7/27/2014
"The Quiet" is a pulpy noir-ish drama that goes
into some queasy taboo shattering places all while seeming like an surreal
game. Jamie Babbit directs this story of
a deaf mute girl named Dot (played by Camilla Belle) who is forced to live with
her God parents after the tragic death of her father.
Dot joins the Deer family with Paul, Olivia, and their teen
daughter Nina. A small family with big
secrets. Paul (Martin Donavan) is a
successful architect, while Olivia (Edie Falco) is a interior decorator. Nina, played by Elisha Cuthbert, is your
typical over privileged teenager, who manipulates her parent to get what ever
she wants. Dot is quite the opposite,
she is every bit the tom boy. She is an
outcast at high school not only because she can't hear and doesn't talk, but because
she doesn't give in to all of the phony high school culture bullshit. She is just herself, but far from perfect. Nina and her best friend Michelle are both
cheerleaders and "cool" kids, but like all of the character in the
movie are putting up a front to hide a painful truth.
*Spoiler
Territory
Dot awakes one night and wanders down to Nina's room but
Paul is in there with her and he's not helping her with her homework if you
catch my drift. Dot runs back to her
room and back to bed, wondering what to do with this new information. Olivia is in denial about a lot of things in
her life and medicates with sleeping pills and pain killers. She tries to be a wife and mother, but is
just not there. On another night Paul
comes into Dot's room while she is sleeping and confesses to her that he is a
sick man in need of help. A number of times people confess their deep dark
secrets to Dot knowing that she can't hear, or can she? Dot plays the piano and while thinking she's
alone curses when one the strings break.
Nina sees this and now can manipulate her just like she does her
father. Dot can also see how Nina is
suffering in her situation but that would mean giving up her secret and she is
not ready for that yet. Her deaf mute
charade is her way of grieving the loss of her own father who she was very
close with. She blames herself for his
accidental death and also see this as a sort of punishment.
In the cafeteria, knowing Dot can hear, Nina lays out a plan
to get rid of her dear ole dad once and for all. Nina's cry for help doesn't land on deaf
ears, so to speak. Things don't go as
planned so Nina goes to Plan B. This
doesn't last very long and sends Paul into a rage. Dot comes to the rescue
while Olivia stands motionless as usual, but this event breaks the nasty cycle
and finally allows her to take some sort of twisted responsibility. "Lies
keep us safe from the truth" but in time will turn you into a shell filled
with nothing but denial and self hatred.
"The Quiet" is a lot deeper than what appears on the surface
all while being entertaining and somewhat dangerous.