The defence The Cool Ironist
“Form is the argument.”
Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.
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Don't Say a Word
Thriller · Mystery · Crime · 2001
When the daughter of a psychiatrist is kidnapped, he is horrified to discover that the abductors' demand is that he break through to a young woman, suffering from PTSD, who knows a secret six digit code number.
Movie details
Don't Say a Word
“...I'll never tell.”
2001 Thriller · Mystery · Crime 1h 53m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
6.3 / 10
59.4K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
24 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
38 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
6.3 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
When the daughter of a psychiatrist is kidnapped, he is horrified to discover that the abductors' demand is that he break through to a young woman, suffering from PTSD, who knows a secret six digit code number.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Don't Say a Word?
For the defence
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done
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Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Gary Fleder
Written by
Anthony Peckham · Patrick Smith Kelly
Michael Douglas
Dr. Nathan Conrad
Sean Bean
Patrick Koster
Brittany Murphy
Elisabeth Burrows
Skye McCole Bartusiak
Jessie Conrad
Guy Torry
Dolen
Jennifer Esposito
Det. Sandra Cassidy
Famke Janssen
Aggie Conrad
Court is in session
Put Don't Say a Word on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Technique in search of a pulse.”
Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.