DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE (2001)

MORGAN'S RATING

Frank is a recovering alcoholic who is struggling to maintain the family shipbuilding business his great grandfather started. Now that his ex-wife Susan divorced him, his son Danny is constantly at the police station for one problem or another. So when Susan marries charming Rick, Frank thinks he will provide the financial stablity that Danny needs to clean up his act. Then, a mysterious man named Ray rolls into town and claims to be an old friend of Nick's. But Rick tells a different story, making Frank wary of them both. When Ray suddenly disappears, Danny claims that he witnessed Rick murder him. Susan thinks it's just another one of Danny's lies, but Frank isn't so sure. He investigates Rick's background and finds that he isn't all what he appears to be.

John Travolta (Frank Morrison), Vince Vaughn (Rick Barnes), Teri Polo (Susan Morrison Barnes), Matthew O' Leary (Danny Morrison), Steve Buscemi (Ray Coleman), Chris Ellis (Detective Warren), Nick Loren (Officer Foxx), James Lashly (Jason), Rebecca Tilney (Laurie), Debra Mooney (Theresa), Leland L. Jones (Coach Mark), Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Sgt. Edgar Stevens), Susan Floyd (Diane), William Parry (Don Patterson), Suzanne Nystrom (Wedding Coordinator), George Christy (Wedding Photographer), David Bridgewater (Priest), Tait Ruppert (Wedding Guest), Darryl Warren (Walter Ward), Angelica Tom (Patty), Holmes Osborne (Shady Tree Motel Clerk), Zach Hanner (Police Technician), Paul Ligotino (Mike), Michael Tomlinson (Berman), Terry Loughlin (Judge), Jim Meskimen (Bob Lerner), Steve Roberts (Bartender).

HE WILL DO ANYTHING TO PROTECT HIS FAMILY.

FACTS

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

RELEASE DATE: November 2nd, 2001 (USA) DVD RELEASE DATE: April 9th, 2002 (USA) BOX OFFICE OPENING: $14.0 million (USA) BOX OFFICE RESULT: $45.2 million (USA) BUDGET: $53 million (USA) PRODUCTION DATES: January 2001  -- June 2001 - During filming in April 2001, actors Steve Buscemi and Vince Vaughn and screenwriter Scott Rosenberg were involved in a brawl that landed Buscemi in hospital with stab wounds and others in jail. - Nominated for one 2002 Razzie Award for Worst Actor (John Travolta).

DIRECTOR: Harold Becker (Mercury Rising). WRITERS: Lewis Colick, William S. Comanor, Gary Drucker and Lewis Colick.  PRODUCERS: Harold Becker, Donald De Line and Jonathan D. Krane. ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Anson Downes, Linda Favila and George Waud. CO-PRODUCER: Jim Dyer. ORIGINAL MUSIC: Mark Mancina. DISTRIBUTOR: Paramount Pictures.

CRITICAL COMMENTS

"Stripped down to the dumbest fundamentals of the family thriller genre, the movie plays like it's been test-screened to appeal within microns of audiences' basest common instincts." -- Bob Strauss, Daily News Los Angeles

"Thanks to that vapid script, it's about as scary, and believable, as a little boy yelling 'wolf.'" -- Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

"About as tense as a game of connect-the-dots." -- Paul Tatara, CNN

"It's big and dumb, all right -- the sort of thing you'd like to shoot with an elephant gun to put out of its misery." -- Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

"The best thing one can say about this slapdash job is that it's over soon enough." -- Gene Seymour, Los Angeles Times

"When a disturbance is dramatized well, there's no place like home." -- Lisa Schwarzbaum, EW