The Unsaid (2001)

A seemingly-untroubled adolescent carries disturbing secrets that compel a psychiatrist to unearth the patient's gruesome past.

Director:

Tom McLoughlin

Writers:

Christopher Murphey (story), Miguel Tejada-Flores (screenplay)

Stars:

Andy Garcia, Vincent Kartheiser, Trevor Blumas

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Andy Garcia	...	Michael Hunter
Trevor Blumas	...	Kyle Hunter
Chelsea Field	...	Penny Hunter
Linda Cardellini	...	Shelly Hunter
Peter Hanlon	...	University Chairman
Teri Polo	...	Barbara Lonigan
Dena Lang	...	Gina
Trevor Aikman	...	Graduate Student
Brendan Fletcher	...	Troy Pasternak
Vincent Kartheiser	...	Thomas Caffey
David Millbern	...	Brad (as David Millburn)
Max Peters	...	Young Tommy
Sam Bottoms	...	Joseph Caffey
Sarah Deakins	...	Diana Caffey
Joe Drago	...	Flashback Cop

Storyline

Michael Hunter's lovely, beloved 17 year-old son Kyle committed suicide, although he was in therapy for depression. This ruins Michael's marriage, his daughter Shelly moves in with her mother. He stops treating patients in order to write and teach Psychotherapy, until many years later when a student gets him fascinated by the case of Thomas 'Tommy' Caffey. He was about to be released at his 18th birthday from the closed 'boys school' he was placed into after his father, Joseph, was put into jail for beating his adulterous mother to death. Michael feels that Tommy carries a big chip on his shoulder, ignores that Shelly fell for him at first sight, but is mesmerized by Tommy's resemblance (purposefully enhanced) to Kyle. There is also a revealing meeting with Tommy's dad in jail.

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Plot Keywords:

depression | suicide | psychiatrist | betrayal by a friend | betrayal | 

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Taglines:

He'll risk everything to unlock the secrets of the past.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, nudity/sexual content, language and some drug material

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first not-made-for-TV feature film by director 'Tom McLoughlin' since his 1987 comedy movie Date with an Angel (1987).

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Goofs

When Tommy scares Shelly when she is making him a drink, her hair changes from being behind her back and ears, to in front of her.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Joseph Caffey: If you repeat this I will deny it. Like I have been and I always will. To my grave. Do you understand?

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Connections

Featured in Beyond Clueless (2014)

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Soundtracks

Psychies
Written by Jim Latham
Published by Mar-Tune Music (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Mar-Tune Records

User Reviews

I'm glad it's better than the average TV-movie about this subject

Even though this movie was clearly made with a small budget, it looked very promising to me. I was almost certain that this would be such a movie with a disturbingly realistic subject, that goes right to and through your heart like a knife ... but it didn't. I'm not saying it was a bad movie, it just wasn't that good.

The subject on itself isn't bad though. A young boy is kept in an institution because he saw his mom being murdered by his own father. Since then he hasn't shown much emotions and hasn't spoken about the incident. When Dr. Michael Hunter, a retired college professor and psychologist, examines the boy, he's convinced that they should keep him in the institution a bit longer because he isn't ready for the real world, that he might be a ticking time bomb. He starts working with the boy, in who he sees his own son who committed suicide a few years earlier, and gradually he is able to reveal the horrible truth...

The acting in this movie isn't bad, but it wasn't great either. However, I guess you can't expect any better from a crew without many well-known names (Only Andy Garcia and Teri Polo I had heard of before seeing this movie, the rest of the cast was a complete mystery to me) and it has to be said, I've seen a lot worse in the past. The same can be said about the story which was OK, but not excellent. It was compelling, but somehow I missed something in it. Anyway, I'm already glad that it was a lot better than the average TV-movie that would deal with this subject. But if you want to see an excellent psychological thriller about this subject, than I suggest you watch "Primal Fear". That movie offers about the same story (murder, child abuse,...), but does it in a much better way. I give this movie a 6.5/10. It's worth a watch.

Details

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 September 2001 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Ties That Bind

Filming Locations:

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,154,571

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Legend Media, CineSon Entertainment, Reynolds Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1