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What exactly is a panic room? According
to David Fincher's new film, appropriately titled "Panic Room,"
these small, virtually impregnable rooms come equipped with
everything from surveillance cameras to a separate, hidden
phone line... everything one should need in the event of a
burglary or a forced entry. And now, this latest rage in home
security finds itself at the center of a thriller that delivers
suspense and implausibility in equal measure.
Jodie Foster plays Meg Altman,
a recently divorced mother in the market for a new home. She
shares a slightly distanced relationship with her daughter,
Sarah (Kristen Stewart); from a conversation between the two
early in the film, we gather that all Meg wants is to move
on with her life. Her search ends with the purchase of spacious
Manhattan home complete with four floors, four fireplaces,
an elevator, and (surprise!) a hidden room found behind a
mirrored panel in the master bedroom.
The movie does have the good sense
to provide an explanation for the inclusion of a panic room
in this otherwise normal abode. We are told that the previous
owner of the house, a wealthy tycoon fearful of being robbed,
had the room built in case of emergences. Coincidentally,
this piece of information is followed by the revelation that
a comely portion of the deceased's fortune has since been
missing (three guesses as to where it's hidden).
To keep things succinct, Meg and
Sarah's first night in their new house becomes quite the nightmare
when three burglars (played by Jared Leto, Forest Whitaker,
and Dwight Yoakam) force their way in, unaware that the house
is now occupied until it is too late. Before they have a chance
to collect their reward, Meg and Sarah find refuge in the
panic room, where a battle of wits, wills and intelligence
ensues as they attempt the thwart the thieves' tactics to
penetrate the room.
For all the positive buzz the stronghold
attains, there are flaws. For instance, why is it customary
that the new owner should have the emergency phone line connected
upon arrival? Should it not be a permanently connected line
directly to the police? And what about the room's ventilation
system, that which enables Meg's aggressors to fill the room
with gaseous fumes in one of the film's reality-stretching
scenes? Would not such a structure be embedded within the
concrete and steel walls of the room? As the attempts to enter
the room become more frantic, such questions become increasingly
bothersome.
The thieves themselves aren't all
too challenging, either. Leto, Whitkaker, and Yoakam do fine
jobs in handling the moments of humorous intervention, but
this comic relief serves to lessen the suspense that surrounds
it. Whitaker's character plays the token softy, while Yoakam's
character is increasingly agitated, and furthermore, dimwitted.
At one point, observing Meg disabling the surveillance cameras,
he makes the remark, "Why didn't we think of that?" Director
David Fincher ("Seven") does give the film more redeeming
qualities than one would think.
He wears his Hitchcock pedigree
proudly on his sleeve, filling the movie with an arsenal of
foreboding shots that begin on one floor and end on another,
sweeping through banisters and revolving throughout hallways
and rooms. Underneath the film's predictability lies an undercurrent
of effective suspense that holds up surprisingly well, due
in part to the claustrophobic setting, and Foster, whose performance
is marked by fear and determination.
In the end, a film like "Panic
Room" is best enjoyed with a continuous suspension of disbelief.
The setting is quite striking, not to mention original, but
much that revolves around the implausible plot becomes increasingly
conventional. For the measurable amount of shocks and energy
it manages to generate, the movie qualifies as a by-the-numbers
crowd pleaser, but it's by no means nothing to panic over.
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