November 2001 Volume 82 Number 11 "serving the protectors"
Edited by John Ballantyne

Don’t Say A Word

A classic thriller, this movie is based on Andrew Klavan’s award-winning mystery novel of the same name.

Eminent New York psychiatrist Dr Nathan Conrad (Michael Douglas) has a successful Upper West Side practice, a beautiful wife and a charming daughter.

Making his way home to begin a tranquil Thanksgiving holiday, Conrad is suddenly summoned to attend to a disturbed patient, Elisabeth Burrows (Brittany Murphy), who has a history of unexplained violence and is about to be committed to an insane asylum.

Nathan makes limited headway with Elisabeth’s case, but he persists, tantalized by her mysterious words to him: “You want what they want, don’t you? . . . I’ll never tell . . . any of you.”

Little does Nathan suspect that Elisabeth and her cryptic message are tied to a danger that has closed in on him and his family.

Nathan’s daughter has been kidnapped by ruthless thieves, and to save her, he must unlock a secret message hidden away in the recesses of Elisabeth’s troubled mind.

Don’t Say A Word is a thriller in the classic Hitchcock tradition, with the hero thrust into extreme circumstances beyond his control.

Nathan Conrad is the man who appears to have everything. Suddenly, he is hurled into a world of uncertainty. Before, he was respectable, self-controlled and never got his hands dirty. By the end, he has become like a primal man, ruthless in his mission to get his daughter back at all costs, and prepared to be killed himself rather than let his child be killed.

This thriller plays on every parent’s secret nightmare of having a child kidnapped.

For the opportunity to win one of 20 double passes (valid until November 14), put your details on the back of an envelope and send it to Don’t Say a Word Comp, SA Police Journal (168).

Let’s Get Skase

After the collapse of his massive Quintex business empire, Christopher Skase flees to the Spanish island of Majorca, leaving angry creditors high and dry.

In 1995, fast-talking con man and failed Perth restaurateur, Peter Dellasandro (Lachy Hulme) needs cash, so he devises the mother of all get-rich-quick schemes - by convincing the Quintex creditors board that he is the only man with the ability, and recklessness, to undertake the task demanded by the Australian public: the kidnapping of Christopher Skase.

But not everyone is convinced - especially Danny D’Amato (Alex Dimitriades), the fiery son of a Quintex creditor hell-bent on restoring his family’s honour.

Dellasandro assembles an inept bunch of would-be heroes and sets out to do the impossible: to catch Skase and bring the missing fortune home.

Among those caught up in the grand kidnap plan are the egocentric TV host Eric Carney (Craig McLachlan), a seasoned mercenary Mitch Vendieks (Bill Kerr), an inept Sean Knight (Torquil Neilson), a devious getaway driver Dave Phibbs (Nick Sheppard), and cynical intelligence ace Rupert Wingate (Adam Haddrick) - who soon discovers that Skase is devising a deadly scheme to resurrect his business empire across Europe.

With time running out, Dellasandro and the boys head for Majorca and track Skase to his sprawling mansion, and confront the devious businessman in a triumphant, hilarious, and action-packed conclusion.

Lantana

An excellent Australian film from internationally-acclaimed director Ray Lawrence (Bliss) about four married couples linked by a woman’s mysterious disappearance.

Detective Leon Zat (Anthony LaPaglia) moves through a dark labyrinth of human relationships on his journey to find the woman.

Four marriages are drawn into a tangled web of love, deceit, sex and death. Not all of them survive.

Detective Zat (acclaimed as one of LaPaglia’s finest roles) strips away layer after layer to reveal the essence of the perplexing obsession between men and women that is called love. His journey causes him to reflect back on his own tortuous marriage, on what he has lost through his unfaithfulness and what he must regain.

All the characters are beset by events in their lives over which they have no control.

Troubled psychiatrist Valerie Somers (Barbara Hershey) plays a pivotal character. Her husband (Geoffrey Rush) is still suffering from the murder of their daughter two years earlier. Vince Colosimo (The Wogboys, Chopper), as the unemployed neighbour of the missing woman, brings great maturity to his role.

Lantana is a deeply moving drama about flawed human beings and their relationships. According to Hollywood Reporter’s Erin Free, the film “gets inside the idea of love and marriage and skillfully paints a picture that bristles not only with paranoia and betrayal but also with hope and compassion”.

Lantana is written by Andrew Bovell (Strictly Ballroom, Holy Day), and produced by Jan Chapman (The Piano), with a soundtrack by Paul Kelly.

PASAweb   Index & Search   Top of Page   Comments   Email to Editor

The Police Journal Online is an official publication of the Police Association of South Australia and is published monthly. Editors of kindred publications can seek permission from the Editor to re-publish any Police Journal Online article. Copyright 2001  The Police Association of South Australia sustance