Don't Say a Word

Don't Say a Word
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Gary Fleder
Produced by	Arnon Milchan Arnold Kopelson Anne Kopelson
Screenplay by	Anthony Peckham Patrick Smith Kelly
Based on	Don't Say a Word by Andrew Klavan
Starring	Michael Douglas Sean Bean Brittany Murphy Guy Torry Jennifer Esposito Famke Janssen Oliver Platt
Music by	Mark Isham
Cinematography	Amir Mokri
Edited by	Armen Minasian William Steinkamp
Production company	Regency Enterprises Village Roadshow Pictures NPV Entertainment Kopelson Entertainment New Regency Further Films Epsilon Motion Pictures (uncredited)
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	September 28, 2001
Running time	113 minutes
Country	United States Australia
Language	English Italian
Budget	$50 million
Box office	$100 million

Don't Say a Word is a 2001 American psychological thriller film starring Michael Douglas, Brittany Murphy and Sean Bean based on the novel of the same title by Andrew Klavan. Don't Say a Word was directed by Gary Fleder and written by Anthony Peckham and Patrick Smith Kelly.

In 1991, a gang of thieves steal a rare $10-million gem, but, in the process, two of the gang double-cross their leader, Patrick Koster (Sean Bean) and take off with the precious stone.

Ten years later, on the day before Thanksgiving, prominent private practice Manhattan child psychiatrist, Dr. Nathan R. Conrad (Michael Douglas), is invited by his friend and former colleague, Dr. Louis Sachs (Oliver Platt), to examine a disturbed young lady named Elisabeth Burrows (Brittany Murphy) at the state sanatorium.

Having been released from prison on November 4, Patrick and the remaining gang members break into an apartment which overlooks Nathan's apartment, where he lives with his wife Aggie (Famke Janssen) and daughter Jessie (Skye McCole Bartusiak). That evening, Patrick kidnaps the psychiatrist's daughter as a means of forcing him to acquire a six-digit number from Elisabeth's memory.

As Nathan visits Elisabeth, she is reluctant at first, but he gains her trust later—especially when he reveals that his daughter has been kidnapped and will be killed if he doesn't get the number they want. Dr. Sachs admits to Nathan that the gang who kidnapped Jessie also kidnapped his girlfriend to force him to acquire the number from Elisabeth. Sachs is then visited by Detective Sandra Cassidy (Jennifer Esposito) who reveals to him that his girlfriend has been found dead.