| Product: |
Panic Room (DVD) |
| Date: |
20/08/02 (45 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: Good storyline, Predictability stops after a while
Disadvantages: Predictable at start
~ Cast ~
Director: David Fincher
Starring: Jodie Foster (Meg Altman)
Kirsten Stewart (Sarah Altman)
Forest Whitaker (Burnham)
Dwight Yoakam (Raoul)
Jared Leto (Junior)
Certificate: 18
~ Plot Taster ~
Jodie Foster plays the part of Meg - a recent divorcee who is left to bring up her young daughter as a single parent. This film starts with Meg and daughter being shown around a house on the Westside of Manhattan. It is here that less than 10 minutes into the film, we get our first site of the ‘Panic Room’ – a secure room that is reinforced with at least 3 inches of steel and concrete and is complete with closed-circuit television (CCTV) scattered around the mansion sized house, telephone system and a fast closing and concealed door. The estate agent explains that the previous owner was a paranoid old man!
Meg decides to take the house and begins settle in with her daughter who at first I thought was a boy until about an hour through the film (perhaps I need my eyes tested). It then comes to nightfall and bother mother and daughter are asleep in their bedrooms when some intruders get into the house. The intruders had got their days mixed-up, as they believed that the house was empty.
Meg wakes up to get some water and hears the intruders and then in a mad panic runs to her daughters room to wake her. After a little bit of a fiasco, they both manage to lock themselves into the panic room. It turns out that the intruders were actually looking for valuables that were hidden away inside the panic room itself.
From this point on there were cat-and-mouse games between the Meg and the intruders. The intruders were trying to coax them out whilst Meg and daughter were trying to signal for help whilst keeping them out. What about the telephone I hear you say! Well like all good professionals, they have cut the phone line!
Well, I have given you a taste
r for the film, whilst not spoiling the plot too much. All I can really say is that from a fairly predictable start, I was pleased with the unpredictability of the remainder of the story. There is a very dramatic ending to the film as it is certainly action packed and will keep you on the edge of your seats for the last 15 minutes.
~ Opinion ~
I thought that the acting in this film was great – Sarah playing the part of the daughter who is a diabetic, which I believe to be a difficult thing to emulate in front of the camera and credit must go to the make-up department for making her look so ill!
There were not many special effects in the film, however, there were moments when the action was slowed down in chase scenes and there was good use of camera angles to highlight on the important objects and characters in the story. I also thought that the regular use of the CCTV was used to great effect. Some scenes were heightened with clever use of sound effects, although there was not any music.
After a dramatic last scene to the film, I though that the ending was an un-necessary “and they lived happily ever after”
Some shocking violence in a few scenes for those of you that are a little faint heated, hence the certificate 18 rating!
~ Last Words ~
I thought that this was a good film and would recommend seeing if you have not already – not a film that I believe is worth watching more than once though.
For those of you who have watched this film, I would recommend that you visit the panic room website at (ask me as I am not allowed to advertise) where you can take a tour through the house that the panic room resides.
Recommended viewing – 4 star rating
Thanks for reading, regards.. Mark
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