Whether inspired by childhood memories or urban fears, some the most memorable and tense sequences of film have characters hiding in a closet. One only needs to think of Jamie Lee cowering from The Shape in the original Halloween or Kyle MacLachlan peeping on Hopper and Rossellini in Blue Velvet to understand how unnerving this activity can be. With Panic Room, writer David Koepp builds the most secure closet he can and throws two women in it without ever allowing the action to stagnate.
The panic room of the title is basically an upstairs bomb shelter to be used in the event of a break-in, like hiding under bulletproof covers with access to a bank of surveillance monitors. This castle keep is found in the New York town house of mother and daughter duo Meg and Sarah Altman (Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart respectively). On the inaugural night in their new home, Meg and Sarah lock themselves in the panic room when three burglars invade in search of the previous tenant’s missing fortune.
It’s not quite high concept but it’s fairly elevated. Whether or not panic rooms exist or not doesn’t really matter, as much of the film is implausible, but it always follows its own internal cinematic logic. Foster turns in her best performance in a decade as the claustrophobic single mom. Few actresses can do the standard “drink red wine in the bathtub and cry quietly” scene, and then sack up and do the pissed off protective mother bear thing. Kristen Stewart plays one of the most realistic angry pre-teen characters we’ve seen on screen. She’s old enough to ooze contempt while young enough to still need her mom. We’ll be seeing more of her in the future.
Forest Whitaker leads the trio of thieves as the good-guy burglar with misgivings and a family. Jared Leto and Dwight Yoakam fill out the crew and bring some much-needed comic relief to the tense proceedings. Leto, under cornrows and hipster scruff, steals his scenes in a masquerade role that will only help his career with people that watch the credits, as he’s virtually unrecognizable. Yoakam brings intensity and Clint Howard-esque looks to the loose cannon role.
Urban paranoia has proven to be a wellspring of inspiration for screenwriter David Koepp (The Trigger Effect, Stir of Echoes), and it proves to be a good match for director David Fincher’s (Fight Club) sensibilities. Koepp imbues his characters with realistic reactions to situations and even more importantly realistic mistakes. The fun of this genre is trying to outthink the characters in a game of “What would I do?”. The genre succeeds when characters make the same choices as the audience and then the story conspires against said choice. Koepp plays the game well and wins most of the time.
It is nice to see Fincher succeed in a step down in scale after the ambitious Fight Club. He remains daring but this time in a survive-until-dawn thriller with a limited cast and only one setting. In some ways the smaller scope enables Fincher to cut loose in his storytelling. He allows the camera to roam freely through the apartment in some well-done CG composite shots.
In one showy tracking shot Fincher moves his camera into a keyhole, through the handle of a coffee pot and allows it to materialize through floors all without any noticeable cuts. This proves that while walls are the foremost concern of the characters trapped within the house, the storyteller can easily go wherever he wants. This free flowing camera makes the claustrophobic nature of the action all the more torturous.
Panic Room is a solid thriller. The situations, while farfetched at times, never get overstated. The tension builds to almost unbearable levels but the well-placed, genuinely funny releases keep thing from becoming overly oppressive. Unlike many films of late it satisfies. This picture reflects a time when talented artists used to say they were only making entertainment and ended up making entertaining art.
