The Panic Room Review
by Christian Pyle (Tlcclp AT aol DOT com)April 11th, 2002
Panic Room
Reviewed by Christian Pyle
Directed by David Fincher
Written by David Koepp
Starring Jodie Foster, Kristen Stewart, Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto, and Dwight Yoakam
Grade: B
"Panic Room," the new thriller from David Fincher, the director of "Se7en" and "Fight Club," bears more than a passing resemblance to the classic suspense play/movie "Wait Until Dark." In both stories, a woman is terrorized by a group of thieves who are after something she doesn't know is hidden in the house. In both stories, one of thieves is likeable and another is a dangerous psychopath. In both stories, the woman cannily turns the tables on the crooks.
The woman in jeopardy in "Panic Room" is Meg Altman (Jodie Foster), who has just moved into a gigantic three-story house in New York City with her teenage daughter Sarah (Kristen Stewart). The house belonged to a recently deceased millionaire whose paranoia led him to build a panic room, a vault-like area where residents can hide from intruders. On Meg and Sarah's first night in the house, three crooks (Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto, and Dwight Yoakam) break in in search of millions the previous owner stashed. Of course, the Altmans hide in the panic room, where, naturally, the safe with the loot is also hidden. The crooks refuse to leave without what they came for; Meg refuses to open the panic room. A battle of wills ensues.
Whitaker plays the nice guy in the group; his character, Burnham, built the panic room and has been forced into crime by legal fees required to get custody of his kids. Country singer Yoakam is the psycho, Raoul. The casting of Yoakam seems strange for a couple reasons. One, Raoul is supposedly from Flatbush, and Yoakam makes no attempt at an accent that would fit the locale or the ethnicity suggested by the character's name. Two, I got the impression that Raoul is supposed to be an imposing figure from his first appearance on-screen, but Yoakam is a short, skinny guy who looks weak next to the massive Whitaker. Fincher compensates by having Raoul wear a ski-mask throughout most of the movie and by giving him the only gun in the house. (You know, if I was a paranoid reclusive millionaire, I would stock my panic room with weapons.) Despite his limitations, Yoakam perseveres and manages at least to echo the menace he exuded in "Sling Blade."
The androgynous Foster, on the other hand, is perfectly cast because the part requires the same mixture of masculine grit and feminine vulnerability that she played so well in "Silence of the Lambs." I wish David Koepp's script gave Foster more to work with in terms of fleshing out her character, but it puts much more emphasis on action than on character. With details about the characters cut to a minimum, the few tidbits that we are given seem awkward and artificial. For example, Meg suffers from claustrophobia, and Sarah is diabetic. Both details seem to be accompanied by a neon light blinking on and off "THIS WILL BE IMPORTANT LATER WHEN THEY'RE LOCKED IN A SMALL ROOM ALL NIGHT."
Although the thin script keeps Fincher from achieving anything as revolutionary as "Se7en" or "Fight Club," he is a master of atmosphere and displays a talent for action sequences here. The suspense is compelling, and "Panic Room" is an edgy rush.
© 2002 Christian L. Pyle
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
