Panic Room (2002)

                           PANIC ROOM
               (a film review by Mark R. Leeper)

CAPSULE: Fairly standard woman-in-distress suspense story as three men try to break into her new home, a Manhattan mansion. Matters are complicated by the existence of a special high-security fortified room. The tension is high, but the content is low. The biggest thief is Forest Whitaker, who once again steals the show. Rating: 6 (0 to 10), +1 (-4 to +4)

Forest Whitaker is a big chunky black man, not especially attractive, in an industry in which most successful black actors have the look of Will Smith and Halle Barry. Very few roles are ever written specifically for unattractive black men so for every film he is in, Whitaker is a quirky casting choice. He seems constantly cast against type in roles like assassins and that nearly always makes him the most interesting aspect of any film he is in. Two years from now people will see the title PANIC ROOM and remember the strong room and that Forest Whitaker was trying to break into it. Fewer people will remember it was Jodie Foster in distress in spite of her top billing, her intelligent performance, and her fame as an Oscar winner. This probably would have been much the same film with a Rene Russo or a Nicole Kidman as the imperiled woman. Replace Whitaker and it would not be the film we saw. [Postscript: reading other reviews I see that Nicole Kidman really was initially cast as the lead, but had to bow out due to an injury.]

Newly-divorced Meg Altman (played by Jodie Foster) and her teenage daughter Sarah (Kristen Stewart) are spending their first night in their fantastic New York City brownstone townhouse. The house has all the luxuries including a special high-security fortified "panic room" just in case there is a break-in. And wouldn't you know it, the first night that is exactly what the two have to contend with. Three desperate men do break in, expecting the house to be empty. There is something specific in the house that they want, what Hitchcock would call "the McGuffin." Meg retreats to the panic room with her daughter knowing that the telephone connection to the police is not yet in place. Safe in their small vault and command center the mother and daughter might have been able to wait out the intruders. However, the intruders cannot take what they want and go since the McGuffin is in the panic room with Meg and her daughter. Also one of the intruders is Burnham (Whitaker) who is an expert on fortified rooms, their strengths, and their weaknesses. If anyone can get past the defenses, he can. The team of trespassers, who know more about the panic room than Meg does, play a cat-and-mouse game to get into the safe-like room. They have other problems just working as a team. Burnham wants to find the McGuffin, grab, and run without hurting anybody. Junior (Jared Leto) has no such scruples. He is flashy and impatient. Raoul (Dwight Yoakam) is nearly silent and inscrutable behind a ski mask. At least initially he has a facade that is icy and hard edged. He has unexpectedly come armed and Burnham has not bargained to be involved with guns. This is going to be a long night.

This could have been a clever battle of wits between two intelligent and fallible opponents, but it is somehow only partially successful. Occasionally Meg does things that are extremely stupid and it is only the contrivance of the scriptwriter that keeps her alive. The major problem with the script is that the opponents are neither as intelligent or as fallible as would be needed to set this film apart. What should be an interesting plot twist near the end comes with road signs that start as early as the opening credits. Speaking of which, the artistic design of the opening credits may be the most original feature of this film.

David Koepp's screenplay does little new with its people beyond a little with his Burnham character. The one thing that sets Meg apart from other besieged but resourceful women in other films is that she wears glasses. Glasses are a touch rarely used for lead actors and generally are used as a visual signal of intellect. Sarah is the standard rebellious teen who feels insecure because of the divorce. Her relationship with her mother that is totally standard.

The film is visualized with a depressed (and depressing) color scheme of darks and muted yellows and greens. A dark color scheme and the use of rain are familiar David Fincher touches from films like SE7EN This is a film that requires the viewer to leave logic behind. One or two of Meg's defenses would have gotten her killed in all probability. The viewer may be incredulous but never bored. I rate it a 6 on the 0 to 10 scale and a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.

                                        Mark R. Leeper
                                        mleeper@optonline.net
                                        Copyright 2002 Mark R. Leeper

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X-RAMR-ID: 31525
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 303262
X-RT-TitleID: 1112925
X-RT-AuthorID: 1309
X-RT-RatingText: 6/10