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Don't Say a Word

R Released Sep 28, 2001 1h 53m Mystery & Thriller List
24% Tomatometer 114 Reviews 49% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
Ruthless crook Patrick Koster (Sean Bean) and his partner capture young Jessie Conrad (Skye McCole Bartusiak) and hold her for an unusual ransom. Koster wants Jessie's therapist father, Nathan (Michael Douglas), to somehow coax traumatized teen Elisabeth (Brittany Murphy) into divulging a mysterious code number that will lead the criminals to a hidden jewel worth a fortune. Unfortunately, it may be impossible to convince the delusional Elisabeth to cooperate: she hasn't spoken in 10 years.
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Critics Consensus

Don't Say A Word is slick and competently made, but the movie is routine and stretches believability with many eye rolling moments.

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Critics Reviews

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Empire Magazine Rated: 2/5 Dec 30, 2006 Full Review Kimberley Jones Austin Chronicle Rated: 3/5 Mar 10, 2003 Full Review Manohla Dargis L.A. Weekly Fleder can only fling the camera about and indulge in some familiar screen sadism ... as he tries to squeeze a few thrills from material as desiccated as his leading man. Oct 21, 2002 Full Review Pat Stacey The Herald (Ireland) Don't Say a Word is mediocre, shrink-wrapped Hollywood pap. Oct 17, 2017 Full Review Kit Bowen Hollywood.com Rated: 2/5 Nov 20, 2008 Full Review Mark Halverson Sacramento News & Review Rated: 3/5 Aug 7, 2008 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Hailey H Best acting they made it seem so real an very interesting i wasn’t expecting such an amazing twist an special Britney Murphy 👑💓💓 Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/17/24 Full Review Audience Member Daring! New Movie! The most interesting thing is the question "what if psychiatrists are for prisons?". Also would like to add that there was allot of potential in the cast. Thriller/Action drama, mystery, thriller, so it was a mystery mystery but it was also a psychiatric movie. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/04/24 Full Review Regina P Looks like it was made for Michael Douglas... come to think of it, every movie Michael Douglas is in looks like it was tailor-made for him. Maybe he just makes the story his own. Anyway, typical movie for its time. It was made in a time when you could always get exactly what you expected. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 06/05/24 Full Review Justin T This looks like a film. Like a traditional film, nice grain, high contrast, pretty and analogue! The star though are the characters. They are well drawn, acted and interesting. It's not just the story that drives this, it is the motivation of the characters. The pace is good with each moment adding to the overall experience building up and keeping your attention. It is thrilling and engaging but I feel that even though I enjoyed it I will probably forget it in six months. Which is possibly a good thing as I could enjoy it again in the future. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/05/23 Full Review Steve D The cast does a great job but this script is ridiculous. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 09/25/23 Full Review Jack S Murphy tries her best to rise above the standard material here, and there's something potentially intreaguing in her personal story early on. But the rest of the cast merely goes through the motions, unable to generate any suspense or excitement whatsoever, and regrettably, the film becomes sillier as it plods along to a flat, unsatisfying conclusion. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 09/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Don't Say a Word

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Movie Info

Synopsis Ruthless crook Patrick Koster (Sean Bean) and his partner capture young Jessie Conrad (Skye McCole Bartusiak) and hold her for an unusual ransom. Koster wants Jessie's therapist father, Nathan (Michael Douglas), to somehow coax traumatized teen Elisabeth (Brittany Murphy) into divulging a mysterious code number that will lead the criminals to a hidden jewel worth a fortune. Unfortunately, it may be impossible to convince the delusional Elisabeth to cooperate: she hasn't spoken in 10 years.
Director
Gary Fleder
Producer
Arnon Milchan, Arnold Kopelson, Anne Kopelson
Screenwriter
Anthony Peckham, Patrick Smith Kelly, Andrew Klavan
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
New Regency Pictures, Kopelson Entertainment
Rating
R (Some Gruesome Images|Language|Violence)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 28, 2001, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA)
$55.0M
Runtime
1h 53m
Sound Mix
Dolby SR, DTS, Dolby Stereo, Surround, SDDS, Dolby A, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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