Panic Room
2002
Directed by David Fincher
Written by David Koepp
Starring Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart
With Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakem and Jared Leto
Panic Room is available for less than $10 in a well-put together Superbit edition, which means they have less extra features but (supposedly) a better picture. Any difference between the Superbit edition and a regular DVD was not obvious, although the price difference was certainly noted.
Panic Room is a far better movie when watched after multiple years have passed since it was released--after all, all the months of anticipation, wondering what the genius director David Fincher was going to do post-Fight Club has now settled into acceptance that the "what" is at least, hopefully "something that will end up in a movie theater before 2010." When Panic Room appeared in theaters in 2002, it received modest reviews, many of which took great care to emphasize the tremendous respect they had for Fincher's clear talent for the technical craft involved in filmmaking. Those remain just remarks--as a piece of workmanship, Panic Room contains a plethora of reasons to praise it. No shot is wasted: if anything, Panic is a masterpiece of efficient filmmaking. It's a beautiful looking movie, and the seamless mix of effects photography could be used as evidence that anything, even a coffee pot or a rain spout, can be fascinating.
Still, Panic Room is a movie, and all the beauty in the world can not, nor should it, make up for lack of story. While Panic Room remains a compelling thriller, with gamely played performances from Foster and Whitaker, it plays out rather soullessly. Much like Fincher's previous attempt in The Game, one watches the movie with such reverence towards the style that the lack of substance proves irritating after it ends. When Fincher has met a script that matches him in intelligence and craft, like Se7en or Fight Club, he has made some of the best films of the last twenty years. When something less than stellar is released from him, it proves more crushing due to his obvious talent. Panic Room is not a bad movie, not at all--but it did not deserve such a great director.
-Tucker Stone, 2006
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