Dr. Nathan Conrad: Michael Douglas	Aggie Conrad: Famke Janssen
Patrick Koster: Sean Bean	Det. Cassidy: Jennifer Esposito
Jessie Conrad: Skye McCole Bartusiak	Dr. Jerald Sachs: Oliver Platt
Director: Gary Fleder	Elizabeth Burrows: Brittany Murphy

30 Second Bottom Line: A psychiatrist, blackmailed by the kidnappers of his young daughter, is forced to get information from a semi catatonic patient. She has a set of numbers frozen in her memory, that can lead to recovering a highly valued precious gemstone.

Story Line: Dr. Nathan Conrad (Michael Douglas) is a New York psychiatrist, specializing in tough cases involving teens. His eight-year-old daughter Jessie (Skye McCole Bartusiak) is kidnapped by blackmailers, in a middle of the night break-in, as they all sleep. They kidnappers want Conrad to get information from his patient Elizabeth Burrows (Brittany Murphy) who is in a zombie like state. Elizabeth is a violent but angelic-looking 18-year-old girl.

The best action in the film is at the beginning as we see a daring bank robbery executed by Patrick Koster (Sean Bean) and his gang. It's a well thought out plan, foiled by a fellow gang member using sleight of hand to steal the precious gem they've just lifted from the bank's vault.

Patrick hunts the man who stole the gem he stole, only to be thwarted when it was within his grasp. Although he's a lifelong criminal, Patrick had never been convicted of a crime that resulted in jail time until then. That was ten years ago. He is once again a free man and when he learns that Dr. Conrad is treating the deranged daughter of the man who stole his gem, he decides to kidnap Conrad's daughter. The mission for Dr. Conrad, should he decide to accept it, is to use his skills to get a series of numbers locked in Elizabeth's subconscious, which will lead to the location of the stone.

Tell Me More About It: Don't Say a Word has the general feel of the film Along Came A Spider. When you think thriller starring Morgan Freeman or Michael Douglas, you have reasons to have high expectations, even if the story has major plot holes. We go to these movies to have fun. There were plenty of plot twists in Spider, in addition to surprises by some of the key characters. Here, it's not that there are no surprises and twists but they appear by the numbers, even though the film is slickly produced and well acted. I would compare the work by Douglas here to Julia Roberts in America's Sweethearts- good, but not nearly their best.

Michael Douglas is again Mr. Smooth, as we've come to know him in a film like A Perfect Murder. He has a trophy wife, Aggie (Famke Janssen), who is bedridden with a cast on her leg from a skiing accident and a bright young daughter who, given enough time, might have charmed her way away from the thugs. If you know anything about the movie you understand that we are being teased with the close relationship of Conrad and Jessie so that we are appalled when she is missing.

Even Detective Cassidy (Jennifer Esposito) is a "what you see is what you get" stock character, a tough female detective who is there to save the day; and Oliver Platt offers no surprises in his characterization. I'm pleased to say, however, that Skye McCole Bartusiak and Brittany Murphy turn in strong performances that really save the film from falling into the category of a total bore.

Spoiler Warning: Things just happened too neatly here to generate any fear that the daughter might be killed or that Conrad would not win out in the end. Even if you know there will be a happy ending, the film should create some doubt in your mind that it might not.

Throughout the movie, too much happens too conveniently. When a person needs a gun, it becomes available, people show up just in time, and in general, everything is scripted to fit just right. Should you doubt this, consider this small spoiler-almost immediately Patrick is able to corrupt Dr. Sachs (Oliver Platt) into getting Conrad to take Elizabeth's case. That same night the kidnapping thieves break into a ritzy apartment (apparently just above the Conrad's) making all kinds of noise that is ignored, and by the morning they have kidnapped Jessie and have installed special phones in the apartment to communicate with Dr. Conrad. The level of TV and phone surveillance would have required both detailed planning and plenty of installation time to set it all up. I was trying to get into the reality that was being portrayed but I was never able to really accept that anyone was in danger or that even Aggie, home alone in a cast, would not find a way to defend herself.

The more I think about this film the less I like it. I have a bias to want to like a thriller that Michael Douglas is in. For his fans, Don't Say a Word is worth paying to see. But if you are looking for a thriller that stands on its own merits, see something like The Deep End, rent Along Came A Spider or look for the soon to be released In the Bedroom.

Michael Douglas: Traffic	Famke Janssen: Made
Sean Bean: Lord of the Rings	Jennifer Esposito: Dracula 2000
Skye McCole Bartusiak: Riding in Cars with Boys	Oliver Platt: Deadline-TV
Brittany Murphy: Sidewalks of New York	Gary Fleder: Kiss the Girls