Deaf and mute since the age of seven, teenage foster kid Dot (Camilla Belle) is more than just the loner/loser of her upscale Connecticut high school; she’s a sounding board for all who imagine that she can’t hear their secrets. But this kid’s got a secret of her own — and it’s deeper than her gift for playing Beethoven piano sonatas by (inner) ear. She’s lodged at the unhappy Deer household, a permanently-under-renovation mansion presided over by a pill-addicted mother (Edie Falco) and an architect dad (Martin Donovan) who hugs his voluptuous cheerleader daughter, Nina (Elisha Cuthbert), far too close. Soon Nina’s suppressed rage turns to death threats, and Dot becomes the silent partner in a murder plot. (Cuthbert, after her damsel-in-distress predicaments on 24, displays real femme fatale fury here.) Despite some hilariously twisted high-school mean-girl dialogue, Jamie Babbit’s film wastes too much time idling in the dark and Ice Storm-y night.
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The Quiet's Web site: //www.sonyclassics.com/thequiet/
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