The Quiet
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Movie Reviews of The Quiet
Movie Review: A Different Kind of Story: Musings After the Fact
Summary: 3 Stars
THE QUIET comes to the big screen then back to DVD as the product of a group of television writers Abdi Nazemian and Micah Schraft and director (Jamie Babbit) and the film has the feeling that it would have fared better in a made for television format. It is not a film without merit - the cast is good, the atmosphere created is well captured by good camera people, the twist in the story survives - but something is missing that keeps it flat.
The Deers are a family with means whose generosity extends to taking in the victim of another family disaster: the troubles that hide in the Deer family far overpower the problems brought to the unit by the new member. Dot (Camilla Belle of When a Stranger Calls, Chumscrubber, The Ballad of Jack and Rose) is accepted into the Deer household when her deaf father dies in a freak accident: her mother died when Dot was seven and from that time to the present she has been newly deaf and mute. She is a loner, preferring to live in her own apparently silent world, finding solace in playing Beethoven piano works (the actress actually plays the works!). Her 'sister' is high school cheerleader, foul mouthed, crabby Nina (Elisha Cuthbert) who barely tolerates Dot's new role in the house and at school. Olivia Deer (Edi Falco, always excellent) is an interior designer mother who buries her disappointments in pills, being emotionally unavailable most of the time. Paul Deer (Martin Donovan) is a successful architect whose apparent kindness masks a man who is having an incestuous relationship with his daughter Nina. Dot lets the audience know early on that she is indeed not deaf or mute but elects to maintain her silence as she overhears Nina's plan to kill her father. The manner in which these two girls eventually bond and accomplish the dastardly deed and the surprising ending of the family's dissolution make up the basis for the plot development.
Taken on the basis of the story alone the film is fairly predictable, but it is after the movie is over that in retrospect we recognize how cleverly the writers and director and actors have shown us the fragility of each character: each is not black and white/good and evil but in a misty gray zone, a general statement for just about everyone who is in the cast (Connor the walking failure boyfriend - Shawn Ashmore, Michelle the rowdy slutty girlfriend - Katy Mixon). And it is this tendency to encourage the audience to ponder introspection that takes it to a higher level. It is to everyone's credit that they have taken on a tale that is bravely controversial and make it work as well as it does. Grady Harp, February 07
Movie Review: Not What You'd Expect
Summary: 3 Stars
At first glance, "The Quiet" appears to be the same pseudo-psychological thriller starring the hottest cast of teenagers around. It's actually quite far from that. It's a film that's part John Waters part David Lynch, but without the class of the latter and the humor of former. It's unlike anything that I've seen in this kind of film for a long time. It stars the super-talented Camilla Belle as Dot, a deaf and mute girl who is taken in by her godparents (Martin Donovan & Edie Falco) when her father dies. Her new sister Nina (Elisha Cuthbert), a beautiful, 17-year-old cheerleader hates her. Because of her problems, Dot is immediately labeled a freak and social outcast. It's clear, obvious really, from the beginning that Dot is hiding a secret or two. Same with Nina, although it doesn't take you long to figure out exactly what's going on with that. Now this is a twisted film that isn't aimed at the teenage audience most of these films are aimed at. It's looking for an adult audience as it deals with a lot of sexual topics (indeed, 75% of the dialogue is sexual in nature), incest, murder, and a whole jubilee of other weird stuff. One thing "The Quiet" captures well is the way teenagers talk. Sex is a touchy subject among teenagers in movies, while sex here is completely unhibited. A lot of the dialouge though is stuff that teenagers think and wouldn't actually say. "The Quiet" could have been a bigger hit with critics (with this subject matter, it would've never been a box-office hit) if the material was handled better. This is familar material, but it's not usually handled in major motion pictures...And the writers have clearly been watching too many soap operas. Falco, a talented actress, as Nina's mother is the stereotypical pill-popping mother we see in at least 10 movies each year. Donovan, as the father, seems to have based his performance upon Stellan Skarsgaard in "The Glass House" and it's not a stretch to say Falco seems to have got inspiration from Diane Lane in that same film. "The Quiet" does stray away from other stereotypes like the "happy ending." The bad guys essentially get away in this film...But it makes a lot of mistakes along the way and many "serious" scenes border on parody. The director messed up too by filming a few scenes here-and-there with a different camera, giving it a cheap straight-to-video look. "The Quiet" will surprise you when you pop it in and find out it's not the sister-sequel to "When a Stranger Calls" and then they'll be pissed when they don't know if they're supposed to be shocked or crying with laughter.
