6B
- THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
ENTERTAINMENT
THURSDAY,OCT.4,2001
Not enough substance in 'Don't Say a Word'
By Brandon Stinnett Movie Reviewer
Human ingenuity and intellect in movies are lost. In their place are wild chase scenes and bravura violence.
It seems that Hollywood has lost its faith in the filmoer's ability to think and propensity to appreciate characters who do the same.
It's the only explanation for the wealth of new movies released that contain inventive, thought-provoking premises, only to be trivialized with common plot conventions.
I'd gladly trade 100 car chases for one character willing to use mental trickery to outwit his or her adversary.
Instead, we get Don't Say a Word, a mediocre movie that is, at times, both suspenseful and thrilling. It's better than most Hollywood thrillers, but it could have been so much more.
Michael Douglas stars as Dr. Nathan Conrad, a wealthy New York psychiatrist, whose 8-year-old daughter is kidnapped the night before Thanksgiving.
When Nathan wakes up and finds his daughter missing, he instinctively picks up the phone to call the police. Instead of a dial tone, he's greeted by the kidnapper's voice barking instructions.
Nathan is told that the only way to get his daughter back alive is to convince one of his patients
— a neurotic 18-year-old woman
— to disclose a six-digit number
that she has memorized.
The catch is Nathan must get the number by 5 p.m. that day, meaning he will have to conduct weeks of psychiatric work in a few short hours.
Douglas is convincing as an ordinary man forced to take extraordinary measures to save his daughter. He responds to the kidnapper's demands with steadfast determination and calculated self-control. He's no pushover.
It's the classic Douglas character we've seen in other thrillers, such as A Perfect Murder and The Game.
The movie's best moments are when a desperate Nathan is locked inside a mental ward room
with the woman, racing against time to coax the number out of her. These scenes achieve a level of suspense unmatched by any of the violent thrills and chase scenes that litter the movie's second half.
Don't Say a Word has some of that early on, but the substance quickly gives way to style.
The best thrillers - Silence of the Lambs, The Fugitive, No Way Out—achieve their most compelling suspense through the verbal and psychological interactions of the actors.
In the end, viewers are left with nothing but the feeling that they've seen it all before. We deserve better.
Contact Stinnett at 864-4810
DON'T SAY A WORD
Bad movie of the week: Street Fighter. It's too easy to trash talk this movie, which is based on a popular video game. For one, movies based on video games are inherently bad, and it stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, the perennial star of bad action movies. Although inept as an actor, Van Damme movies occasionally offer slight entertainment value (see Kickboxer). Not so with Street Fighter, which is every bit as bad as one might expect.
Great movie of the week: Wonder Boys. Michael Douglas stars as a weed-smoking author who wrote one great book, but can't seem to get anything else in his life right. It's a moving and very funny drama that showcases the subtleties that have made Douglas a great actor. It's a stark contrast from the roles audiences have grown accustom to seeing Douglas portrait in many of his other, more mainstream films.
'Serendipity' has broad appeal
Bu plausible new release is not your standard 'chick flick'
By Nicole Roché Jayplay writer
A touch of Irish in downtown Lawrence
This is the kind of movie that women will flock to by the thousands.
Yet Serendipity, which opens tomorrow, proves to be much more than a run-of-the-mill romantic comedy.
Trager is so enamored with this young woman that he asks for her number, even though both are involved in other relationships.
Thomas believes that if the two are meant to be together, fate will take care of the rest.
Most of the film takes place a decade later, when both realize their current fliances may not be their true soul mates.
Cusack makes it easy to empathize with his character's plight.
Perhaps this is because he has played many roles through the years that required him to be a woeful, self-deprecating individual.
Thankfully, Cusack's character matches her with his realistic take on relationships. Still, it is difficult to watch these two just "wait and see what happens."
Beckinsale, who looks slightly less anorexic from her Pearl Harbor days, borders on annoying with her lofty idealistic views of romance.
a really sweet woman, which makes the plot seem much more believable.
An interesting plot element in Serendipity revolves around Trager's fiancee (Amita Balla). Unlike other romantic comedies, Balla's character is not presented as obnoxious or incompatible with Trager. In fact, she seems like
The answers here are not cut and dried, leaving audience members torn between feeling sorry for the fiancee and ultimately wanting what is best for Trager.
Some of the funniest parts of the movie lie in the dialogue between Cusack and Jeremy Piven, who plays Trager's best man. A lot of moments of classic Cusack make the movie simply hilarious.
Serendipity is the date movie of this season — not only because it feeds into what people want to see in a movie of this genre, but also because it's a well-crafted film.
As for all the men who detest the thought of a "chick flick," have faith. My boyfriend liked it, too.
Contact Roché at 864-4810
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Country Western Bar
TONIGHT!
$2.50 16oz. dom. bottles
CADILLAC RANCH
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EMERSON BIGGINS
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WEDNESDAY
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$3 premium draft,
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$1.50 u-call-it, DJ &
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SET EM UP JACK'S
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THE OCTOBERFESTS
ARE IN:
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Lazer Dance Party
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Ride the bus to all KU
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Win a trip to the Marlboro Ranch
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