Don't Say a Word

REVIEW
Slick, preposterous and not without a few effective scenes, Don't Say a Word is another in a long line of generic thrillers that paints both its characters and plot strictly by the numbers, but manages to push a thrill button or two in spite of itself. In a role he can do in his sleep (and credit him for not sleepwalking through a tired part), Douglas plays a noted psychiatrist whose daughter is kidnapped by a group of jewel thieves. They want him to retrieve information from a comatose girl (Murphy, whose "I'll never tell" was the movie catchphrase of 2001), and he only has 24 hours. The film is full of coincidences, most of which are tough to overlook, though director Fleder does try to compensate by maintaining some degree of suspense. That he's only marginally successful makes Don't Say a Word all the more infuriating.