Panic Room A review by Joel B. Kirk
WHAT IT'S ABOUT:
A divorced woman and her daughter are caught up in a cat-and-mouse game inside their newly bought New York brownstone as three burglars come looking for a hidden collection of cash. Mother and daughter hide in the 'panic room,' a secret room designed just for deterring intruders; but, they still end up fighting for their lives.
MY TAKE:
Suspense is maintained throughout the picture, as robbers, who have supposedly pre-planned everything from the start, are one-step behind Jodie Foster's Meg Altman. She temporarily oversees what is going on around the house in her 'panic room,' which proves to be slightly more problematic than it's worth, since certain equipment has not been hooked up to the room.
The film is shot in clear blues, greens, and blacks by Darius Khondji who shot the beautiful looking ALIEN: RESURRECTION, THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN, and DELICATESSEN for French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet; and 1995's SE7EN for David Fincher.
David Fincher is slowly building up his filmography, which in my opinion is becoming flawless. He broke out with the mixed ALIEN 3 (which is actually well-liked by David Fincher fans, and those who have taken a second look at the picture) followed by SE7EN, THE GAME, and FIGHT CLUB.
PANIC ROOM benefits greatly from a flawless, tight script by David Koepp (who also wrote JURASSIC PARK and LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK, SPIDER-MAN, and TWISTER); a script, benefiting from Fincher's direction, that doesn't allow the audience to catch their breath until the end credits.
Dwight Yoakam is amusing as the deadpan, masked Raoul. However, as the film progresses, the character takes a more scarier persona when feeling he is being double-crossed, and when the character becomes more anxious.
Forest Whitaker, as Burnham, is the man who wants to get the job done, but knows he is doing something wrong by committing robbery, however still keeping a cool head not wanting to hurt anyone in the process.
Jared Leto is the hardheaded 'leader' of the threesome, Junior, (complete with cornrows) who believes he knows everything, yet knows nothing. He was previously in David Fincher's FIGHT CLUB as the character 'Angel Face.'
POSTIVE/NEGATIVE NITPICKS:
-Usually occurring in suspense pictures is a score that doesn't complement the film, but intrudes. The score by Howard Shore (FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE TWO TOWERS) complements the picture nicely with an ominous theme that creeps up at the appropriate moments.
-It's interesting to note just how much CGI was used in this picture: The scene as we pan from a sleeping Jodie Foster, panning out the room down to the first floor across the kitchen; and the scene as Forest Whitaker opens the door to the dining area. Also, some of these panning and dolly shots show David Fincher's signature fluid camera movement, seen in FIGHT CLUB and ALIEN 3.
-A chilling scene where Jodie Foster runs to get her cell phone is filmed in a very suspenseful moment without sound or music.
-A shadow in the background-presumably Forest Whitaker's Burnham--appears in the background, as Jodie Foster's character Meg Altman wakes her daughter to hurry to the 'panic room' of the title. Scary.
FINAL COMMENTS:
It took me a long while to finally see this picture, because I usually don't see pictures if they receive a lot of hype beforehand. I was impressed. This film is highly recommended for those interested in good suspense pictures, which doesn't come frequently in our era of cinema.
It'll be interesting to come back to this film 10 years from now.
MY RATING: **** out of *****
DIRECTOR: David Fincher
WRITER: David Koepp
CAST: Jodie Foster-Meg Altman Kristen Stewart-Sarah Altman Forest Whitaker-Burnham Jared Leto-Junior Dwight Yoakam-Raoul
GENRE: THRILLER/DRAMA
RUNNING TIME: 112 minutes
YEAR OF RELEASE: 2002 by Columbia Pictures
EMAIL: joelkirk@sbcglobal.net
COPYRIGHT 2003 Joel B. Kirk
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