DON’T SAY A WORD

Directed by Gary Fleder

Playing at CineMark

If actors were born to play a certain role, then Michael Douglas was put on this earth to be the slick New York professional in Don’t Say a Word, whose perfect existence is doomed to be undone. As hero or as villain, Douglas has played a similar role in films stretching as far back as Fatal Attraction. In the grimly competent kidnap thriller Don’t Say A Word, Douglas takes on one of the more sympathetic characters of his career, playing a psychiatrist whose daughter is kidnapped by a cabal of stone-faced thugs.

The question in Hollywood is whether or not audiences will accept this kind of film so shortly after the September 11th tragedies. Especially one set in New York, complete with fleeting glimpses of the Twin Towers. The answer is… probably. Audiences have always been drawn, usually inexplicably, to these kinds of movies and the Saturday night screening I attended was full. Just last spring, audiences gave a free ride to Along Came

A Spider, despite the fact it wasn’t a particularly good movie. Don’t Say A

Word is a slightly better model, but it’s still built on a foundation of clich