डोंट से ए वर्ड

I hadn't seen this and at a loss of what to stream one evening I put it on. It's a really good little thriller with a great star turn from Michael Douglas and a very on form, and top villain, Sean Bean.

There's some really dodgy plot points. The moment Michael Douglas returns from checking his front door is one, watch it and you'll see what I mean. A very odd response and scene. That said i really enjoyed the old school thriller-ness of it and was swept along.

The sad bit is that Brittany. Murphy puts on a stunning performance here, vulnerable yet strong and totally on point throughout her plotline which holds the movie together. She died far too young and this movie shows us a glimpse of what she would have surely built upon as her career progressed. Also, in a double tragedy for this film Skye McCole Bratusiak has also passed away, her performance here is charm without ever being too much at points a touch of a young Jodie Foster about her. Both huge losses and both of their performances alone make this movie worth watching and a little sad to reflect on as the end credits roll by.

My 11 year old nephew said it was the scariest movie he's ever seen. I can't quite agree with that, but the level of intensity and the fast moving plot really impressed me, even if it all didn't quite add up in the end. I can't remember a movie that I've seen in awhile that just MOVED along so well and had so little downtime. Given the 'deadline', it felt like it was in real-time for the second half of the movie.

I was a little bothered by Michael Douglas having a wife the age of Famke. I love her and its not a knock against her but there was no need to keep up Douglas' legacy of attracting wives under 35 for him. Gwyneth Paltrow, Demi Moore and Daryl Hannah have all been love interests for him - why? Because its the male fantasy? Reeks of insecurity to me. Plus I don't see Dame Judi Dench romancing Leo, do I? Meryl Streep and James Franco? Anyway, this is not important, just slightly annoying.

There are questions I'd like to ask the screenwriter because there are inconsistencies along the way and about one or two things that are totally out of the question.

However, as I mentioned, the movie moves along so fast that you might not have time to dwell on anything for too long. I don't think it was speeded up to cover anything up either.

The best part is the acting, especially by Brittany Murphy. I didn't enjoy her in "Clueless" but really loved her in "Girl Interupted" and thought she was the best thing about that movie. Here she gives it all, in a part that could have been laughed off the screen if it weren't played exactly right. Jennifer Esposito is also very believable as a cop, Sean Bean as a kidnapper and, as mentioned, Famke as a trophy wife.

Worth watching, for sure. 7/10.

Here's another interesting kidnap story. Sean Bean always plays a believable villain and Michael Douglas usually plays roles that keep the audience's attention....so the almost- two hours go by pretty quickly. The whole cast, actually, pretty good with no one person standing out.

The story loses points because the ending goes on too long and has the standard villain-holds-the-gun-and-doesn't shoot-too long cliché which drives critics, me included crazy. That, and a bit too many f-words in here by the female cop (Jennifer Esposito) which simply aren't necessary, and a few other holes all reduce this from a sure 9-star to an "8.....but don't misunderstand: it's worth a look.

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.

This movie provides in the thrills department. It stars Michael Douglas in the lead role (and he IS well cast) as a psychiatrist whose daughter is kidnapped by a bunch of men who want him to extract a six-digit number from a mentally disturbed young lady. Both parties then proceed to match wits en route to a great climax towards the end of the movie.

This was based on the book by the same name. The book was quite good, too. I rank this movie as your typical thriller with good twists.

*** out of ****