*Film opens March 29th

      The credit sequence in "Panic Room" consists of close up shots of several beautiful New York buildings. The names in the credits are suspended in air. They are designed to look like white marble signs, magically hovering just in front of the various buildings. It is a beautiful sequence which harkens back to the credit sequence in Hitchcock's "North by Northwest." I believe this was the effect that director Fincher was trying to achieve, because "Panic Room" comes closer than any of the works of Brian De Palma in capturing Hitchcock's suave, urban sense of cinema.

      Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) is a 30ish mother. Her husband, Stephen (Patrick Bauchau) has just traded Meg in for a newer model. The wealthy divorcee must find a new home for herself and diabetic daughter, Sarah (Kristen Stewart). They find a beautiful home that has just come on the market following the death of the wealthy banker who was the previous owner. During the showing of the old house, the agent lets it be known that the previous owner's family are squabbling over a huge amount of money that is missing from the estate. The four-story brownstone has an elevator and a state of the art security system. The master bedroom even has a panic room. A panic room is an impregnable vault to which a person could run to in case of a home invasion or kidnapping attempt. The room is stocked with food, and has a master security board with video monitors and telephone. Four feet of concrete and three inches of steel protect the homeowner from all sorts of nasty villains.

      Meg buys the house with her ex-husband's money. Meg and Sarah settle in for their first night in the new house. They eat pizza. Meg puts the young teenager to bed and proceeds to finish off the bottle of wine she is drowning her sorrows in. Meg sets the alarm and passes out. As a storm rages outside, the two ladies sleep, unaware that three men are about to breach the security system. Burnham (Forest Whitaker) is a security consultant who needs money to get custody of his children. Junior (Jared Leto) is the coked up mastermind of the home invasion. Raoul (Dwight Yokum) is a masked psycho brought by Junior to provide that little extra that all good home invasions need. I won't say what they are after or go into anymore details other than to say, twenty minutes into the movie, Meg and Sarah are in the panic room and the three bad-guys want in. The rest of the movie is a battle of wits between Meg, Sarah and the bad-guys. It is edge of your seat entertainment.

      Fincher uses some incredible camera work to make the best use of the claustrophobic setting. While many of the camera shots are elaborate in their execution, the photography isn't a fancy way of dressing up a weak script. The script by David Koepp is strong. The photography is a rich garnish. There is an incredible traveling shot which lasts for a couple of minutes without a cut. From the time Meg's head hits the pillow until she is awakened by the intruders, Fincher's camera roams through walls, chairs, banisters and windows to follows the burglar's entry into the house. While there is some obvious computer animation to allow for the magical camera movement, this was added later to finish the shot. For example, the camera moves right through an opening in the balcony railing. Slats were added digitally later to make it look as if the camera moved right through the solid object. The scene is similar to the credit sequence in "Fight Club" only better.

      The performances are outstanding throughout. Jody Foster has never seemed more vulnerable. She has been abandoned by a shallow husband. She is brittle. As she is being shown the house, Sarah rides a scooter inside. She timidly whispers to her daughter to stop. One of the agents finally yells, "Kid, No Scooter!" By the end of the film, Meg has reclaimed her strength, and realizes that she is a survivor. Her transition from wounded bird to soaring hawk is subtle and realistic. She doesn't suddenly become Rambo. As each new obstacle faces her, she deals with it with common sense and motherly instincts. Kristen Stewart as Sarah is also excellent. Sarah assists her mother through the ordeal. She doesn't have all the answers, but she rounds out her mother to form a formidable pair of fighting ladies. The scenes inside the panic room itself are reminiscent of Ron Howard's "Apollo 13." The pair are stuck in a steel vault with limited resources and have to create their own salvation with the parts on hand.

      Forest Whitaker is always wonderful. His Burnham designs panic rooms. He is the voice of calm among the conspirators. He is also the technical expert. His ideas move the battle forward from the bad-guys point of view. Jared Leto looks very different from his character Angel Face in "Fight Club." Junior is a crack smoking, machine gun talking schemer who put the burglary together. Unbeknownst to Burnham, he brought Raoul into the caper. Junior provides the film's comic relief. His panicky, twitching and non-stop barrage of orders and pleas are quite amusing. Dwight Yokum rounds out the unholy trinity as Raoul. If you thought Mr. Yokum played a mean bastard in "Sling Blade," you are in for a surprise. Raoul is a one dimensional amoral beast. He wears a ski-mask for most of the movie. He thinks with his muscles. His limited intellect is on display as he tries to batter his way into the fortress with a sledgehammer. His limited intellect also makes him dangerous. When all else fails, try violence. Hell, don't even wait for all else to fail. Try violence first.

      If "Panic Room" had been a Hitchcock movie it would have been ranked in the top 10. "Panic Room" marks a change of pace for director Fincher. Though it deals with a dark subject, it is the most normal movie he has directed. That is not to say that his imprint isn't felt. "Panic Room" shows a maturity in Fincher's story-telling ability. "Panic Room" is by far the best thriller to be released in recent years.

Rusty White, 2002