Trapped In Silence (1986)

Very disappointing...

Fresh and Exciting

Boring

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Never before have I seen a film so resolutely pessimistic and relentlessly optimistic. That is not a strength. The story suggests darkness, coldness, pain. This is appropriate. The director and composer, however, insist on interjecting lightness at possibly the least believable intersections. It's not that Michael Tuchner's direction is necessarily bad - he allows Kiefer Sutherland to give one of the best performances of his career - but he can't or won't decide which kind of film he wants to make.Sutherland is what makes this work. Sure, Ron Silver is good, Marsha Mason, too. But these are expected performances, by-the-book characterizations. Kiefer Sutherland is the only reason you'd really want to see this. The scenes that are completely given over to him, his illness, the inner workings of his mind - these are the moments when "Trapped in Silence" takes you in on a deeper level.In the end, you can feel the limitations of the format. The TV movie feel gets tiresome once you realize it prevents a certain level of ferocity that might otherwise be present. Still, it's a good story, and it feels real enough. Definitely worth it for early Sutherland.

I recently won this film at an eBay auction, and I finally got it in the mail this past Tuesday. I watched it last night, and oh my God, Kiefer was nothing short of amazing in this film. As someone else on a message board for Kiefer so eloquently put it: "The earliest example of a Kiefer performance transcending its vehicle." Everyone else seemed as though they were just reading, as though they'd just memorized their lines without giving them much thought. But not Kiefer. You can just tell that he put so much thought into the delivery of every word, every sentence, every flinch of his body. All of it blends together so seamlessly and creates this character that Kiefer completely disappears behind (just like he did with Roy in Behind the Red Door). You watch this movie and you don't see Kiefer. You see Kevin. And you know he made an impression on the people around him, because when Kevin finally opens up and tells Jenny what happened to his sister, Marsha Mason is really crying (as was I) and her performance gets better because of him. What boggles the mind most (well, mine anyway) is that he was SO young when he made this movie. He was 20, right? As Melia said "So young and so talented". I think that if I ever went into acting, and I had the honor of working with him (because that's exactly what it would be: an honor), I'd want to ask him what it is he does that enables him to disappear into roles like that (but knowing me, I wouldn't, 'cause I'd either be too klunked out or too chicken! LOL!). In any event, this movie has quickly become one of my favorite Kiefer films, and for his performance alone, it was well worth the price I paid.

I love this movie and would recommend this movie. Everytime I see it I cry. It will touch your heart. Keifer Sutherland did a great acting job. I would love to see him in more of these kinds of films.

I think the title of this piece says it all. It is a wonderful piece of film which never fails to make me reach for a tissue. I think it could well be one of Keifer Sutherland's better performances. A definate one to watch!!