"Panic Room" Rated R
****.5/*****
David Fincher, the genius director of the disterbingly flawless Se7en and the amazing surreal Fight Club is at it again with Panic Room. Fincher emplores the same swooping, computer animated camera movements that he used in Fight Club. Panic Room is simpily dripping with style. He combines his own unique style with a kind of Hitchocockian suspense that works all too well. Basicly, this movie is just two hours of PURE suspense that doesn't let up for a minute until the movies over.
Fincher has the pleasure of directing a great script by David Koepp (Jurrasic Park). Suprisingly, he manages to take an old genere and make it completey original and, even more amazingly, plausable. The story centers around Meg Altmann (Jodie Foster). She is newly divorced and buys a huge brownstone in New York and moves in with her tennage daughter Sarah. The odd thing about this house is that is has a very modern "safe" or "panic" room in case someone where to break in the house. It has video cameras, its own ventalation, and food and water. Well, their first night there somebody DOES break in.
Junior (Jared Leto) is the man with the plan. His grandfather was the last owner of the house, and he is aiming to collect on his wealth if he has to take it himself. Burnham (Forrest Whitaker) has the knowledge. He spent the last 12 years of his life making panic rooms, so if even could break into one, it would be him. Raol (Dwight Yoakem) is the wildcard. Junior has brought this psychopath along unbenkosted to Burnham. All of the characters are well acted, and well fleshed-out. David Koepp smartly lets us find out more and more about these characters and their motifs as we move on in the story.
Meanwhile, the suspense is building like crazy! You see, Meg and Sarah, upon hearing the intruders, run into the panic room to seek refuge. Unfortunatly for everyone involved, what they want is IN the room. What ensues as a terrific cat and mouse chess game. David Koepp does a good job at keeping the tension high in the story line, but this movie wouldn't be anything special, were it not for David Fincher.
He manages to keep us unbelievabnle intralled for two hours straight. He keeps the suspense high, and never lets it fall untill the movie is over. Panic Room is yet another fantastic film credited to David Fincher.
