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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

67
$9.99
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91
Hurt Locker, The
89
Goodbye Solo
88
Tulpan
87
Gomorrah
86
Seraphine
84
Summer Hours
83
U2 3D
83
Revanche
83
Tyson
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
82
Sugar
82
Hunger
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
81
Il Divo
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
80
Food, Inc.
80
Tokyo Sonata
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
78
O'Horten
77
Every Little Step
77
Sin Nombre
75
24 City
74
Treeless Mountain
74
Afghan Star
74
Two Lovers
74
Song of Sparrows, The
74
Lemon Tree
71
Pressure Cooker
71
Jerichow
70
Shall We Kiss?
70
Tony Manero
70
End of the Line, The
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
69
Unmistaken Child
67
$9.99
67
Rudo y Cursi
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
66
Adoration
66
Moon
65
Sex Positive
65
Departures
64
Outrage
64
Examined Life
64
Throw Down Your Heart
64
Lymelife
63
Tokyo!
63
Cheri
63
Dead Snow
63
Tetro
63
Great Buck Howard, The
62
Cherry Blossoms
62
Big Man Japan
62
Not Forgotten
61
Sunshine Cleaning
60
Under Our Skin
59
Sleep Dealer
58
Julia
58
Easy Virtue
57
Away We Go
57
Merry Gentleman, The
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
56
Girl from Monaco, The
56
American Violet
55
Brothers Bloom, The
54
Is Anybody There?
54
Pontypool
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
52
Quiet Chaos
50
Management
48
Alien Trespass
45
Whatever Works
42
Little Ashes
42
Tennessee
40
Limits of Control, The
40
Paris 36
38
Gigantic
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
35
New York
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
28
Surveillance
22
What Goes Up
18
Downloading Nancy
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
xx
Call of the Wild
xx
Home
xx
Offshore
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
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