Posted: 03/30/2002

Panic Room

(2002)

by Hank Yuloff

David Fincher directs another fine suspenser in Panic Room.

After what looks like a messy divorce, Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) and her daughter move into a very special brownstone home in New York City. It has a very special room that they can occupy in case of danger: the panic room. You can’t get into the panic room. But the burglars who arrive in the middle of Altman’s first night in her new home know different. How can they escape with their lives from such a bad situation.

An excellent premise that gets followed up well makes for a fun night at the movie theater when you go to see Panic Room.

It starts with the opening credits which are very cool and continues throughout with some excellent cinematography and effects offered by director David Fincher (Fight Club and Se7en) and cinematographers Darius Khonji (Se7en) and Conrad L. Hall (Fight Club, Se7en, American Beauty camera work). They will take you up, down, and around a 4-story house, following lots of people while giving you perfect knowledge as to where all of them are in relation to the others. Even though this movie takes place in low middle-of-the-night light, the camera helps you see everything. Instead of lots of quick cuts, we move flowingly around the house, going from floor to floor, through walls, up staircases, following wires and feeling many times like we are on a gentle roller coaster taking you to the action. The photography will make you want to see this one again.

Why are these burglars coming to this particular house? As you can tell from the trailer, there is something in that panic room that they want. How do they know what that is and how to get in? Sorry, you’re going to have to go see the movie for that tidbit. But know, it isn’t a stretch and follows the story line very well.

The acting is very generally good and worth my spending some time here.

Jodi Foster is exceptional, especially in a scene at her front door where she has to “act” differently from her character in front of the police. During another scene I did see one terrified look on her face that made me lean over to my wife and whisper, “Hellooooo Clarissssse.”

Foster’s daughter is played by 11-year-old Kristen Stewart. This is Miss Stewart’s second credited acting part but she carried her screen time as well as anyone in the cast.

Forest Whitaker is also excellent. As one of the burglars he plays the part of a man who knows what he is doing is wrong but since there is no one in the house, he isn’t really hurting anyone. His tortured moments begin when he realizes that the new owners of the house have arrived earlier than they expected.

Jared Leto is another of the burglars, who had the inside scoop on what was valuable in the house and when they should go in. He just gets the dates wrong. Leto (Requiem for a Dream) has come a long way in his acting since his first acting job of playing the quiet teen hunk Jason Catano opposite Claire Danes in My So Called Life.

The third burglar is Dwight Yoakam. The weakest member of the cast. I am amazed they could not find someone who was stronger to play the “baddest guy” of the trio. My guess is he knew someone in casting or he kept them from seeing his last work in the piece of garbage he wrote, directed, and acted in: South of Heaven, West of Hell.

There are two small Real Estate agent parts played by Ann Magnuson and Ian Buchanan that were also very well done.

I have one plot question having to do with the ending, but can’t discuss it here. After you’ve seen it, feel free to e-mail me and maybe we can figure it out together. Or if writer David Koepp (Snake Eyes, Mission Impossible) reads this, he can give me a call. Great job David, but I do have a couple of questions.

Panic Room is a better than average thriller without most of the plot holes that sometimes occur that make you go “Huh? What were they thinking? I want my money back.” Nope, the story and the photography make this one is totally worth seeing on the big screen.

Hank Yuloff owns and operates an advertising specialty company in Los Angeles except when he’s busy getting free refills on popcorn and Diet Coke.

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