Review of Panic Room (Superbit)

Introduction

Despite a typically virtuoso opening titles sequence (the credits hang from Manhattan skyscrapers like giant metallic billboards), there`s little in the first reel of `Panic Room` to suggest it is the work of David Fincher, the distinctive nihilist/stylist who made a startling impression with the unforgettably dire `Alien 3` and the visually hysterical anti-consumerist polemic `Fight Club`. And whilst the understated spectacle of the titles may suggest to the loaded Fincher-appreciator the throbbingly intense subtlety of the malevolent mind-f*** `The Game`, the introduction of a pandered divorcee and her listless daughter implies something more tame. Jodie Foster plays Meg Altman, newly parted from her millionaire pharmaceutical-giant husband (Patrick Bauchau) along with her sulky teenage daughter Sarah (Kristen Stewart) and now house-hunting around the Upper West Side with her ex`s substantial funds. The chosen fort has all the perks you`d expect: high ceilings, five floors, elevator, PA system, and an intimidating chrome shell called a `panic room`, where the house-holders can seek refuge from any marauding burglars who may care to make a house call. Guessed what happens yet? Lets just say she should have had an all-night house-warming.

Video

Cinematographers Darius Khondji and Conrad W. Hall (both Fincher veterans) make the most, and perhaps rather too much, out of the contained surroundings. Naturally, every shot is doused in grunge-chic lighting, and for as many glorious Hitchcockian shots there are just as many `What Lies Beneath` style CG numbers that make a stark declaration of their existence without ever justifying it. The transfer is suitably sharp for a `Superbit` release, although it should be noted that unless you have a top-notch system from top to tail, you`re unlikely to notice much of a difference between this and any other reference quality new release.

Audio

Columbia lady has barely even dissolved off the screen before you can practically hear Herrmann squirming in his grave. To be fair, Howard Shore`s score is a playful pastiche as opposed to a mocking parody, which is smarter than it seems, and one can hardly blame him for milking the master for all he`s worth. A choice of stereo, 5.1 or DTS tracks is available, all are of a very high standard but, unsurprisingly, the DTS gives you the most bang for you buck.

Features

The teaser trailer, complete with spooky Linda Hunt voice over, is fraught with a cacophonous tension. That, except some boring animated menus and pointless filmographies, is your lot. Hold your breath for the special edition.

Conclusion

A hard-edged, yet conventional thriller from Fincher, who brings his techno-charged, testosterone heavy, grunge/glam visual style to the unexpectedly feminine story of a single mother threatened with home invasion by three nefarious crooks and forced to seek shelter in the impenetrable cocoon of the panic room, and the greater depths of her rugged maternal instinct. The elements co-opted from Fincher`s last movie `Fight Club`: grisly violence and stylized photogrammetry special effects, are in turns over-loaded and embarrassing. The free-floating virtual camera`s flitting past stainless steel kettles manages to briefly purge the clammy claustrophobia the film otherwise works so hard to sustain. Fincher never really develops a compelling spatial geography to the muddily unlit brown-stone (although the problem is not nearly as crippling as it was during `Alien 3`s blustery conclusion), with events seeming to take place within an incoherent space of faceless rooms stacked high with boxes, labyrinthine corridors and sprawling staircases.

The dynamic between the three criminals is diagrammatic at best and at worst `Home Alone` starring The Three Stooges, with third man Forest Whitaker taking the anchor as the figure of pragmatism and self-respect. Dwight Yoakam manages to make a surprisingly vivid turn as the blandly irrational psychopath; but Jodie Foster brings real weight to her role, building her character`s quest for inner-strength to something tantalizingly lacking in the usual post-feminist narcissist cliches. Despite its genre-confinement, this makes for a rigorous nail-biter which cranks up a predictable but compellingly adrenalized level of suspense.