Never before have I seen a film so resolutely pessimistic and relentlessly optimistic. That is not a strength. The story suggests darkness, coldness, pain. This is appropriate. The director and composer, however, insist on interjecting lightness at possibly the least believable intersections. It's not that Michael Tuchner's direction is necessarily bad - he allows Kiefer Sutherland to give one of the best performances of his career - but he can't or won't decide which kind of film he wants to make.
Sutherland is what makes this work. Sure, Ron Silver is good, Marsha Mason, too. But these are expected performances, by-the-book characterizations. Kiefer Sutherland is the only reason you'd really want to see this. The scenes that are completely given over to him, his illness, the inner workings of his mind - these are the moments when "Trapped in Silence" takes you in on a deeper level.
In the end, you can feel the limitations of the format. The TV movie feel gets tiresome once you realize it prevents a certain level of ferocity that might otherwise be present. Still, it's a good story, and it feels real enough. Definitely worth it for early Sutherland.
