Although rating a sincere “good try” for director Jamie Babbit and writers Abdi Nazemian and Micah Schraft, no cigar will be forthcoming for the limited performances and screen writing contained in 'The Quiet.'
The biggest problem facing young and talented Camilla Belle (nominated for Gotham “Breakthrough” Award in 2005 for 'The Ballad of Jack and Rose') is that she is too quiet in both this film and in her breakthrough film “Jack and Rose.” She needs more dynamic roles to attract the attention she deserves and the mousey-daughter performance in this film gets her no closer to recognition than her previous mousey-daughter role under Daniel Day-Lewis.
OK—sparks fly in the end, but it is too little too late. If she would act up more throughout the entire film she could be really fun to watch. That is a film that needs to be made.
Granted, speaking up is not really an option in this story since she plays the part of Dot, a recently orphaned deaf girl withdrawn from a world of intolerable heartbreak following the traumatic death of her parents.
Her counterpart in the film, Nina (Elisha Cuthbert of the TV series "24") does a lot of talking but about all the wrong things. She makes small talk at school to avoid opening up about what matters most. Although this small talk is building to a conclusion, the audience is asked to have a lot of patience waiting for it. It would have been better if we could have had some more exciting plot development in the mean time.
Both Dot and Nina share very private secrets and although both are crippled in their ability to open themselves to communication, the truth eventually comes out, but too late to avoid an overall performance that drags.
That truth has a lot to do with Nina’s father Paul, well played by Martin Donovan (in a former life, Christina Ricci’s gay brother Bill in 'The Opposite of Sex').
A successful architect with a cheer-leader daughter and a show-room house, Paul has a secret too--a pretty nasty secret that gets the film the R rating and eventually gets Paul into big time hot water. For better or for worse, his character is the most interesting in the film and poses a serious threat of stealing the show from Dot, the supposed focus.
Also contributing to the R rating is Nina’s high school chum Katy’s explicit sexual banter that mostly consists of who she would like to do it with at that particular time.
Funny and telling in other films, this endless adolescent chatter doesn’t go anywhere here. The ending would be the same with or without it. Katy’s fantasy mate is high school stud Connor who eventually sees something in Dot that he doesn’t see in other girls. Maybe a brain, but we don’t know for sure. The fact is that most of the supporting players are so stereotyped and two-dimensional they fade easily into the background.
Rounding out the family of four main characters is mother Olivia, TV “Sopranos” star and Emmy, Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe winner Edie Falco. Olivia has a problem in this film---she is drunk all the time. Edie has a problem in this film too---she has to act drunk all the time. Although we get the picture in the end--her problem is too tough to face--that doesn’t save us from some tedious film-watching while we are rounding the bend to the long-awaited climax.
A good try for all concerned but we still have to wait for the film when Belle and Edie bust loose.
Opens: August 25, 2006 MPAA: Rated R for strong and disturbing sexual content, a scene of violence, language, drug content and brief nudity.
Your Talkback on this Story