic perfection of Douglas's pitch-pure mediocrity.

30
New York Magazine
Peter Rainer
You would have to have been born yesterday to miss the switcheroos and reeking red herrings planted in this pulp.

30
New Times (L.A.)
Gregory Weinkauf
Amid a rather routine plot and standard cop-show stylings -- just doesn't add up to much entertainment value.

30
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
This all-day sucker put me to sleep -- though it's possible I retreated out of self-defense.

25
San Francisco Chronicle
Bob Graham
Don't even try to make any sense of this --none of it elicits a moment of genuine concern.

25
Portland Oregonian
Kim Morgan
Maybe if the story weren't so ludicrous we'd care. Or maybe if the film just went overboard with its ludicrousness, we'd be entertained, but Don't Say a Word is merely boring.

20
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
Confuses an empty and derivative stylistic bravura with formal cleverness, and a sterile, mechanistic sensationalism with emotional intensity.

20
Slate
David Edelstein
The movie is a big, noisy mess, with a howler at its center: Overrouged psychiatrist Michael Douglas.

10
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
This noirish, sourish thriller left me unmoving as well as unmoved.
10
Salon.com
Charles Taylor
A stupid, brutal and nonsensical picture.

10
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
The movie isn't exactly providing entertaining escape. In fact, the only escape on your mind is going to be the exit door.


The average user rating for this movie is 5.7 (out of 10) based on 10 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Read more user comments...
Discuss this movie in our forums |
|