The Whisper Man

Directed by James Ashcroft, The Whisper Man follows Adam Scott’s Tom Kennedy as he reluctantly asks his estranged father (Robert De Niro’s Peter) for help after his young son is abducted. It’s familiar subject matter that’s employed to admittedly generic yet mostly watchable effect by Ashcroft, as the filmmaker, armed with a script by Ben Jacoby and Chase Palmer, delivers an endeavor that grows more and more compelling as it unfolds – with the picture’s central mystery certainly enhancing the engaging (and periodically engrossing) vibe. There’s little doubt, too, that The Whisper Man benefits from its raft of first-class performances, with Scott and De Niro’s predictably solid work matched by periphery players like Michelle Monaghan, Owen Teague, and Michael Keaton. (Hamish Linklater’s small-but-pivotal turn as an oddball collector stands as an unexpected highlight within the proceedings, to be sure.) And while the picture is perhaps not quite as tightly-plotted as it could (or should) be, The Whisper Man builds towards a satisfying final stretch that does, in the end, confirm its place as a better-than-average contemporary thriller.

*** out of ****