5. Panic Room
Made between Fight Club and Zodiac, David Finchers Panic Room, similar to The Game, has somewhat fallen between the cracks of Finchers impressive resume. This is unfortunate because, while Panic Room doesnt quite reach the heights of Finchers best work, its nevertheless a superb thriller, precise and almost unbearably tense. Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) and her daughter Sarah (Kristen Stewart) buy a new house after Megs recent divorce. They discover the previous owner of the house, a millionaire, had a panic room installed to protect the occupants from intruders. Even if you went in to this movie cold, without knowledge of the movies plot, it doesnt take a genius to figure out what the introduction of this panic suggests about the films plot. That very night, three men break in to the house, looking for money hid by the millionaire in the panic room. Junior (Jared Leto), the millionaires grandson hired Burnham (Forest Whitaker), who designed the panic room to help break in to the room. Junior also brings along, to Burnhams surprise, and suspicion, Raoul (Dwight Yoakam). They discover Meg and Sarah are in the house, which was not part of the plan- and when Meg is alerted to the intruders, she locks herself and Sarah in the panic room. The trick to making a one location thriller like Panic Room work is to find inventive ways to keep the plot moving forward while still keeping things locked within that one location. David Koepps screenplay works very well on this level, especially since the panic room is virtually impossible to break in to. Foster is the key to making the scenes in the panic room work- Foster has perfected these kinds of roles throughout her career, the down to earth woman who is thrown in to dangerous situations against violent men- think The Silence of the Lambs, The Brave One, Taxi Driver. Here, shes excellent as a woman who's strong yet vulnerable, smart but still in over her head. Theres tension both inside the panic room, due to Sarah having diabetes, and outside, with the men fighting amongst themselves. The three intruders are well defined. Burnham is the calm, rational one, Junior, the more impetuous, and Raoul being the wildcard, someone we know is unhinged. The script keeps things interesting by finding surprising depth in the character of Burnham, who we learn has a child whose custody he may lose. In several ways, Burnham is the most sympathetic character in the film, and Whitaker makes us believe in Burnhams everyman nobility throughout the film, particularly when he saves Sarahs life later on by giving her a shot. But while the script is sharp, its Finchers direction that makes Panic Room such an involving thriller. The sequences where Meg and Sarah make their way to the panic room and when Meg retrieve her cell phone are master classes in suspense. Also of note, Fincher, similar to Fight Club, uses visual effects to create the illusion of the camera moving through the building- its noticeable, but still a fascinating technique. Conrad W. Hall, the son of iconic cinematographer Conrad H. Hall, who replaced cinematographer Darius Khondji, gives the film a great noirish look. Panic Room is an expert thriller that, nearly 12 years later, holds up remarkably well. If youre a fan of Finchers other work and havent seen this, its definitely worth a watch.