"Don't Say A Word" is a psychological thriller based on the novel by Andrew Klavan. Michael Douglas, starring as Dr. Nathan Conrad, plays his usual role of a wealthy guy with everything who gets pushed over the edge. Given his repertoire of similar movies, such as "Fatal Attraction," "Basic Instinct" and "A Perfect Murder," Douglas portrays his character with skill and finesse.
The film opens with five thieves robbing a safety security box and stealing a $1.5 million jewel. Only two of the robbers, however, run away with the jewel and the other three are left trying to find them.
Flash forward 10 years later when Dr. Conrad is persuaded by his colleague, Dr. Louis Sachs (Oliver Platt), to help an eighteen-year-old patient named Elisabeth. Nobody else has been able to deal with Elisabeth because of her violent outbursts. She does not like to be touched and is schizophrenic. Dr. Conrad is considered New York's top teen psychologist, the only one who may be able to reach Elisabeth. After five minutes of session time, she hints that Dr. Conrad is working for "them." Is paranoia another mental problem to add to her list or does she really know something?
The next morning, Dr. Conrad awakens to find his eight-year-old daughter missing. He gets a call from the kidnappers. They demand that he makes Elisabeth reveal a six-digit number by 5p.m .or his daughter dies.
Homicide detective Sandra Cassidy (Jennifer Esposito) finds the body of a young woman, Sarah. After much investigation, she links Sarah to Dr. Sachs.
What is the connection among all of these stories?
While some may label "Don't Say A Word" as a carbon-copy of the Mel Gibson thriller "Ransom," it merely shares some basic similarities. In fact, "Don't Say a Word" is a much better film.
"Don't Say a Word" is, in fact, a movie more similar to the 1995 Johnny Depp film "Nick of Time" than "Ransom." Both are psychological thrillers that involve non-monetary ransoms. In order to rescue their daughters, the fathers are forced to meet a tough deadline by doing something almost impossible, which consequently brings out courage and bravery that they normally wouldn't show.
