I saw Panic Room was going to be on TV and even though I knew it was a David Fincher film, it had Jodie Foster in it, who is not only one of my favourite actors, but she's smart too. She makes good artistic and business decisions so I thought I'd record the movie and watch it later. I love it when I am surprised by a film and my expectations have been exceeded.
The story revolves around a divorced Mum of a 10 year old diabetic girl who buy a beautiful multi-storey apartment (which is a bit excessive for my liking). The place was previously owned by a multi-millionaire who had a Panic Room installed so that if a home invasion occurred he could safely hold himself up in the room and call the cops from the installed phone. When the man died, he left millions in bearer bonds in the Panic Room unbeknownst to our new buyers. Unfortunately, the Panic Room installer and two fellow thieves break in on the girl's first night thinking the place is still empty. Our Mother sees the robbers on the security cameras and locks her and her daughter inside the Panic Room. But the phone hasn't been connected and the daughter's life saving insulin is outside with the bad guys. How does she save her daughter and get away?
David Fincher has created a Hitchkockian thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Confined to the one building and claustrophobically within the four walls of the titular Panic Room. This film is brilliantly made with the inhabitants of the Panic Room changing through the film. It's incredibly clever storytelling and I would have given this film 10/10 if it wasn't for the ending.
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If you haven't seen this movie, look away now! Even test audiences didn't like the ending but it was going to cost too much to do reshoots so they played with the editing. They should have allowed Forest Whitaker's robber to get away with the cash instead of it blowing away and no one getting it. They tried to make him less sympathetic to the audience, but they didn't do a very good job of it. It is the only poor decision in this great story.
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I have to make mention that Kristen Stewart is FANTASTIC in this movie. Before she was in THAT vampire movie, she could really act! I hope she gets the opportunity to show her acting skills again.
If you love a good thriller with great acting and a really cleverly constructed story, don't be like me. See this movie now! I love this film and will be adding it to my DVD collection if I can track down the three disc collector's set, of if they bring out a bonus features heavy Blu Ray version! I give it 9/10.
