Domestic Disturbance (2001)

Directed by: Harold Becker | 89 minutes | drama, thriller | Actors: John Travolta, James Lashly, Rebecca Tilney, Debra Mooney, Vince Vaughn, Teri Polo, Leland L. Jones, Susan Floyd, Matt OLeary, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, William Parry, Steve Buscemi

With ‘Domestic Disturbance’, Harold Becker, who previously made thrillers such as ‘Malice’ and ‘Sea of ​​Love’, disappoints.

In this film, John Travolta plays good guy Frank Morrison, a modest and extremely amiable boat builder with a nose for bad luck: at the moment that there is not a single speck in the air, he already distrusts bad guy Rick Barnes (Vince Vaugn). Travolta plays his part nicely. The same goes for Vaughn. Their two-minute friendship turns to intense hatred when Morrison discovers how scared his son Danny (Matt OLeary) is of stepfather Barnes. The reason? Barnes allegedly committed murder. Danny has seen this himself and testifies about this to the police, who then do nothing with this information. And that while the boy mentions the crime scene and recite all kinds of details.

This testimony opens up a war with Barnes on one side and Frank and Danny on the other. Their cat-and-mouse game is at times quite exciting and produces quite nice scenes. Add these nice scenes to the nice acting and it’s clear: ‘Domestic Disturbance’ is a nice movie, not very good, but not very bad either. It’s a standard movie. Something that cannot really be said of Becker’s earlier thrillers, ‘Malice’ and ‘Sea of ​​Love’. With these films you as a viewer are on the edge of their seat.

In ‘Domestic Disturbance’ there are really no exciting twists and turns and Becker mainly piles cliché on cliché. This is how Barnes’ bad friend Ray Coleman (Steve Buscemi) looks overly wrong: broken teeth, bad skin, greasy hair, rancid clothes. You cannot call this styling subtle. In the scenes where Barnes chases his prey, all sorts of standard Hollywood actions crop up: his victims flee to a room and put a cupboard in front of the door to keep him at a distance, of course Barnes flies in through the window, of course his prey runs after that. not outside, but to the top floor of the house so that they really can’t go anywhere, et cetera, et cetera. What a sleep-inducing moment. And that at the end of the film, while Becker tries to increase the tension and works towards a climax.