Don't Say a Word (2001)

When the daughter of a psychiatrist is kidnapped, he's horrified to discover that the abductors' demand is that he break through to a post traumatic stress disorder suffering young woman who knows a secret...

Director:

Gary Fleder

Writers:

Andrew Klavan (novel), Anthony Peckham (screenplay),

Stars:

Michael Douglas, Sean Bean, Brittany Murphy

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Douglas	...	Dr. Nathan R. Conrad
Sean Bean	...	Patrick Koster
Brittany Murphy	...	Elisabeth Burrows
Skye McCole Bartusiak	...	Jessie Conrad
Guy Torry	...	Dolen
Jennifer Esposito	...	Detective Sandra Cassidy
Shawn Doyle	...	Russel Maddox
Victor Argo	...	Sydney Simon
Conrad Goode	...	Max Dunlevy
Paul Schulze	...	Jake
Lance Reddick	...	Arnie
Famke Janssen	...	Aggie Conrad
Oliver Platt	...	Dr. Louis Sachs
Aidan Devine	...	Leon Edward Croft
Alex Campbell	...	Jonathan

Storyline

A group of thieves steal a rare gem, but in the process, two of the men double cross the leader of the thieving group, Patrick, and take off with the precious stone. Ten years later, prominent psychiatrist Nathan Conrad is invited to examine a disturbed young woman named Elisabeth. Patrick immediately kidnaps Nathan's daughter, forcing Nathan to attempt to get Elisabeth to reveal a secret number which will ultimately lead Patrick to the whereabouts of the precious gem that has eluded him.

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Plot Keywords:

psychiatrist | post traumatic stress | burial | greed | outlaw gang | 

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Taglines:

You want what they want, don't you... I'll never tell... any of you.

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, including some gruesome images, and language

Details

Official Sites:

Fox

Country:

USA Australia Switzerland Canada

Language:

English Italian Chinese

Release Date:

28 September 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ni una palabra

Filming Locations:

Hart Island, Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£597,896 (UK) (22 February 2002)

Gross:

£1,757,429 (UK) (15 March 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Regency Enterprises, Village Roadshow Pictures, NPV Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite the fact that this was filmed in Super 35, "Filmed in Panavision" is listed in the end credits.

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Goofs

When the police agree to give Conrad an escort, an overhead shot reveals some paraders carrying flags of several Canadian provinces.

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Quotes

Jessie Conrad: [Telephone rings] Hello?
Nathan Conrad: [Wants to play a trick on Jessie] Hello?
Jessie Conrad: Hi Daddy.
Nathan Conrad: Exsuse me, who am I talking to?
Jessie Conrad: This is me.
Nathan Conrad: No, no my Jessie is 8 years old. The girl who I'm talking to is at least 11.
Jessie Conrad: [laughs]
Nathan Conrad: [laughs] Can you speak to your mother please!

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Connections

References Ransom (1996)

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Soundtracks

"Promises"
Written by India.Arie and Paige Lackey
Performed by India.Arie
Courtesy of Motown Record Company, L.P.
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

I'm Gonna Teh-eh-elll: Very predictable

Ever see a movie for the first time yet still have to ask yourself, "Wait, have I seen this before?" That's pretty much what we're dealing with here. Even if you haven't seen this movie yet, you have.

With "Don't Say a Word," it's like whoever made it was so enthralled by the high-concept, give-it-to-me-in-ten-words-or-less premise, they figured they didn't have to try real hard with anything else. Sure, it's competent. But with its intriguing premise, it should have advanced way past that.

Oh well. It doesn't. Michael Douglas -- who in this film is wearing more make-up than the "women" I see on Santa Monica Blvd. at midnight -- puts in the kind of performance that, if this were an office job, wouldn't get him fired but wouldn't get him promoted. It's more than a drive-by paycheck pick-up, but Douglas has been around long enough to size up a script and know when he should bother trying and when he shouldn't. He goes with choice B here. And it doesn't really matter.

(As a side note, when is the last time Michael Douglas had an on-screen wife within 20 years of his own age? I mean, come on. Do you really think that in real life the man could...oh, wait, never mind.)

As for everything else, Brittany Murphy scores some points for playing a schizophrenic disaster of a girl who you'd still like to nail. Oliver Platt, who is getting fatter faster than Aretha Franklin, shows up for some day player-level acting work. Famke Jannsen looks sexy in a cast, but isn't given much to do. And as for the cop, played by Jennifer Esposito, she is so irrelevant to the plot that she's practically in a different movie altogether.

The plot? If you can't figure out how this movie ends, you're trying even less than whoever wrote it.

Having said all that, it will still kill two free hours just fine. Little ventured, nothing gained.