GRADE: C+
Movie Review: Close To Good But Not Close Enough
Summary: 3 Stars
A parent's worst nightmare comes true in The Quiet and this nightmare never ends. Dot (Camilla Belle) is a deaf mute and now orphan taken in by her godparents Olivia and Paul Deer (Edie Falco, Martin Donovan). She lost her mother when she was 7 and recently lost her father to a car accident. Unfortunately for this poor girl her pain does not stop with her parents. Her godparents are the worst guardians you could ever imagine and their daughter Nina (Elisha Cuthbert) is in an even worst position. Olivia is an alcoholic and she abuses painkillers, she takes them and drinks until she passes out. When Olivia finally passes out Paul molests his own daughter Nina and even treats her like she's his girlfriend and not his child. Dot has to deal with these things and school but she can't hear or speak so it doesn't matter to her or does it.
The big thing with The Quiet is that Dot is the person that everyone confides simply because they think she can't hear them. So what they want to tell they tell Dot and get the satisfaction of letting a secret go but never worry about everyone truly finding out. Even Paul comes to Dot and explains to her that he's sick and tells her all his dirty nasty secrets and thinks this secret is just falling on deaf ears. Nina who eventually thinks that Dot is just using this to be a loaner tries everything to get her to speak even telling her that she's tired of her father and wants to kill him. Dot doesn't bite on this and just keeps going about her business.
There are some major problems with The Quiet though it had the potential to be very good. For starters it's too predictable, right off the bat you know everything that's going on. The characters are done poorly; the way they develop is just way too bad. The acting was fine but the way everything unfolds just makes this movie feel dirty. Dot is like the only pure character, she keeps the movie sane but then there's this part near the end with actor Sean Ashmore that just kills her character and makes her like everyone else. Her character was the key to the movie; she kept the movie from going in outer space. When every character is abnormal or basically sick you need a character like hers to keep real. Overall this movie was close to being good but just fell flat right before the end. It's worth seeing if you have the time but don't expect any surprises.
Movie Review: If But for the Patchworked Completion
Summary: 3 Stars
The Quiet starts out looking like a story focusing on a deaf-mute girl that moves in with her godparents after her father dies, but it quickly takes on more forms and turns into something other than the preconceived artifice. The changes are good ones, too, and the story is well-acted and well-derived and actually kept me watching to see what was going to transpire. The people in it, from the superficial jock that hopes to be more to the cheerleaders that populate the major acting posts, were believable and the household our little Rome represented was interesting and tormented and had enough pieces floating here and there that it made me take heed. The problem was that the movie, like so many others, went from the top of the ladder to the middle a little too quickly, leaving me to ponder what went wrong.
As I review this, I need to point out that I'm not saying I really disliked the movie. Over 2/3s of the film were done really well, and had the end delivered a little more then I would have been happy. Had a few pieces fallen differently and a few moments been taken out of the fray, my view of the piece would be one of total contentment because I liked he things the movie tried to say. The idea about "The Quiet," asking what happens when something becomes invisible; it struck me as playful in some ways and disturbing in others. That said, the pieces I didn't care for were too much in the making and, sadder still, the ending didn't live up to the unspoken promises that were seeded throughout the plotline.
People have differing opinions on The Quiet that seem to range the spectrum through and through, and depending on what you need will probably determine whether this movie is for you. I liked the premise, the preface, and so many other portions of the movie that it makes me want to say that I liked it and speak glowingly on the subject. The problem is that the movie was flawed, much too much in the end to ignore, and those last ten minutes made me wonder why the idea hadn't been executed with more zeal.
Movie Review: Some sick puppies in this one
Summary: 3 Stars
Wow, has there ever been such a family of such total disfunction under one roof? Camille comes to live with her godparents. Godparents? That's an oxymoron in itself. What this film was about actually was four insane people who were incapable of functioning on a normal plane of existence. The dolts at the school weren't much better, either being insane, clueless or just plain stupid. Don't get me wrong here, I kind of enjoyed this film, but it was very dark and depressing. It was also prety hard to believe that this level of mental incapacity could exist in one home. There's a cute line about the possible results of family inbreeding in this film. I think they may have thought about the possibilities a little too late. Beyond that, not only was Dot able to fool everyone she met, but she did it with such ease despite obvious clues to her real condition. Nina (played by Elisha Cuthbert) on the other hand, was --- well, she was hot to put it bluntly. Not only was she hot, but she (her character) knew she was hot and she knew that everyone else thought she was hot. She was so hot in fact that...Caution...SPOILER...Her dad was her boyfriend/lover. That's not really a spoiler because it's evident early in the film. This film was kind of difficult to watch as it deals a lot with uncomfortable situations, but if you can make it through it's pretty well done, if you can stomach it and if you can suspend belief a bit. The ending though was very weak. I was left wondering: "So what now?" Do Dot and NIna just go off living happily ever after? Do they become the new owners of the Bates Motel? Do they move to the hills where they have eyes? What? They are obviously two nut cases set free upon an unsuspecting world. The bottom line is if you are in a somber mood, go ahead and watch this film. If nothing else, it will give you something to think about. At the least, you can look at Elisha Cuthbert. You could do worse.