Directed by: Harold Becker
Starring: John Travolta, Vince Vaughn, Teri Polo, Matthew O'Leary, Steve Buscemi, Susan Floyd, Chris Ellis
Domestic Disturbance is no worse or better than your run-of-the-mill family thriller. It moves swiftly with nicely contrasting performances by John Travolta and Vince Vaughn in a plot with few surprises, but Domestic Disturbance doesn't seek to transcend its genre or elevate it. It is ninety minutes (including credits) of fluff meant to be enjoyed in the moment but then hastily forgotten. You could do much worse with your time.
Travolta is Frank Morrison, a boat maker still on good terms with his ex-wife, Susan (Polo) and shares custody with his troubled son Danny (O'Leary), who is angry about his parents' split and takes it out on the world by starting fights and causing trouble designed to get his parents' attention. Frank is such a nice man that we wonder why Susan divorced him, but now she has a new man in her life named Rick Barnes (Vaughn). Rick is fairly new to town and has money, but Danny doesn't trust him because, well he's not his father. Frank befriends Rick and the two even offer to venture into business together, but that all changes on Rick and Susan's wedding day when a shady character named Ray Coleman (Buscemi) shows up claiming to be an old friend of Rick's. Rick is none too pleased to see Ray, offers to put him up in a motel outside of town, and mostly keeps him at bay while Ray grouses to Rick about money owed to him. Rick is not who he seems, of course, and one night while Danny stows away in Rick's car, Rick stabs Ray to death in the front seat and disposes of his body in a crematorium. It's only in movies that Danny could lie uncovered on the floor behind the front seat and go undetected. It's also only in movies that Rick could stab Ray in the back and only a few spots of blood need to be cleaned up.
Danny reports the murder to his father and then the police, but his claims are dismissed out of hand after no evidence is found and due to Danny's troubled history. You would think that Susan would be leery of continuing to live with someone accused of murder, but Susan spends most of the movie offscreen when the juicy stuff is happening. Frank decides to take matters into his own hands and do some research on Rick's past, which the police likely could've done just as quickly if they had bothered. Frank's breakthrough hinges on which basketball team Ray roots for. The final confrontation between Rick and Frank of course is a battle of fisticuffs and using whatever items aren't lying around. Domestic Disturbance is that kind of movie, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
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