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| Panic Room |
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  (7/10)
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Runtime: 112 |
| Public Rating: 9.11 (9 votes) |
Director: David Fincher |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Action |
Year: 2002 |
| Writer(s): David Koepp |
| Distributor: Columbia Tri-Star |
| Reviewed by: Joel Spencer |
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David Fincher’s Panic Room (2002), again underlines the ingenuity of one of Hollywood’s latest and greatest talents. Along with the infamous and ominous Fight Club and the sinisterly shot Se7en, Panic Room ranks amongst one of his finest productions. Shot in the same dark and eerie aesthetic as Fight Club, Panic Room sees the well talented and endowed actress Jodie Foster take on the role of a single mother, procuring a house for herself and her daughter Sarah.
The background behind the characters isn’t known, but that only distils the full thrust of the story: there is simply no time to delve into such matters. As after the slow introduction upon seeing the house shows, Fincher executes a propelling, fast paced and gripping story line with twists plots and hidden motives, in, well, typical Fincher fashion.
The main thesis of the story involves Foster (Mrs Altman) purchasing the house, unbeknownst to what’s lurking within. The only potential buyer to notice the room before the purveyor notes that it’s actually there; it’s immediately evident that Foster isn’t comfortable in the panic room, as can be seen by her facial expressions and cries for “open the door!” Without further ado, we’re told of the rooms’ purpose, to protect the owners of the house from burglars. So we’ve got to the basics of what’s going to happen, anyone by now can work out that Foster is going to take this house and it’s inevitably going to get burgled.
The first night sees Foster and her brash daughter (she reminds me of Edward Furlong’s conceited character in Terminator 2), sharing it in less than comfortable conditions. It’s noticeable that Foster is under a lot of stress, drinking red wine whilst bathing in an expensive yet less than humbly decorated home. The mise-en-scene, I may add, covertly adds to the emotions Foster and her daughter go through. Indeed, for those of you blessed enough to have seen Fight Club, you will, like me, notice a conspicuous resemblance between the house on Paper Street and this one.
So it’s apparent that Foster is undergoing an arduous time. Having just broken up from her marriage, it’s manifestly shown from her twisting and turning in bed that she isn't at ease. However, that problem is soon erased and something far worse is about to happen to her and her daughter, and the full extent of Panic Room is shot into action.
Fincher, as usual, drives the film in a relentless fashion, using the same hickory trickery as Fight Club, with CGI used in its most extreme form. One shot for instance, sees the ‘fairy flight camera’ take us on tour around the kitchen, to stop at the backdoor, whilst we, the audience, almost literally find ourselves picking our jaws up off the floor.
A further example of Fincher’s craftsman like directing involves one of the most admirably shot scenes in the film. Foster desperately needs to get Sarah some medicine from a fridge in another room. We have Foster and Sarah in the Panic Room and three intruders trying to get what they believe is theirs from the same room. The three intruders are downstairs, preoccupied in their own argument as to considering the best way to get into the room, or even if it’s worth it. Three inches of steel in every direction is something to debate getting through. Anyhow, we know what’s coming as Foster has to go for the medication in a rush against time to get Sarah her ‘shot’. Getting to the fridge is ok, but she alerts the intruders as to what she’s doing by unintentionally knocking a lamp to the floor. The scene cuts to the quarrelling intruders, their ears prick up (you can almost feel this) and from thereon, one of the best shots in the film is to be admired. In true slow motion, we have a cutting sequence between the three guys clambering their way up the stairs, and Foster scrambling to get back into the room and help Sarah.
Thereafter, the story is one of twists, turns, spills and thrills. Whilst not in the same league as Fight Club, or indeed, Se7en, Panic Room is a welcome addition to the Fincher franchise. A gripping and intense film that will have you on the edge of your seat till the very end, I almost forgot to mention, there’s a less than subliminal tendency to make you panic…
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