Release Date: November 2, 2001
Starring: John Travolta, Vince Vaughn, Teri Polo, Matt O'Leary, Steve Buscemi
Directed by: Harold Becker
Written by: Lewis Colick
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (violence, language, adult situations)
We all know the formula by now. In fact, we probably know it better than the state capitals or who the second President of the United States was. It's the formula of every common thriller, and it's so worn out by now that it works about as well the elastic in a ten-year-old pair of socks. You have your law-abiding protagonist, your conniving villain, your helpless women and children in between, and a whole mess of supporting characters that could help our law-abiding protagonist but won't believe anything is amiss. Then, of course, you have the desperate struggle of the protagonist to prove something is wrong before anyone is hurt and the villain wins.
If all of the above sound like they're from countless other thrillers, it's because they are. (Films such as Arlington Road, Along Came a Spider, and Don't Say a Word all fit the description, and have all been released in the last two years -- and that's just for starters.) On the set of Domestic Disturbance, direct Harold Becker (Mercury Rising) must have had his eyes closed for much of the time as he idly helmed this terribly routine suspense flick. His movie follows the general thriller formula to a T, and other than developing the characters well enough, he seems to have completed this project on autopilot. The result is an implausible, predictable piece of lazy filmmaking.
The generic protagonist of the film is Frank Morrison (John Travolta), a boat-builder who is divorced from his wife Susan (Teri Polo, Meet the Parents) but still keeps a healthy relationship with his twelve-year-old son Danny (newcomer Matt O'Leary). Danny hates that his parents are divorced and is known for pulling tricks to try to get them back together. So Danny is furious when Susan marries the oily Rick Barnes (Vince Vaughn, The Cell), who has a dark past he'd like to keep secret. But when Danny witnesses Rick murdering a former partner in crime (Steve Buscemi, Armageddon), and runs to the police, they don't believe him because of a lack of evidence and his history of telling lies.
Everything up to this point in the story is somewhat acceptable. The characters are believable and well played, and Travolta almost proves he has put movies like Battlefield Earth and Lucky Numbers behind him. Unfortunately, every event that follows the murder falls under the same ten-year-old sock formula: Of course, this sly, creepy man that has become Danny's step-father has tricked the entire town into thinking he's a model citizen, and Danny conveniently has such a strong reputation of crying wolf that the police hardly lift a finger to investigate the accused murderer. And certainly, our hero completely refuses to doubt his son and does everything the police should have done as soon as the culprit came into town.
These are only a few of the countless predictable moments in Domestic Disturbance. Beyond that, Becker films the movie in a completely conventional manner -- for instance, there are so many shots where Rick appears "unexpectedly" behind Danny in his house that it becomes almost a joke. Even the most spectacular moment of movie's climax would have been something to cheer about, if only we hadn't seen it coming yesterday.
In fact, the movie's only surprise is that the climax comes and ends so quickly that it's hard to believe the conflict is actually over. It's completely rushed and has no sense of emotion whatsoever, and that's something that any halfway competent filmmaker shouldn't do, even if he's belongs to the ten-year-old sock school of directing thrillers. Directors should always take the time to create an ending that leaves the audience with at least a trace of satisfaction.
The only trace of satisfation in the Domestic Disturbance comes from the actors' skill. Vince Vaughn has proven he can successfully play a psycho, and child actor Matt O'Leary may be the first believable twelve-year-old in film history. Travolta has his moments too, and Steve Buscemi's role is short but hard not to smile at. Still, none of that hides the fact that they all play along with director Becker's stale techniques.
The thrills in Domestic Disturbance are about as cheap and unoriginal as they get, though that might satisfy some inexperienced moviegoers. But for the rest of us, particularly those not wishing to waste 90 minutes of their lives, ought to teach Hollywood a lesson and stop watching unimaginative nonsense like this.
all contents © 2001 Andy Zientek