Don't Say A Word

By Anthony Quinn

22 February 2002

Michael Douglas plays  another  of  his  neurotic  supermen  in  Don't Say A Word, a thriller with what  must  be  called  an  expense-account  attitude  to credibility. A ruthless gang of  jewel  thieves  kidnap  the  daughter  of  a  top New York psychiatrist (Douglas) and blackmail him into coaxing  out  a  vital bit of information from a young woman (Brittany Murphy) who may  or  may not be faking catatonia. Meanwhile, his wife (Famke Janssen) lies in bed with a broken leg while the thieves  keep  watch,  and  a  cop  (Jennifer Esposito) investigating a floater in the Hudson is diligently putting together the jigsaw of the plot. Are you with this so far? The set-up, reminiscent of the Mel  Gibson vehicle  Ransom,  preys  on  privileged  New  Yorkers' fear  of  a  rapacious underclass, here represented by gang leader Sean Bean,  all  narrowed  eyes and "cruel" British accent. Director  Gary  Fleder  shoots  the  action  over  a gunmetal-drab Thanksgiving in Manhattan, vainly trying to invest a bit  of  grit into   the  proceedings,  but  quite  unable  to  curb  the  plot's  sky-rocketing preposterousness. Try not to "tsk" too loudly as Douglas steals a  police  car, a mobile phone and a speedboat en route to the climactic showdown,  during which Bean gets to say the line, "Can you imagine what will happen  if  this  is bullshit?" A bit late for that, pal.