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The last time I came upon such a convoluted script, it was The Ballad of Jack and Rose starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Camilla Belle. Belle is also in this film, which also has a theme of the relationship between girls and their fathers. Rebecca Miller wrote and directed Ballad, but it is Abdi Nazemian and Micah Schraft who have pulled The Quiet together. The audience will need a road map.

“The Quiet” refers to Camilla Belle’s character, Dot, who is a deaf mute. Dot is in high school and her parents have died, so she comes to live with her godfather, Martin Donovan and his wife, Edie Falco and cheerleader daughter, Nina (Elisha Cuthbert.) The kids at school treat Dot as a freak and openly talk nasty to her, thinking she doesn’t understand, but she reads lips. Nina isn't happy about having Dot at her house because it is starting to break up the friendship she has with Katy Mixon and the rest of the cheerleaders. Dot melts into the background, but still, people eventually confide in her, thinking she can’t tell anyone.

Everyone has a secret in The Quiet. People operate on a superficial level at home or in a school environment, but away from a group, little by little their facades crack and truths spill out. Why is Edie taking pain medicine and drinking heavily? Why is Martin strict with the girls? Why is Connor (Ashmore), the hottest guy in school, attracted to Dot?

In this script, going from Point A to Point B is not a straight line. Instead, we go through Point C, D, and E etc. to get back to Point B. Just when you think you may understand, someone disrobes as though to confuse the audience with nudity. The character of Katy Mixon as Nina’s best friend is obnoxious to the nth degree. Every sentence is about sex and you wish someone would toss a basketball at her to shut her up. Also, every time the television set is on, the news is covering house fires in the area. I kept waiting for Martin’s house to go up, but this was a red herring. What you can come up with is that The Quiet tries to cover the confusion, cruelty and sexuality of high school years, how people adapt to tragedy in their lives, and what horrendous secrets can be hidden within a family with disastrous results. I got the feeling that “the Quiet” script could have used one more revision before filming. There are not smooth transitions; such as one when Dot is following Connor when he is spilling his innermost secrets and the next second they are lying by the school swimming pool. 

The acting is OK in The Quiet, and Elisha Cuthbert, who plays Nina, is one of the producers. There are tough topics to handle here, including family secrets and dealing with grief, but unfortunately, the script lets the audience down with inane dialogue and weak direction. “The Quiet” may just disappear.

Copyright 2006 Marie Asner
Submitted 8/24/06