THE SILENT HOUR (2024) - Movie Review

Director: Brad Anderson
Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Sandra Mae Frank,, Mekhi Phifer, Mark Strong, Michael Eklund
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Writer: Dan Hall
Runtime: 99 min
Rated: R for violence, pervasive language and some drug material
Buy This Movie: DVD (Amazon), Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

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Synopsis:

Boston Detective Frank Shaw (Joel Kinnaman) returns to duty after a career-altering injury leaves him with permanent hearing loss. Tasked with interpreting for Ava Fremont (Sandra Mae Frank), a deaf witness to a brutal gang murder, they find themselves cornered in a soon-to-be-condemned apartment building when the killers return to eliminate her. Cut off from the outside world, these two strangers must lean on each other to outsmart killers they can't hear coming for their only hope of making it out alive.

Review:

I watched "The Silent Hour" without knowing much about it. I had no idea who directed it, and all I knew was that it starred Joel Kinnaman. You could say I stumbled upon this movie, since it was more or less stealthily released in select theaters a month ago, then immediately dumped on streaming. During the end credits I discovered that it was directed by Brad Anderson, a talented genre filmmaker whose credits include films like "The Machinist" "Transsiberian", "The Call" and "Stonehearst Asylum" (aka "Eliza Graves"). Unfortunately, "The Silent Hour" does not rank as one of his better films.

Only a year after starring as a mute vigilante in John Woo's "Silent Night", Kinnaman plays a Boston police detective who loses his hearing while on the job in Anderson's new thriller "The Silent Hour". Sixteen months after the accident he's stuck behind a desk, but reluctantly agrees to help on a case involving a deaf murder witness (Sandra Mae Frank) only to find himself having to protect the young woman from a gang of killers sent to take her out. Set within the confines of a mostly abandoned apartment building, the movie mixes classic "Die Hard" tropes with the unique twist of having hearing impaired protagonists fighting for their lives.

It's a clever premise, perfect for generating suspense and branching out into themes of coping with and overcoming afflictions. Unfortunately the movie comes short both in delivering tense set pieces and emotional payoffs. It's generic and occasionally downright dumb, and despite a solid start, the story becomes extremely predictable and cliche-riddled. Casting Mark Strong in a supporting role pretty much spoils one of the film's big twists from the start. If you're trying to keep the surprise under wraps, maybe cast a different actor who doesn't have a particular typecast reputation.

The villains are morons who would fit in better in a "Home Alone" movie, the action is as unremarkable as any of Liam Neeson's recent flicks, and the location, while undoubtedly cost-efficient, is a bland eye-sore. At least the lead performances are solid. Kinnaman is a likable enough protagonist and brings more emotional depth than the movie deserved, and Sandra Mae Frank ("New Amsterdam"), who is deaf in real life, steals the show with a spunky performance that works well against Kinnaman's morose hero.

It's disappointing to think that "The Silent Hour" could have been much more than just typical streaming fodder. Anderson's filmmaking experience isn't enough to save this film, but it is somewhat watchable as B-movie entertainment. Just don't expect too much from it.

SCORE: 6/10