Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
joeventuraa This is one of those movies that can really become a therapeutic reality and an unexpected shock. it has been said, the earlier the trauma, the more difficult it is to unpack and deal with. If a shadow has a controlling lock on your life, then it needs to be brought to light. The challenge is going through the pain. Unless you or I have a ive system, we most likely will never deal with those demons inside. This movie brilliantly shows how sexual sin can leave one highly disturbed and often missed by even those closest to us, namely family. And it is here the message is so powerful. How well do you know the people in your life? How much courage do you have to look at the behavioral signs of those closest to you and ask some very difficult questions? We are quick to say, "I love you?" but very slow to make the effort to look beneath the surface. You can't impart what you don't possess. One of the most powerful films ever made for its subject matter!
Stephen Leslie With one of the most heart-breaking introductions, The Unsaid places audiences on a psychological carousel, with enigmas about human behaviour that provoke curiosity and perplexity. Watching this film a whole decade later since my first viewing, it was even more emotional than I previously comprehended. As I mentioned above, the story begins with a tragedy of the greatest magnitude. Michael Hunter and his wife Penny intend on going to their daughter's school performance; however, their son refuses to them. He is showing clear signs of depression and is reluctant to converse with his family. Unable to penetrate their son's barrier of silence, the family travel without him. In a climactic moment, the family return home to find their son dead, having committed suicide. Several years later, therapist Barbara Lonigan enlists Michael's expertise with seventeen year old Thomas Caffey. Thomas is soon to be released from a home for troubled adolescents, pending his eighteenth birthday. The seemingly balanced teenager shows no signs of trauma, regardless of his brutal memory of his mother's murder.Barbara suspects that Thomas is not ready for release, despite his 'normal' appearance and persona. Tortured by nightmares and feelings of failure to save his son, Michael takes the task - Deciphering what really happened in Thomas' past is the crux of this intriguing psychological film. This plot will wrench at feelings you possess and other emotions you were unaware existed – I am not a father, but that initial scene successfully forced the power of paternity on me. Trevor Blumas who plays Michael's son, Kyle Hunter, emulates the body language, facial expressions and tone of a depressed individual in an unbelievably convincing act. There is a great amount of pain, sadness, realism, humanity and inhumanity throughout the movie. If there was ever a place where there are real complications, real grey, real conundrums in psychology, this storyline harbours them. There is no simplistic right or wrong, black or white, good or evil; just a set of horrific and profoundly sad events.The IMDb average rating currently stands at 6.5/10. This should definitely be higher.Review by Stephen Leslie
curleigh_ When I picked up this movie on the rental rack and read the first line on the back of the box, it read "In the tradition of PRIMAL FEAR..." I immediately put back all the other movies that I was even considering renting, and I rented "The Unsaid." PRIMAL FEAR is my FAVORITE movie, so I had high hopes for 'Unsaid.' -mistake. It probably wasn't 45 mins into the movie that I figured out the "big twist." There were just too many clues, which of course I won't say. In one of the other postings, someone said that, generally, American audiences have a tougher time accepting the twist than Europenas do. Well, being an American, I'll take that as a compliment. I'm not saying that this movie is a complete waste of time, but this film doesn't come anywhere NEAR the intensity of PRIMAL FEAR. Then again, not many do.
gridoon It's quite obvious that Andy Garcia, who also co-produced this film, gave his all in the lead role, and the result is an honest, committed, often moving performance. The rest of the cast is also good, and although you could find some faults in the direction, it's generally OK. What is far from OK in this movie is the predictable, conventional script. Not only do we know almost immediately that Kartheizer's character is a psycho, but pretty soon we know WHY he's a psycho, too. I spent most of the time trying to determine which movie this one rips off the most - it's either "Primal Fear" (1996) or just plain "Fear" (also 1996). Trivial observations: Andy Garcia bearded is really hard to take (thankfully he shaves the beard early on); Linda Cardellini looks like Monica Belucci's younger sister (that's a good thing). (**)
