surrounded by hype , high hopes , and the promise of an over-the-top performance by clueless's brittany murphy , don't say a word looked full of promise . hell , when i hear that " i'll never tell " whisper on the tv commercial , goose bumps run up my spine . <NEG> alas , word is filled with little but disappointment , a kooky mix </NEG> of girl , interrupted and ransom , with michael douglas and company <NEG> collecting a paycheck to plod through a vapid and dull </NEG> kidnapping thriller . douglas stars as nathan conrad , renowned new york psychologist , devoted father of jessie conrad ( skye mccole bartusiak ) , and loving husband to aggie conrad ( famke janssen ) . after a gang of jewel thieves , headed by sean bean's koster , kidnaps his daughter , nathan is forced to extract from his new patient , the catatonic and violent elisabeth burrows ( murphy ) , the location of some hidden bank job booty that her father hid from the koster gang a decade ago . but with hard-nosed detective sandra cassidy ( jennifer esposito , doing her best j . lo impression ) tracking down koster and his gang of hoodlums , the stakes are raised as nathan races against the clock to crack the mystery of elisabeth's head in order to get the goods inside . the catch - nathan only has until five o'clock to solve the puzzle ! whoa , the suspense is almost too much . don't say a word <NEG> loses the audience inside of 15 minutes </NEG> . murphy looks and acts like linda blair from the exorcist during the first part of the movie , then turns around and reprises like her role from girl , interrupted . and the only real " crazy " to be found in the film is director gary fleder's ( things to do in denver when you're dead ) staggering use of flashback sequences . oliver platt , famke janssen , and even sean bean are decent actors , but the stuff they are given here -- such as a bedridden wife fighting off the token black guy with her crutch -- <NEG> is insulting and demeaning </NEG> . additionally , the use of the surveillance cameras and laptops to track nathan's every move is <NEG> downright unbelievable </NEG> . how do ex-cons fresh out of the big house afford all this equipment ? despite its <NEG> flaws </NEG> , don't say a word is surprisingly some of the best mainstream film you'll find this month -- and audiences will lap it up . americans love <NEG> lukewarm , half-baked </NEG> thrillers starring big names and <NEG> accompanied by cheap thrills </NEG> . someone get me my lithium !
