The Quiet

The Quiet (Toronto Film Festival Cut) Mr. Black's Grade: B Starring Edie Falco, Elisha Cuthbert, and Shawn Ashmore.

Directed by Jamie Babbit, who is apparently known for lighter TV fare. She has thrown that out the window with The Quiet. Dot (Camilla Belle), a deaf orphan girl, is sent to live with a wholesome foster family, but soon realizes all is not cop-acetic.

Something about this film really hit me. It is a very dark and adult tale set in any town USA. You would find me to be a quiet guy generally, and I like to listen to folks have to say. When you pay attention, people will tell you the most amazing things. 'Dot' certainly goes through that in this film. This is a story about teenagers, and it is appealing that they act that way, saying stupid things and not being 'wise' beyond their years.

The film captured High School for me to a tee, and featured nice pacing and a better than expected performance from the ever-so-lovely Elisha Cuthbert. Some folks may get completely turned off by the subject material, since this is very dark, depressing and very adult material. But for some reason the 'Dot' character really got me...

Go watch "The Quiet"! Quickly! I can't get over what a good film it is – what a surprise! After watching The Quiet, I checked out its many awful critic reviews, then looked at it on the good old IMDb. Another surprise - it pretty much has nothing but raving user reviews – the People have spoken. I'm inclined to agree, as I picked the film up because I heard it was a thriller about normal people's dark, guilty secrets, which is always fun! I didn't really know much about the actual plot, and so, late last night, when I bunged it on the DVD with the idea of watching ten or so minutes before bed, I found that I couldn't stop watching it. I felt *compelled* to watch, even when the film was plumbing it's darkest depths and I was hanging over the edge of my seat feeling at my most unsettled and muttering to myself things like "mad" and "off key". If you don't already know what happens, I assure you, you will be completely surprised. The subject matter is one of those ones that some people think should never be dramatised, and it definitely *does* leave you unsettled (catch the scene where Nina confides her plan to Dot in the cafeteria – disturbing!), but I would say it will stick in my head, as apart from the twists, and the intense construction of suspense, the characters, who all start out as unsympathetic, go through such brilliantly contrived arcs, that you find yourself empathising with even the most evil. The two main characters are wicked – Elisha Cuthbert from 24 packs a stirring punch as the popular cheerleader from Hell with an unbelievable dark side and a complex set of issues, while Camille Bell puts in a career topping turn as not-so-deaf Dot, keeper of everyone's secrets – and work really well together. You also may find yourself laughing nervously a certain points and feeling bad for doing so, but that just means that the makers have provoked a reaction… Basically, I totally got more than I expected and I would recommend The Quiet to most people as shocking but compelling viewing! But, *don't* watch if you can't stand a film that makes you a bit uncomfortable, or one that makes you feel kinda guilty for liking it!

This is a flawed gem of a movie. The ending is a big crack in this diamond. I suggest seeing it, but with the foreknowledge this is a quirky little film that stutters badly on occasion and leaves you wondering in disbelief if that could actually happen-remember- a good script suspends disbelief-- and then realize- it could actually happen.

This is what I call the evil teen genre. Some young flesh in tight clothes with some sociopathic behavior thrown in for good measure. The acting is television quality but the script is intriguing enough that you won't notice until after mulling over how the whole story unfolded and whether it is really plausible or not. I don't find this story plausible and the acting really falters like a broken ankle at the end, but I also know sloppier crimes have gone undiscovered so I guess it could happen.

It's just not really what you would expect though, so be prepared to go.. HUH??? WHAT??

I liked a lot of the dialog in the movie- the bickering was well written.

PLOT: a deaf girl who is the daughter of a recently dead relative shows up on a family's doorstep and they take her in. The family's daughter is NOT amused and the family's father has a rather odd relationship with the rest of the family. Let's just say he's a self-centered asshole with a bad temper that isn't above getting physical over a verbal argument and he has a fetish.

Adding this mysterious deaf girl to their already weird suburban hell mix makes for some interesting fireworks. You will be disappointed with the ending but it's a fantastic story with pretty girls( no skin to speak of, though- BOO!!) up until the last 12 minutes or so where it kind of careens into a ditch and comes to a hasty halt.

Although this movie was very intense and at times sickening it really wasn't what I was expecting. I won't lie and say it wasn't at all entertaining because it left both me and my boyfriend speechless several times but it lacked that high quality you look for. This movie reminded me too much of something you would see on the lifetime channel. It displayed a dysfunctional family no doubt but it just didn't seem dramatic enough to make it into the theater. You really do get to know the characters in this film and even feel compassion for them but it's just not something you should have to pay money to see. My advice is just wait until it comes out on cable and if it impresses you enough go buy the DVD.

I walked into this movie thinking it would suck based on reviews. I was surprised that it actually was interesting and provocative. I think some people might have trouble handling the subject matter and the fact that it's treated with equal parts seriousness and humor. But uncomfortable laughter to me is the sign of a movie that actually pushes some of our buttons and that's a good thing. The cast here is wonderful, in particular Elisha Cuthbert, who proves she can act and Katy Mixon, who nails the bitchy teen banter that can be so typical in other movies. The direction is heavy handed at times but the humor does a good job of undercutting the heavy atmopshere. The ending does have some problems which I won't post here since I don't want to give anything away, but overall I think any movie that manages to be this disturbing is worth a look. I suspect this film will be re-evaluated when its time has come.