Don't say a word indeed. It's pretty hard not to when your dealing with a film that's this uninteresting. This is one of the most boring "beat the clock" thrillers I've seen in quite sometime. Blending the kidnap caper aspect of Ransom with just about every movie cliche you can think of, Don't Say a Word unfolds with a surprising lack of tension. Based on the award winning novel, Don't Say a Word presents Michael Douglas as a doctor with a world of dilemmas.

It seems that an extremely disturbed patient (Brittany Murphy) of his, has a code locked away inside her head. A group of pretentious and underdeveloped bad guys (headed by Sean Bean) have kidnapped Douglas' daughter (cute Skye McCole Bartusiak) and won't give her back until the good doctor is able to retrieve the code. Meanwhile, a tough as nails police officer (Jennifer Esposito) is hot on the case. Enough already. Not only is this picture dull, but it has far too much going on.

The only thing worth recommending, are some of the performances. Douglas is one of our most dependable actors and he does his best to add realism to the project. Murphy gives a strong physical turn as the troubled patient. Bartusiak is an intelligent, natural presence as the youngster who finds herself abducted. Bean is all too familiar as the heavy. Famke Janssen is effective as Douglas' helpless wife, but her character's actions are all too predictable. Even the usually humorous Oliver Platt is wasted in a bit part. Don't even get me started on Esposito's zealous detective. We've seen this character in countless other movies, the only catch here is that she's a female, and that's hardly enough to make the audience forget familiarity. She's too talented for this junk. Strangely, Don't Say a Word moves at a quick pace, but it rarely excites the audience. I think this is because there is never really a sense of any danger.

This film never takes any chances, and it's hard to fear villains that are this dull. This big mess of a movie reminded me of John Badham's Nick of Time. Both pictures are full of talent, and move quickly, but leave the audience completely unfulfilled.