The Quiet

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The Quiet ★★ 2005 (R)

Dot (Belle), an orphaned deafmute teen, goes to live with her godparents (Donovan and Falco), much to the disdain of their catty cheerleader daughter Nina (Cuthbert). Dad twitches and mom selfmedicates, Nina snarks, and Dot sulks, but then the otherwise socially rejected Dot becomes a convenient confessor for Nina and others, and the secrets they reveal are doozies. Too heavy to be a teen sex farce, too outlandish and gross to be poignant, the movie melts into cheesy ick despite good turns by the main players. 96m/C DVD . US Camilla Belle, Elisha Cuthbert, Martin Donovan, Edie Falco, Shawn Ashmore, Katy Mixon; D: Jamie Babbit; W: Abdi Nazemian, Micah Schraft; C: M. David Mullen; M: Jeff Rona.