Jodie Foster plays Meg Altman, a divorced mother with a young
daughter named Sarah, who is seeking a new home in New York City. Her ex-husband, who
dumped her for another woman, is a wealthy pharmaceutical magnate who can shell out
the bucks for whatever property Meg finds in the city (although they are
separated, they still want to stay within reach of each other for Sarah's sake).
Thanks to a friend, Meg finds a magnificent four-story property that is a cross
between a townhouse and a brownstone (the real estate agents refers to it as a
townstone). Originally built in 1879, the house once belonged to a rich recluse
who lived there until his death of natural causes. The former owner was also
somewhat paranoid, as well, for he had a panic room installed.
A small room that is constructed of reinforced concrete and steel, a panic room
is a sanctuary for the occupants of a house to retreat to if they ever become
the victims of a home invasion. The panic room has food and medical supplies, a
toilet and sink, a bank of monitors that show each portion of the house, and a
separate phone line. Although Meg buys the house--a home with this much space in
Manhattan is a rarity--she's somewhat uneasy about the panic room, thanks to her
discomfort at confined spaces. However, on their first night in their new home,
Meg and Sarah makes ample use of the panic room in a big way when three burglars
break into the house. One of the men has a great deal of knowledge about home
security systems, and easily defeats the alarms.
Meg manages to wake up Sarah and get themselves inside the panic room, sliding
the steel door shut right in the face of one of the men. But, Meg realizes that
she forgot to get the phone line for the panic room switched on, so they can't
call anybody. Meg figures that she and Sarah would just have to wait it out
while the thieves stole whatever they wanted and leave. Yet they find out to
their horror that the one thing the thieves have come to steal is within the
panic room itself, and these intruders will stop at nothing to get inside.
If this sounds like your average cat and mouse story, think again. David Fincher,
the director of Se7en and Fight Club, directs Panic Room with his usual stylish
flair. And he takes what could have been a sappy thriller you'd see on the
Lifetime Channel and elevates it into an enthralling, riveting masterpiece of
suspense that would have made Hitchcock proud. The script by David Koepp is
intelligent, with fleshed-out characters that have realistic motives. And the
third group of this winning team is the superb cast of actors who have been
assembled for the film. A last minute replacement for Nichole Kidman, who bowed
out due to medical reasons, Jodie Foster is fantastic; she's very sympathetic as Meg,
and Kristen Steward is extremely likeable as her daughter, Sarah. Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto and
Dwight Yokam, all outstanding actors, round out the main cast as the three squabbling
thieves.
The special edition DVD set is truly special. There are three discs, two of
which are devoted exclusively to the making of Panic Room. The amazing thing
about this film is that although it takes place in New York City, the majority
of the filming was actually shot in Manhattan Beach, California. The entire
house that's seen in the film, along with the outside streets, were one massive
set constructed indoors in a studio. The entire making of the film, from
pre-production, to filming to post-production, is exhaustively chronicled. The
one hour documentary, "Shooting Panic Room", is a marvelous, no-nonsense look at
the behind the scenes goings on. It thankfully lacks any of the usual Hollywood
hype that most 'making of' docs suffer from. There are also three sets of
commentaries featuring the cast and crew, detailed documentaries on the visual
effects, the make up effects, and much, much more. This DVD is truly worth the
price, for you'll be watching the special features for hours on end. --SF
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