Panic Room - 04/25/02

I mean, I don't love him, like love LOVE, but I love his work.

I did not envy him when he took on Alien 3... I thought it was ludicrous that a video director would get to helm such an 'important' film, as the third installment of a killer franchise. It didn't make much sense... and a lot of people felt the same way, as the film did ok, but not as good as it's predecessors.

Alien 3 is a strange film, because I think it was doomed from the start. Fincher gave us stunning visuals, brought back H.R. Giger to helm the Alien design... got great performances out of Weaver, Charles Dutton and Charles Dance... but the story was lackluster and not filled with enough of what Alien fans were looking for. Me, I liked it.

Three years later, working from a script written by a guy who used to work at Tower Records... (I mean, I shop at Tower, sheesh...) and having three big name actors sign on... Fincher made himself a name with Se7en, by far one of the most original thrillers in a long time.

Two years later he would follow up with Michael Douglas (who seems to either attract or demand the new, great talent) in The Game. As a side note, on DVD, The Game is only available as a bare-bones release. On laserdisc (which I just recently aquired), there is a Criterion release that fetches (on Ebay) over $100.00. Me, I got mine for $65.00 with a buy-it-now... lucky me. Great movie.

Not much you can say about Fincher's next movie, one of the best films to come out of the last twenty years, Fight Club.

I'm sure it was very difficult to choose what his next project was going to be. I'd heard it could have been any number of things. But Panic Room... I guess just the title must have sparked something. It's a neat title.

The script was penned by David Koepp, who pretty much has his run of Hollywood, in regards to screenwriting. He's written (or adapted) some of Hollywood's biggest money makers, including Jurassic Park I & II, Mission Impossible and the soon to be released Spider-Man. It's funny, though, because he's also written some pretty terrible films as well, including Toy Soldiers, The Paper, The Shadow and The Trigger Effect. So, he flip-flops, like most.

The story itself is pretty simple. But it's a high concept script, which magnifies the script a lot. I've never, ever heard of a "panic room", and I've lived in New York my whole life. Doesn't mean much... I don't know everything... So, we start off with a very unique concept. The characters are defined pretty well... we get to understand their motivations pretty quickly, and Koepp does a great job of showing us instead of telling us.

The dialog is pretty good. The action is pretty good. The set-ups are pretty good. The conclusion is pretty good. I rate the script as pretty good. I would have liked more suspense, more thrill. I got some, but not enough to really put me over, like I thought a Fincher movie would have.

Fincher himself did a pretty good job, as well. There were echoes of Fight Club, especially with the unique camera techniques and the sound effects of passing through walls, etc. There were some great camera shots, and the actors gave great performances, but this was toned down Fincher, to be sure. Which was a shame.

Jodie Foster is always good. I mean, in this film she had much more sex appeal than in her earlier roles... particularly because of wardrobe. That's just me... it's just something I noticed. She nailed the part.

Kristen Stewart is a newcomer... and played her part well, too. Not sure what kind of future she has in film... she's only twelve... but, we'll see.

The three robbers in the movie... they're all consumate professionals in regards to film. Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam and Jared Leto are all pretty incredible in their respective roles. Yoakam was especially well cast... I think the freedom of acting behind a mask provides added depth... he pulled it off very well.

The only other person to mention that acted in the film was Andrew Kevin Walker, who made a two minute cameo. From across the street. Walker was the writer of Se7en... and went on to write 8mm, and Sleepy Hollow.

Darius Khondji was the original cinematographer, who was subsequently fired due to his perfectionist attitude, and because of time. Khondji's work in the past is nothing short of brilliant. One of his first works was on Caro and Jeunet's Delicatessen. From there he went on to shoot their next two films, City of Lost Children and Alien: Resurrection. He would also shoot, for Fincher, Se7en. Later, he would shoot Neil Jordan's In Dreams, The Ninth Gate and The Beach. His work suits Fincher's work perfectly... but I guess things just did not work out.

I could not tell the difference between the two cinematographers... the second being Conrad W. Hall, who has worked on quite a number of mainstream Hollywood films as a camera operator/second unit DP. Se7en, The Phantom, Grosse Point Blank, Alien: Resurrection, Without Limits, A Civil Action, American Beauty, Fight Club and Sleepy Hollow. A good substitute, for certain.

Let's see if he ends up working with Fincher on his next film, the third installment of Mission: Impossible.

Back to the writing. I had a lot of trouble with some of the situations that the actors found themselves in. There were a few too many excuses made to get characters here, there, down over there... I thought parts of it were very poorly written, and I thought that the tacked on ending was a very poor choice.

Not one of Fincher's best, but with a few good trademarks that continue to show us he knows how to craft a good looking film.