Release Date:
Friday, March 29, 2002
At this point, the words Directed by David Fincher attached to a movie should imply something dark, something moody, something twisted, and above all, something worth seeing. This guy brought you Alien 3, Se7en, The Game, and Fight Clubeven at his worst, hes produced more interesting things than Ron Howard ever will.
So how does Panic Room measure up? Very well, despite being his most linear story to date. There are no strange twists, no split personalities, and no heads in boxes, but it is a taut thriller that makes surprisingly good use of a single location. When a wealthy divorcée (Jodie Foster) moves into a posh Manhattan apartment, she soon finds out how useful that strange panic room (a secret fallout shelter thats a paranoids wet dream) is when her home falls under attack by desperate crooks. Fincher keeps everything moving briskly, and he never overplays some of the storys potentially cornball elements (the daughters illness, Forest Whitakers personal moral dilemma). Great performances by Foster, Whitaker, and an unrecognizable (even with the mask off) Dwight Yoakam seal the deal. Make an appointment to check this one out.
So how does Panic Room measure up? Very well, despite being his most linear story to date. There are no strange twists, no split personalities, and no heads in boxes, but it is a taut thriller that makes surprisingly good use of a single location. When a wealthy divorcée (Jodie Foster) moves into a posh Manhattan apartment, she soon finds out how useful that strange panic room (a secret fallout shelter thats a paranoids wet dream) is when her home falls under attack by desperate crooks. Fincher keeps everything moving briskly, and he never overplays some of the storys potentially cornball elements (the daughters illness, Forest Whitakers personal moral dilemma). Great performances by Foster, Whitaker, and an unrecognizable (even with the mask off) Dwight Yoakam seal the deal. Make an appointment to check this one out.