Review of The Quiet (2005) by Lacy A — 02 Feb 2012

First of all, being from Connecticut, I did have to laugh at some of the rich suburban stereotypes on display here, as I have run into all of them at some point or another. However, the film seems like it was written by an outsider observing, and as such they all have a caricature feel to them. Most of the characters are simply too stupid to live, and the few that retain any depth are developed inconsistently. Some of the dialogue is outrageously boneheaded or lacking any kind of frame of reference. Shawn Ashmore's and Katy Mixon's characters in particular are just completely unbelievable.

There are good things, though. There's the main character's voice-overs, which actually are pretty representative of a confused disillusioned high school kid. And Elisha Cuthbert does a good job at portraying a person who is the victim of abuse: angry, confused between love and hate, not knowing what to do so putting on an ineffectual boasting, strong front while secretly inner turmoil rages. And the story itself is developed well and sadly grounded in reality, as this kind of thing is more common than you might think, and that is why I am giving it a higher rating.