Panic Room (2002) Reviews

• A one-trick plot, but amazing camera, intense acting, and tightly made.

  secondtake2009-12-31

  Panic Room (2002) There are three reasons to see Panic Room. 1) The titles: understated, gorgeous, uncanny letters floating in the Manhattan cityscape. 2) The photography: camera moving like an animal, slipping between tiny spaces, swinging across rooms and through floors, inhabiting the screen like another character. 3) Forest Whitaker, again (he's so good so often it's hard to not expect a great performance). The rest of the film is very good, directed with style and intelligence as usual by David Fincher (who did Seven and Fight Club). The plot is good, but maybe a little conventional overall, and if the details aren't completely predictable, the general flow of events is. The whole cast is quite good--Foster in a familiar embattled, determined role, and Jared Leto is an appropriately crazed, if slightly caricatured, bad guy who just wants money. Don't we all. I saw this when it came out and was dazzled and yet disappointed by the plot. The second time, knowing the events, I was able to just watch how they unfolded, and it was much better. Expect suspense, intensity, and beautiful camera-work.

  More

• Well acted action-thriller, weak conclusion

  long-ford2009-02-28

  David Fincher directs this cleverly conceived thriller about a mother and daughter trapped inside a panic room by three criminals. The film is well-paced and the camera work is slick. The film does well in exploring the confines of the house. Jodie Foster is effective and maintains a high intensity throughout. Kristen Stewart is decent as her daughter. Forest Whitaker plays a slightly sympathetic criminal and does well. Unfortunately, after an engrossing game of cat and mouse, the conclusion is weak. Staple clichés crop up and the film goes for a crowd-pleasing finale that doesn't quite feel right. Still watchable. Overall 7/10

  More

• nothing makes sense in this movie

  ksayip2002-04-13

  ***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** I like the idea of the panic room, but the room itself has to be much better than the one in the movie. And too many things in the movie that do not make sense: (POSSIBLE SPOILERS, so do not read on if you dont' want to be spoiled, but the movie is SO predictable anyway) 1. You call 911 and get placed on hold after you tell them your address and it's an emergency? 2. Cell phones don't work in the room? If it was a room designed for the purpose as described in the beginning of the movie, shouldn't cell phones be usable in it? 3. Isn't it obvious to just kill all the surveilance cameras all over the house so people in the room won't know what you're doing? 4. Can't Jodie Foster tell the cops something or signal something since she was in the room before and should know they can't hear her from inside the room? 5. How can someone get smashed in the head like that not only not die, but still has the power to wrestle someone down and try to kill her? etc.etc. please write a better script next time Fincher.

  More

• Severely underrated

  timothygruich2009-02-02

  Way ahead of it's time. If you can come up with a story based in a single room and make it as engaging and exciting as this one... you deserve to be frozen and preserved for future teaching of inspiring film makers. This is a fantastic film and I'm glad Jodie Foster was available for the lead when Nicole Kidman got knocked up and bailed. I loved the off-character casting of Jared Leto and the unbelievable casting of Dwight Yoakam... DWIGHT YOAKAM. Everything worked. Another great, and yet again... underrated film by David Fincher. How long is it going to take for an established directed like Fincher to take a chance and roll the dice on trying to make a script like this work again? ...No one has the guts.

  More

• Say What? The script's the thing...

  canuckteach2008-07-05

  I watched part of this film on 'Rogers Pay-TV' after seeing the nifty trailer on iTunes. About 15 minutes in, I wished I'd spent my $3 on a really good cup of coffee instead! Then, I started to read the reviews here at IMDb and realized that I was witnessing a murder in progress--a murder of the suspense-thriller genre. Since the camera work and cast are first class, how does one create such a muddled flick? Simple: the script. High school kids can't really act, but when they perform 'Oklahoma' or 'Fiddler on the Roof', the presentation is usually passable. Why? good script. There is no camera work at a live presentation of one of Shakespeare's plays, even using unknown but gifted performers - yet the final product is generally intriguing. Why? good script. A compelling actor like Hugh Laurie, Anthony Hopkins, Ralph Fiennes, or {fill in name of your fav American actor here - don't want to hurt your feelings - you get my point} could sit in a chair and stare at a live audience, or at a single camera for 2 hours - you'd be spellbound if they spin a good yarn, but only if they had a good script. But without a script, even the best actors toil in futility. Forest Whitaker is always brilliant. Jody Foster has 'A'-list talent. Jared Leto plays a good 'bizarro-type' (try his understated performance in 'Switchback' with Danny Glover) and Dwight Yoakam has the chops to 'weird you out' in bit roles (made me shudder in 'Sling Blade'). How could such a roster produce this piece of junk? Bad script. A revealing clue that the writer tanked the screenplay is when the bad guys show up and start cursing for no particular reason. The 'script' probably reads 'the bad guys show up and start cursing for no particular reason'. The array of dumb things in this film, listed here at IMDb, seems endless, but I'll add one more (apologies if someone got it before): Jody and daughter are using a flashlight to signal a sleeping neighbor for help,100 yards away. He wakes up, looks out his window and.... and.....and... they stop flashing the SOS and they begin to holler 'Help Help Help' (through a rainstorm). He can't hear. He goes back to sleep. Darn it - I hate it when that happens. Finally - looking for a good cast, nifty camera work, decent performance, and forgivable minor slips in logic? try 'Red Eye'! the difference? good script.

  More