| THE QUIET |
 2005 - USADirector:
Jamie Babbit
- Reviewed by Vickie
The film tells the story of deaf teenager Dot (Camilla Belle), who goes to live with a foster family after the death of her father. The parents (Martin Donovan and Edie Falco) welcome her, but their angry-cheerleader daughter, Nina (Elisha Cuthbert), does not. In fact, she goes out of her way to treat her new “sister” like an emotional punching bag, but it’s not long before we find out why. (I won’t spoil the movie by revealing much more, but suffice it to say that behind every angry young teen lies a reason for the anger.) Life for the duo at school is no less challenging, with Dot being immediately labeled an outcast by Nina and her popular friends…despite the fact that jock Connor (Shawn Ashmore) takes a shine to her when he overhears her playing the piano. For her part, Dot becomes a passive observer and situational sponge – able to silently observe everything that’s going on because her deafness makes her invisible. While retaining some of the elements familiar in any high-school story (popular kids vs. social misfits, the big school dance, the inevitable selection of science-class lab partners that causes angst for all involved, etc.), The Quiet peels back some of the standard-issue façade and exposes a much more sinister underbelly. Sure, Nina is a cheerleader, but why is she so nasty? Sure, Connor is a well-liked athlete, but why is he so drawn to a girl who can’t hear what he says? Sure, Nina’s parents open their home, but what kind of home is it that they’re providing? And sure Dot’s an orphan, but what lurks beneath her silence? Much of the film’s success hangs on the shoulders of its two leads, Belle (last seen in The Ballad of Jack & Rose) and Cuthbert (last seen in The Girl Next Door). They’re given the task of putting a new spin on the oft-used device of the rich, snotty blonde girl vs. the sensible brunette (see: Jo and Blair on The Facts of Life, Brooke and Sam on Popular, Jen and Joey on Dawson’s Creek…and so on), and actually manage to carve out a fresh dynamic. Martin Donovan and Edie Falco turn in strong work as Nina’s self-destructive parents, and Ashmore alternates nicely between sweet and skeevy as the insecure Connor. While The Quiet may lack the laughs and levity of Babbit’s other work, it marks an exciting (for me, anyway) new chapter in her directorial career. |
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Six years ago, I went to see But I’m a Cheerleader at TIFF and
loved it. Its director, Jamie Babbit, went on to hone her directing
skills on the small screen (the TV series Popular,
Nip/Tuck and Gilmore Girls), but I kept waiting for her
return to film. This September, the wait was over, and her newest
cinematic offering is a decidedly darker, though no less compelling,
project than her previous (and much cheekier) work.
