Panic Room - rated - SIMMERING
Don't panic, Jodie's in charge
Panic Room was a much better film than I'd hoped. This is due in a
large
part to the intelligence of Jodie Foster as an actor.
It begins very well indeed - with the most original titles I can
remember
since Once Were Warriors (1994, Lee Tamahori) and Seven
(1995,
David Fincher). They seem to be digitally inserted over the landscape
of
what looks like Chicago. But them we suddenly find ourselves in
Manhattan,
in a very ritzy neighborhood.
However, as the film developed, I found myself getting edgy about the
many
things which seemed like plotting errors. There seemed to be too many
unlikely
things that happened - such as the fact of the husband going over in
person
to investigate the break-in. Why call the police & then go
yourself? Then there was the way Jody Foster's character let her
daughter go into
diabetic shock. Why did the police take ages to come? And why, after
seeing
her husband tortured, couldn't Jodie find a way to tell the police
whole
story? That was an amazing image, particularly in a Jodie Foster film -
the image of the impotent husband and father, unable to protect his
(estranged)
family.
But then I realized that this was exactly what the director was doing
-making
you angry about things, and then explaining them. Hence there was a
reason
one of the burglars was so out-of-control angry.
However, I really think the film was spoiled by including the last
scene. It is there only to mollify the audience - to let them leave the
theatre
relaxed. But the film would be so much more powerful if that scene were
left out, and the image that you are left with is Forest Whitaker's
face,
followed by Jodie Foster's. His face & hers. What will become of
him? Now that's a question.
© Michèle M Asprey 2002
This review is copyright. You must not use any part without my
permission.