panic room

THE FLICK: With all the praise heaped on director David Fincher by adoring cinephiles it’s no wonder he has delusions of Hitchcockian greatness. How else could you explain him taking on the challenge of a film set almost entirely inside one room, inside one house, with a one massive McGuffin at the heart of it all. “Panic Room” is Fincher’s mental exercise; a directorial challenge of storyboarded B-movie visual excess. The results (suspenseful but showy with an overly simplistic script from David Koepp) are much closer to Hitchcock hand-me-downs Brian DePalma or Dario Argento than the old master himself. Jodie Foster tackles the single-mom role as a recently divorced Manhattan apartment shopper who buys a three floor brownstone which houses a singular curiosity piece: a well-stocked panic room, complete with video monitors, air conditioning and a safe full of money. Of course, no one knows about the money except the three men who break in to steal it (played by Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto, and country crooner Dwight Yoakem) only to find the house occupied. As fate would have it, Foster and her daughter take refuge in the only room these career criminals are interested in...and they want them out! What follows is a chess game as each player tries to guess the others move. Cut phone lines, propane gas, and sledgehammers fail to drive Foster out of her hole so the bad guys (Yoakem is the real psycho) escalate the violence in a desperate attempt to salvage their scheme. Whittaker is comfortable in the role of the reluctant criminal; typically playing against his imposing physical stature. Foster is reliable, but unremarkable. The real star is David Fincher and his camera. After the glowing reviews of “Seven” and “Fight Club,” Fincher has achieved that level of creative control that can be dangerous. And “Panic Room’s” script isn’t worthy of his talents. Writer David Koepp allows for some forced introspection but very little interesting character development. One could imagine Hitchcock’s dark humor lifting the claustrophobic story above what was put on the page (witness “Rear Window,” for example), but Fincher’s strength doesn’t lie in molding material, only enhancing what is already there. “Panic Film” is far from a bad film. It’s just an ordinary one, blessed with glorious photography and elaborate camera moves, often (and sometimes obviously) CG enhanced to achieve that “impossible shot.” And as with the films of Argento and DePalma, the style becomes the story. The camera becomes an active participant in the action -swooping, panning, tilting, dollying – sometimes for dramatic effect, but mostly just for kicks. Still, even with a rather blasé story and forgettable characters, “Panic Room” is a blast to watch. THE FEATURES: One could argue that “Panic Room” wasn’t deserving of a 3-disc special edition treatment. But after sifting through the meticulous extras, one comes away with a greater understanding of Fincher as a director than with any of his previous feature packed DVDs. Just don’t go looking for fluff interviews and one-shot documentaries – this is a regimented technical breakdown of all the important aspects of the film, starting with three commentaries: one from Fincher himself, another with screenwriter David Koepp and William Goldman (who serves as a sort-of sounding board), and an edited track with actors Foster, Whittaker and Yoakem. The next two discs are so involved it’s best to tackle them in outline form: Disc Two: PREP Testing Phase • DP Conrad Hall discusses the specific low-light look Fincher was after and how a florescent “kinoflow” provided the best solution. Safe Cracking School: • A round table how-to as Fincher and crew learn the proper way to drill out a safe. Initially interesting, it becomes a bit monotonous. PREVISUALIZATION Previz • The most extensively pre-planned live-action film ever, “Panic Room” was completely storyboarded down to the last shot before the cameras ever rolled. Here Fincher makes some adjustments to his 3D animated shot list. Previs Demo • More of the same with an optional commentary Habitrail Film • A split-view of the entire home as the 3D actor are run through their paces, reminiscent of a hamster cage...hence the title. PRODUCTION Shooting Panic Room­ • The longest of the DVD documentaries (52 min), here is where the story of the making of the film really starts to unfold, particularly the modus operandi of director David Fincher. His attention to detail verges on the neurotic (he even stresses over the color of the cars that will be driving by in a street shot) and those who can’t meet his demands don’t last long. No less than six collaborators went their separate ways during production (including original DP Darius Khondji and actress Nicole Kidman). More tech specs come at you fast and furious. Smoke was added to every shot to give the film a subtle haze. And almost every camera move had some sort of digital stabilization to take out slight jumps and bumps from the remote controlled camera. Make-Up Effects • The most light-hearted segment, Gillis and Woodruff show off their severed finger gag which didn’t even make it into the film. Disc Three: VISUAL EFFECTS • 19 different subheadings cover every major and minor visual effect in the film, most notably the big shot, which consisted of eight different camera moves melded together to seamlessly float throughout the entire house. But that kind of complexity comes with a price – Fincher took 92 takes to get it right. SCORING • A multi-angle feature the jumps between Howard Shore conducting the orchestra and split-screen views of the film. SOUND DESIGN • Just what you think it is, a discussion with sound designer and frequent Fincher collaborator Ren Klyce. DIGITAL INTERMEDIATE • An explanation of color timing used to match the look of the film to various light conditions, along with new digital shortcuts for making last minute adjustments like headroom, focus racks, etc. SUPER 35 TECH EXPLANATION • A text extra that defines and explains terms like anamorphic, super 35, widescreen formats and other film industry jargon. It might bore your girlfriend to tears, but this is essential stuff! SEQUENCE BREAKDOWNS • Jump from views of the script, storyboards, video tests, and dailies of select sequences from the film. All this may appear overwhelming, but the features are well organized and deliberately non-intrusive. What does that mean? Well, there’s no announcer jabbering on about how revolutionary all this was. Instead, pop-up subtitles provide factoids where appropriate, delivering a more “fly-on-the-wall” approach to the extras. Oh, and did I mention the film looks terrific, too? It does. FINAL SCORE: Well, if you made it this far into the review you’ve probably already made up your mind that “Panic Room” is worth a purchase. If the movie is the only thing that matters, stick with the Superbit version. But even those who don’t consider this Fincher’s best work (myself included) should find these superlative extras very tempting.