Review: Panic Room

By Jack on 2002-03-28 23:21:57

Once again, thanks to the Portland Mercury I had the opportunity to attend a screening of Panic Room this evening. Now, as many of you regulars know I'm a huge David Fincher fan, I had to use all of my will to refrain from gushing like a little girl at a Ricky Martin concert and actually critique the movie. Anyhoo, here goes..



Release Date: March 29th, 2002 (Friday)
Directed By: David Fincher
Written By: David Koepp
Photography: Conrad W. Hall, Darius Khondji (Trivia: The perfectionist director of photography Darius Khondji was fired because the filming was taking too long.)
Starring: Jodie Foster, Kristen Stewart, Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto, Dwight Yoakam. (Trivia: Nicole Kidman was originally cast to play the role of Meg Altman, but was forced to back out of the role due to a recurring knee injury. She originally injured the knee during the filming of Moulin Rouge).

Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) is a woman who is in the process of divorcing her wealthy, yet adulterous husband and as every divorce story goes she ends up buying an expensive new home in Manhattan where she hopes to start new life and care for her daughter (Kristen Stewart). One of the unique features of this house is that it features a panic room, a hidden chamber that allows the occupants to hide safely from any intruders to the home. During their first night in the new house, Meg is startled to see three figures moving about her home on the security monitors. Grabbing Sarah quickly, Meg heads into the panic room and seals them in.

Here's where plot thickens which turns out to not necessarily be such a good thing. We start seeing plot holes, unexplained elements and the whole suspense/thriller thing just really isn't there. The story becomes even predictable at times. But, the parts that are actually suspenseful are just that. Those were the times that will result in all the cliche' phrases quoting big name critics that we always see in the bad trailers such as "pulse-pounding," "edge-of-the-seat-thriller," etc..

Throughout the film we see David Fincher's distinctive visual style and some familiar camera moves (ala Fight Club). This and the overall production value and style really helped pull it through.

Jodie Foster is as always an excellent actress and is hotter than ever in this film (can you say MILF? she was pregnant with her second child during filming) as she breaks a sweat swinging a sledge at our mostly invincible villain. While Forest Whitaker did a great impression of himself in Ghost Dog, Jared Leto (who's work in Requiem for a Dream was, in my opinion Oscar worthy) seemed to be there solely for the sake of comic relief. Then there was the ever-present Country Singer/Actor Dwight Yoakam who wore a ski-mask through 80% of the movie.

Conclusion: I think Panic Room probably would have been a better movie if it were cut in length. If you want fun, violence, fancy camera work, eye-candy, and straight up entertainment this is the film for you. Don't expect an Acadamy Award or a strong story line. I give it a 6/10

You are currently Not Logged in.
Click here to login or sign up

Subject:  

xComment: