PANIC ROOM
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Okay, wake up in the middle of the night and get chased into a bunker by three strangers who then try to break in after you. If this has happened to you, your therapist would advise against watching this movie. For the rest of us, "Panic Room" is as close as we want to get to this experience. If just visualizing this scenario made you hyperventilate, stick with the Family Channel on cable.
If the main characters in this movie regularly read my other column, this film would be a very short story that ends happily for everyone. Nobody would want to watch THAT (except the British, who like "Cinema Ennui" (that's French for "Movies Where Nothing Happens")), so the characters commit errors of judgment that swirl them into a sinking morass of desperation and, well, panic. This could just become annoying, but the progression is deftly done, drawing the viewer in with twists both predictable and surprising. It's tense, suspenseful, and at times brutal. If I gave a class, the mid-term exam could easily be an essay on "What tactical errors do the characters make in this movie?" Don't get me wrong, however, this is an entertaining thriller, even if you can't resist yelling helpful advice at the screen.
If you liked the movies below, you'll probably like this one (and vice versa):
Eight-Facet Info Rating, rated on a scale of 0 (None) to 4 (Lots!)): |