A former DEA agent moves his family to a quiet town, where he soon tangles with a local meth druglord. From: IMDb.com

A former DEA agent moves his family to a quiet town, where he soon tangles with a local meth druglord. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Gary Fleder

Starring: James Franco, Jason Statham, Winona Ryder and others

Current release date:  November 27, 2013

A former DEA agent moves his family to a quiet town, where he soon tangles with a local meth druglord. From: IMDb.com

A former DEA agent moves his family to a quiet town, where he soon tangles with a local meth druglord. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Gary Fleder

Starring: James Franco, Jason Statham, Rachelle Lefevre and others

Current release date:  November 27, 2013

A former DEA agent moves his family to a quiet town, where he soon tangles with a local meth druglord. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Gary Fleder

Starring: James Franco, Rachelle Lefevre, Jason Statham and others

Current release date: November 27, 2013

(Review originally written at 16 February 2008)

This movie is not among the best but still has more to offer than the average thriller. This is mostly due to its cast and fine thriller concept, that however doesn't always gets handled well.

Not all plot-lines get handled and wrapped up properly and the movie leaves some loose ends. The movie also picks some not so likely approaches with each story sometimes, which goes at the expensive of the credibility- and therefore also the tension of the movie.

It's a movie that had the potential of becoming a real dark and eerie thriller, I mean the concept of the movie would definitely allow this but the movie gets somewhere stuck between its successful and not so successful thriller moments.

Guess Morgan Freeman wanted to make another "Se7en" like thriller. Well, it's not completely fair to compare this movie to "Se7en" but because Morgan Freeman is in it and it's from about the same period, it's easy and tempting to do so. Also with some imagination the plots and approaches of both movies show some similarities. But unfortunately "Kiss the Girls" is nowhere in the same league as "Se7en" but fans of the genre will still find plenty to enjoy in this movie.

The movie features all of the right required thriller ingredients. So a psychopath, a cop trying to solve the case and of course a couple of plot twists. It also has all the right looks for a thriller. The movie has the right sort of dark undertone and handles some of its moments effectively.

The movie truly benefits from its cast. Morgan Freeman is an experienced actor and always good in these sort of roles. The movie also among other features; Ashley Judd, Cary Elwes, Bill Nunn, Brian Cox and Jeremy Piven.

A better than average thriller.

7/10

(Review originally written at 31 July 2006)

This thriller certainly is a good enough one to watch and it also is a very professionally made one but it however offers very little new or refreshing enough material. It makes "Don't Say a Word" nothing more than a standard thriller, with some good actors in it.

The cast is really the saving grace of the movie. It still provides the movie with some good moments and characters and also give the movie an extra sense of professionalism involved. Sean Bean is a great as the main villain and delivers an absolute fine performance. Michael Douglas is also great as the leading man, mainly because he doesn't play him as an 'hero' but an ordinary everyday person instead. Douglas is always fine in these sort of roles. Some other excellent actors play some smaller parts in the movie. Actors such as; Brittany Murphy, Oliver Platt, Victor Argo and last but not least Famke Janssen. They all help to make the movie look better and more interesting than it in fact really is. Most of the characters are however pretty flat. Why does Famke Janssen even play the wife? It's a role basically every actress could had played. This movie just didn't seem like a very challenging or original project to get involved with. And I also have the feeling that the movie would had been better of without the Jennifer Esposito. Just think about it, was she really necessary for the movie and its story? Her character is not engaging enough, since it's not she we need to care about or cheer for but the Michael Douglas character instead, who is the main lead of the movie. Her character is distracting from the movie its main story.

The movie is certainly style-full and it does have its moments. But in the end it just really falls flat as a really good or original thriller. All of the moments in the movie are just too predictable and the movie doesn't offer any real surprises. Therefor this movie just isn't anymore than a well made but standard formulaic thriller.

It's a movie that does serve its purpose and the movie certainly is watchable as a simple standard thriller. Fans of the genre will probably still be the most entertained by it but even they have to conclude that this movie is far from being one of the best thrillers released in recent years. It's the sort of movie that is only quite good enough to watch it just maybe once. Don't expect too much of this and you might end up liking it good enough.

Nothing too remarkable, just a well made, simple thriller, with some great actors in it.

6/10

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