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Don't Say a Word
20th Century Fox Film Corporation


5.7

based on 32 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 10 votes
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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...

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Smart, stylish and, most important, satisfying.

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.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

A fairly nifty piece of suspense filmmaking, with a strong if relatively undemanding performance from Douglas.

Variety Todd McCarthy

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

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.

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.

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.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The movie as a whole looks and occasionally plays better than it is.

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.

Miami Herald Staff (Not Credited)

Until it collapses into a pile of contrivances, Don't Say a Word makes for a serviceable, workmanlike thriller.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Heartlessly efficient kidnap thriller.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

This by-the-numbers (no pun intended) psychological thrill ride is efficient and utterly soulless.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

A miler trying to run a marathon, a fair middleweight idea trying to deliver heavyweight thrills.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

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

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

Don't even try to make any sense of this --none of it elicits a moment of genuine concern.

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.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Confuses an empty and derivative stylistic bravura with formal cleverness, and a sterile, mechanistic sensationalism with emotional intensity.

Slate David Edelstein

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

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

This noirish, sourish thriller left me unmoving as well as unmoved.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

A stupid, brutal and nonsensical picture.

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.

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.

Don't Say a Word 20th Century Fox Film Corporation

Don't Say a Word
20th Century Fox Film Corporation