Movie Scene
At the Movies: 'Don't Say a Word'

By Christy Lemire
AP Entertainment Writer

"Don't Say a Word,” a 20th Century Fox release, is rated R for violence, including some gruesome images, and language. Running time: 118 minutes.

The plot, about a psychiatrist who must figure out a number that's locked inside the mind of an insane girl to save his kidnapped daughter, sounds intriguing. And its star, Michael Douglas, has been on a roll with movies including "Traffic" and "Wonder Boys."

So it's a major letdown that after twisting and teasing us for three-quarters of the film, "Don't Say a Word" collapses into a series of unimaginative fistfights and shootouts — and they keep going and going, all the way into a cemetery at night, where they still don't end.

Douglas plays Nathan Conrad, a successful Upper West Side psychiatrist who leads a sickeningly perfect life with his gorgeous wife (Famke Janssen) and bright 8-year-old daughter, Jessie (Skye McCole Bartusiak).

On Thanksgiving eve, his friend Dr. Louis Sachs (Oliver Platt) at Bridgeview Psychiatric Hospital (modeled after New York's Bellevue Hospital) asks him to visit a difficult teen-age patient.

Elisabeth Burrows (Brittany Murphy) has been misdiagnosed repeatedly, and is on the verge of being shipped off to a state mental institution forever unless Nathan can figure out what's wrong with her. He goes to see her in her catatonic state, accomplishes seemingly little and leaves.

The next morning, Nathan wakes up and finds that some bad guys have kidnapped Jessie — and they're the same ones who stole the ruby 10 years ago! Their leader, Koster, says Nathan will get his daughter back only after he's figured out a six-digit number that Elisabeth holds as a secret in her brain. And Nathan must do this by 5 p.m.

Why do they want the number so badly? And how do they know Elisabeth knows it? And why 5 p.m.? It's a totally arbitrary deadline.

There's also a New York City police detective (Jennifer Esposito) who's trying to solve a young woman's murder, and she pops up at all the same places Nathan does during her investigation.

What is this movie about? A jewel heist, an insane girl, a kidnapping or a murder? Director Gary Fleder ("Kiss the Girls") keeps us thoroughly confused but slightly intrigued, even though the story is convoluted and there are some annoying plot holes.

For example, the bad guys have Elisabeth's room at the psychiatric ward bugged. They also have Nathan's apartment rigged with hidden cameras, so they can spy on his wife, who's trapped in bed with a broken leg from a skiing accident. How did no one notice the placement of such high-tech surveillance equipment?

And why is Koster (British actor Sean Bean) such an evil dude? Screenwriters Patrick Smith Kelly and Anthony Peckham barely flesh him out.

They give the same treatment to the rest of the characters, too, wasting the actors' talents.

Douglas normally has strong presence, but he struggles here because his Nathan is so underdeveloped. We know he's stable financially and respected professionally, and not much more.

Murphy is chilling at first, but later her mania seems mannered. And because we're told that she's an excellent mimic, we don't know whether she's truly insane or just faking it.

Esposito is ordinarily sassy and smart, especially on the sitcom "Spin City," and she is here, too, but she seems out of place. The writers added her character when they adapted the screenplay from the award-winning novel by Andrew Klavan, and it shows; no one seems to know what to do with her.

And Janssen is lovely and always has a ton of presence, but here she doesn't get to do much but sit in bed and look concerned — and barely say a word.

"Don't Say a Word," a 20th Century Fox release, is rated R for violence, including some gruesome images, and language. Running time: 118 minutes.

On the web:
• www.dontsayaword.com