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John
Travolta is a man of many comebacks, but after the lousy movies
he produced last year, he's going to need more than a few to
sustain the rest of his career. Luckily enough for him,
"Domestic Disturbance" is just the way to go. It may
be just another standardized "killer in the home"
thriller, but it is really well acted, and directed with the
occasional bout of suspense and action.
The movie begins with Frank Morrison (Travolta), a wooden boat
maker living in Maryland. Frank is separated from his wife (Teri
Polo) and both share custody of their young, but troubled son
Danny (Mathew O'Leary). Danny has been bad before, but since the
divorce, his troublesome behavior and lying has worsened to the
point where the police have had to step in more than once.
But even as everybody else around Danny doesn't believe a word
he says, Frank is willing to believe every word. "He lies
to his mom, he lies to his teachers, he lies to his grandma, but
he doesn't lie to me". Danny has grown to confide in his
father, and that gives Frank the ability to keep a strong
relationship with him.
Frank is worried that may change though once his ex-wife is
married to Rick Barnes (Vince Vaughn), a well respected and
well-off business man who he fears is trying to weasel in on his
son's life to the point where he will be forgotten. But Frank
tries to make the best of this situation, and pretty soon, he is
even given a job offer by Rick to make some boats for him.
Danny is not as accepting though. He is not prepared to give
Rick a break, and when he finds out that his mom is pregnant
with Rick's baby, he hides out in Rick's car hoping to run away.
But he receives an unexpected surprise that night when Rick
kills a man in the car and throws him into the incinerator at
his dad's factory.
Scared to death of Rick, Danny goes to Frank who, of course, is
the only one who believes Danny's story is more than just a
revenge tactic against Rick. It is then up to Rick to do
everything in his power to change their way of thinking.
This is the kind of hero role Travolta could easily do in his
sleep. An understanding all-around good guy dad who would walk
through fire to save a son in danger. This character almost
seems like too nice a guy. You wonder why he ever got divorced
in the first place? Another good performance comes from Vince
Vaughn, who adds the film's only real tension, but manages to do
it often enough. He has a shockingly good glare that makes him
both frightening and threatening in his role.
Director Harold Becker does a nice job of keeping everything
fast paced enough for the audience to sidetrack the many plot
holes. Even though some of it is underdeveloped or way too easy
to figure out, he never tries to prolong the film past
believability. The musical score, done by Mark Macina, is also a
very nice touch.
It's not as good as this month's earlier "Joy
Ride," but the two performers manage to get the job
done well enough to recommend "Domestic Disturbance".
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