Whether inspired by
childhood memories or urban fears, some the most memorable and tense
sequences of film have characters hiding in a closet. One only needs
to think of Jamie Lee cowering from The Shape in the original Halloween
or Kyle MacLachlan peeping on Hopper and Rossellini in Blue Velvet
to understand how unnerving this activity can be. With Panic Room
writer David Koepp builds the most secure closet he can and throws
two women in it without ever allowing the action to stagnate.
The panic room of the
title is basically an upstairs bomb shelter to be used in the event
of a break-in, like hiding under bulletproof covers with access
to a bank of surveillance monitors. This castle keep is found in
the New York town house of mother and daughter duo Meg and Sarah
Altman (Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart respectively). On the inaugural
night in their new home, Meg and Sarah lock themselves in the panic
room when three burglars invade in search of the previous tenant's
missing fortune.
It's not quite high
concept but it's fairly elevated. Whether or not panic rooms exist
or not doesn't really matter, as much of the film is implausible,
but it always follows its own internal cinematic logic. Foster turns
in her best performance in a decade as the claustrophobic single
mom. Few actresses can do the standard "drink red wine in the
bathtub and cry quietly" scene, and then sack up and do the
pissed off protective mother bear thing. Kristen Stewart plays one
of the most realistic angry pre-teen characters we've seen on screen.
She's old enough to ooze contempt while young enough to still need
her mom. We'll be seeing more of her in the future.
Forest Whitaker leads
the trio of thieves as the good-guy burglar with misgivings and
a family. Jared Leto and Dwight Yoakam fill out the crew and bring
some much-needed comic relief to the tense proceedings. Leto, under
cornrows and hipster scruff, steals his scenes in a masquerade role
that will only help his career with people that watch the credits,
as he's virtually unrecognizable. Yoakam brings intensity and Clint
Howardesque looks to the loose cannon role.
Urban paranoia has proven
to be a wellspring of inspiration for screenwriter David Koepp (The
Trigger Effect, Stir of Echoes), and it proves to be a good
match for director David Fincher's (Fight Club) sensibilities.
Koepp imbues his characters with realistic reactions to situations
and even more importantly realistic mistakes. The fun of this genre
is trying to outthink the characters in a game of "What would
I do?". The genre succeeds when characters make the same choices
as the audience and then the story conspires against said choice.
Koepp plays the game well and wins most of the time.
It is nice to see Fincher
succeed in a step down in scale after the ambitious Fight Club.
He remains daring but this time in a survive-until-dawn thriller
with a limited cast and only one setting. In some ways the smaller
scope enables Fincher to cut loose in his storytelling. He allows
the camera to roam freely through the apartment in some well-done
CG composite shots.
In one showy tracking
shot Fincher moves his camera into a keyhole, through the handle
of a coffee pot and allows it to materialize through floors all
without any noticeable cuts. This proves that while walls are the
foremost concern of the characters trapped within the house, the
storyteller can easily go wherever he wants. This free flowing camera
makes the claustrophobic nature of the action all the more torturous.
Panic Room is a solid
thriller. The situations, while farfetched at times, never get overstated.
The tension builds to almost unbearable levels but the well-placed,
genuinely funny releases keep thing from becoming overly oppressive.
Unlike many films of late it satisfies. This picture reflects a
time when talented artists used to say they were only making entertainment
and ended up making entertaining art.
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