In 1991 Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Patrick Koster (Sean Bean) leads a gang of robbers to steal a valuable gem. He is double crossed by two of his gang. The movie flashes forward 10 years. Child psychiatrist Dr. Nathan R. Conrad (Michael Douglas) is brought in to examine state sanatorium patient Elisabeth Burrows (Brittany Murphy). The supposed catatonic is actually mimicking other patients and tells him "I'll never tell." Conrad is happily married to Aggie (Famke Janssen) who is in bed with a broken leg. Koster kidnaps their daughter Jessie. He wants a 6 digit number from Burrows. Burrows' doctor Louis Sachs (Oliver Platt)'s girlfriend was also kidnapped by Koster. She is killed and detective Sandra Cassidy (Jennifer Esposito) is investigating.

Brittany Murphy's performance is distracting. It makes for interesting trailer material but it comes off as campy. Her character is suppose to be a superb mimic which makes it a daunting challenge for any actor. There is something wrong with her scenes. It's either her performance or the material. It doesn't come off well. It feels like bad camp. The kidnapping is more compelling and keeps my interest. I like Famke Janssen and her broken leg. That part has some tension. The rest is problematic. The investigation with Cassidy is disconnected and mostly disengaged. She doesn't add anything until she finally gets to the hospital. This movie holds some possibilities but doesn't work together.

How tragic that "Don't Say a Word" was one of the first, maybe THE first, movies to show New York City right after September 11, 2001. While we would have hoped that they would have elevated the Big Apple to its fullest in the aftermath of the terrorist attack, they waste it here. The movie casts Michael Douglas as psychiatrist Nathan Conrad, trying to communicate with a girl so that he can find his kidnapped daughter. I should identify that the movie doesn't suck - hey, it's infinitely better than "Bio-Dome"; it's just that it should have come out much better given the talent involved. So this flick is little more than a way to pass time.

Overall, I really liked this movie, which surprised me a little bit. The trailers I had seen for it had me thinking it was going to be kind of "cheesy" for lack of a better word, but this was actually very engrossing. It had an interesting story line, sustained suspense and for the most part was well acted.

I particularly liked Brittany Murphy as Elisabeth Burrows, the psychiatric inmate whose tortured mind holds the information that Dr. Conrad (Michael Douglas) needs to get in order to save his young daughter Jessie's (Skye McCole Bartusiak) life. Murphy seemed so "into" her character that it was almost spooky to watch her. She was extremely convincing. Douglas I thought also offered up a good performance, as did Sean Bean as Patrick, the head kidnapper. Young Miss Bartusiak was commendable but to me didn't seem to portray the range of emotions I would expect a young child to be feeling in Jesse's circumstances. She just seemed altogether too calm. The same could be said for Famke Janssen as Jessie's mother Aggie Conrad. I realize the character had a broken leg and apparently couldn't get out of bed, but again she just seemed to take the whole thing too calmly (and, when her own life was threatened she seemed able to move around well enough, broken leg or not!) As for Oliver Platt as Conrad's colleague Dr. Sachs? I find that, depending on the movie, I either like Platt or don't (no middle ground) and I didn't care for him in this movie.

Overall, though, the movie was quite good as a vehicle for Douglas. I'd rate it as a 7/10.