Bond of Silence (2010) Kim Raver, Greg Grunberg, Charlie McDermott, Haley Ramm, Rebecca Jenkins, Nicole Oliver, Rob LaBelle, Jesse Moss Movie Review

Bond of Silence (2010)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Kim Raver in Bond of Silence (2010)

They Knew What They Did That New Years Eve

Katy (Kim Raver - Night at the Museum) and Bob (David Cubitt) were happily married; they had just had twins and lived in a small community where he was respected as a lawyer. But when the kids across the street throw a loud New Years Eve party Bob goes to confront them only to end up being killed. Both the press and media swoop in to cover the shocking story but find themselves confronted by a wall of silence as no one connected to the party is willing to talk. This silence increases Katy's distress as she wants answers and for who ever is guilty to face justice. When the police arrest Ryan (Charlie McDermott - Safe Harbor) for the murder his lawyer insists he pleads not guilty but first Katy wants to talk to him, not as a grieving widow but as a mother.

"Bond of Silence" is based on a true story and unfortunately it isn't a story which for me lends itself too well to being a movie because it's all about what eventually happens. As such I will say spoiler alert although with this being based on a true story many a movie site gives the whole story away. So what eventually happens is that Katy despite confronting her husband's killer sees that this kid is in a mess as he carries the secret and the guilt of what he has done and so she shows her caring side so that he can unburden himself by telling her the truth but when he pleads guilty she takes the decision to ask for leniency.

Now there is no denying that the true story behind "Bond of Silence" is a powerful one and I am not sure many people could show that amount of compassion but the build up to this doesn't quite work. Yes we have the teens involved, who know what happened, swearing to keep silent with some more willing than others but it isn't overly gripping as we watch the cops trying to get to the truth. And the trouble is that there is not enough character building going on to make the story flow and come alive, yes it shows Katy trying to keep going for the sake of her family but without the character depth what it ends up coming across as is a series of snapshots. It makes "Bond of Silence" one of those movies which I think works best when you already know the story and can fill in the gaps.

What this all boils down to is that whilst the true story on which "Bond of Silence" is based is clearly a powerful one the bulk of it doesn't transfer well to screen. Now that maybe more to do with the direction or the writer but it just fails to really draw you in to the whole investigation to find which teen was responsible making it an incredibly ordinary movie despite the powerful ending.


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