Review of Panic Room (2002) by Guido M — 30 Sep 2014

Panic Room is a home-invasion thriller that would go under the radar if it wasn't for his director, none other than David Fincher. It's about a Megan Altman (Jodie Foster), a recently divorced woman who moves into a big apartment with her daughter, Sarah (A young, cute and somehow better actress Kristen Stewart). This apartment has a panic room, and as soon as some burglars enter the house, they lock themselves in there, not knowing that what the burglars are looking is in the panic room.

Home-invasion films are not original and they are pretty formulaic. However, Panic Room still manages to ignore that and be full entertainment. There is no long introduction to this characters, and the tension is built and kept for the nearly 2-hour runtime of the film. Fincher is really good at being atmospheric. He proves it once again in Panic Room and although the film is drenched in CGI, it also haas that Fincher Stylish camerawork that make some scenes stand out. Jodie Foster is also really good at the leading role. There is no much substance in the acting here but the performances are fair square.

However, the problem in Panic Room seems to be that it is forced to have home-invasion characters. The people in this movie make some really stupid choices, which either takes you out of the film or gets you immensely frustrated. For me, it was a bit of both. Mix that with some of the movie fluffy silliness and you've got yourself a thriller that does not go smooth, and has lots of rough patches, specially during the second "Home Alone"-inspired act where the burglars stop playing on the mother and daughter and the latter start playing on the baddies. There is some enjoyment as well, but tension is lost considerably.

In conclussion, Panic Room is an average home invasion thriller that is fun but does not liveup either to the genre or to the talented director's previous work. The senselessness is there, along with a warm cup of self-enjoyment, and sweet, sweet generic suspense.