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Don't Say a Word
EMAILPRINT20th Century Fox Film Corporation

Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 32 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 10 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Patrick Smith Kelly
Anthony Peckham
Andrew Klavan (novel)
Directed by: Gary Fleder
Release Date:
Theatrical: September 28, 2001
DVD: February 19, 2002
Running Time: 115 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
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).
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Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
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...
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.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
A fairly nifty piece of suspense filmmaking, with a strong if relatively undemanding performance from Douglas.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Generates tension from the get-go, albeit of an increasingly unpleasant variety, on its way to a disappointingly generic climax.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The movie as a whole looks and occasionally plays better than it is.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Staff (Not Credited)
Until it collapses into a pile of contrivances, Don't Say a Word makes for a serviceable, workmanlike thriller.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
This by-the-numbers (no pun intended) psychological thrill ride is efficient and utterly soulless.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
Don't Say a Word can be thought of as a case of Dial B for Boring.
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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard
This is nothing more than one more run-of-the-mill, surprise-free, suspense programmer.
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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
A miler trying to run a marathon, a fair middleweight idea trying to deliver heavyweight thrills.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
Maybe this is a psychological thriller after all: Every thinking member of the audience will be driven insane.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
This all-day sucker put me to sleep -- though it's possible I retreated out of self-defense.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham
Don't even try to make any sense of this --none of it elicits a moment of genuine concern.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
Confuses an empty and derivative stylistic bravura with formal cleverness, and a sterile, mechanistic sensationalism with emotional intensity.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
The movie is a big, noisy mess, with a howler at its center: Overrouged psychiatrist Michael Douglas.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
This noirish, sourish thriller left me unmoving as well as unmoved.
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.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
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.
Pat C. gave it a 2:
Totally forgettable.
raVen gave it a 5:
(5.5) I kept wanting the movie to use all the interesting looking pieces and parts it was given at the beginning, but it never did. Instead it just sat there fingering them, and playing with its hair. ...Don't let it sour you to Michael Douglas though, he's got some great stuff.
Jack gave it a 5:
A few good intense scenes but entirely predictable and dumb.
Richard gave it a 3:
Unpleasant waste of time and talent, especially Brittany Murphy who deserves much better.
Kayli E. gave it a 10:
I LOVED this movie! Brittany Murphy was the best thing that could have happened to it! Everyone did a GREAT job! It had a interesting plot, and it was all tied together and VERY well done. My favorite aspect of it was, of course, Brittany Murphy. She should have won an academy award! Everything she said was convincing and real. See all of her movies! 10/10 <- GREAT film!
Jo M. gave it a 5:
This movie was watchable, but I kept having a feeling that I had seen it before. It later occurred to me that I was thinking about the movie "Ransom," which shares the same "frantic rich parents with missing kid taken by the bad guys" plot. I think that the best acting in the movie was done by the little girl and the hairy dude.
Robert B. gave it a 6:
Decent, but not without its flaws. I think the 34 avg. is maybe a little unfair and will likely discourage people from seeing it, even though it really isn't all THAT bad. The ending is pretty thin though.
