Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic Suspense!
Review: Panic Room is a very intelligent knockout suspenseful performance developed by the superb camera shots, magnificent acting, and a great script that let's you keep guessing what in the world the cast is going to perform. This isn't really suppose to be scary, just really suspenseful, and that, they promise you. Panic Room looks just like another plain old scary movie, but this, is totally different. The plans that the criminals plan are intelligent, and the mother and daughter do a very well done job on dodging those attacks, and staying alive. The cast performs a fantastic job in acting, and I think the camera shots and angles are what make Panic Room, so suspenseful. If you're in the mood for a very good suspenseful movie, with great acting and just a great storyline, then see Panic Room the next time you go watch a movie. Trust me, you'll love it!
Rating: 
Summary: Tired of Stupid Thrillers? Welcome to the Panic Room!
Review: A stupid film this is not. 'Panic Room' is a suspense-packed, tension-filled, thinking person's thriller. It isn't dumbed-down and doesn't play stupid games with the audience. (These days, that's hard to find in a movie.)Jodie Foster plays a rich woman who has just bought a Manhattan townhouse for herself and her teenage daughter. The house contains a "panic room," a shelter the homeowners can use in case of a break-in or an attack. Well...you know what happens next. Three criminals break in looking for money during the ladies' first night in the house. Thankfully, the women can seek refuge in the panic room. But guess where the money is hidden? David Fincher is a very gifted director. He does a lot of things visually that are very subtle, such as the opening title sequence which covers the sprawling, wide-open city of New York. (It's a nice antithesis compared to the confined space of the panic room.) Fincher also displays some really nifty camera effects, mainly just to show you that he _can_ do them. But what I appreciate is the fact that Fincher has made this film very approachable for a much wider audience than his previous films ('Seven' and 'Fight Club' in particular). If you've been reluctant to see a Fincher film because of what you've heard about his other films, leave your worries outside the theatre. Instead, walk into the theatre and expect to have a great time watching a great cast do great work.
Rating: 
Summary: Fincher should be ashamed of himself for this...
Review: Oh, how I could not wait to see this movie. Being a huge fan of David Fincher, I broke my rule of never going to a show on its opening night. Big Mistake! Talk about a boring movie. Right from the beginning, it seemed painfully obvious that nothing would become of this film (dare I even call it that). Leto was just so awful, that I was glad to see him go - not soon enough in my opinion. Jodie Foster - what a waste of talent (probably her easiest acting job to date). And that little girl of hers - reminded me of everything I didn't like about Terminator 2. Enough cheesy one liners to make you physically ill. I personally found myself not really caring about the movie's outcome after an hour or so. It's THAT bad. This is one of those, "Oh it's on cable for the 42nd time movies" Why was the audience laughing aloud? Why did I get the same urge to leave that I had when watching AI ??? Probably because it's THAT bad! Yuk!
Rating:
Summary: Three Stooges burglars add to implausibility
Review: Three Stooges burglars add to implausibility What started as an interesting premise and supplemented with a high-impact trailer that led you to believe that you would be experiencing a non-stop fear-induced adrenaline-high ended up being so bumbling and therefore implausible as to kill the adrenaline gland and make me wish had some chocolate from the snack bar to tide me over. Illogical and irrational decisions, first by the burglars, as well as later by Jodi Foster's character and her 'daughter' finally crumbled the reality the filmmaker was trying to portray. Once I has seen enough really BAD decisions on both sides (bad guys and good guys), I could no longer in my mind put myself in their shoes and thereby feel their fear. Instead I found myself saying (to myself), "That's a stupid thing to do, why aren't you doing the obvious?" Jodi Foster's character switched back and forth from admirably logical to extremely illogical. I suspect that anyone in a real-life situation like that would act somewhat the same. However, in reality, I would expect illogicalness at the onset of the situation to be followed afterwards by increasing logical decisions as the situation was better understood. This logical/illogical swing didn't seem to have any rhyme or reason. But the burglars' ineptitude and truly stupid thought-processes and resulting decisions finally broke the camels back of reality, and for the rest of the movie, I had to console myself with wondering what silly or illogical thing the cast would do next. I enjoy many of Jodi Foster's roles, but this was disappointing. Maybe okay to rent, but don't expect to get scared enough to run out and build yourself a "panic room" when a "concern nook" will do just fine.
Rating:
Summary: a Rear Window for the new millenium
Review: This movie would have made Hitchcock proud. It's got all the simplicity and tension of Hitch's best.. but it's in overdrive. There are no real surprises in this film.. if you saw the trailer, you'll be able to predict what is coming pretty easily. But, you won't care. You'll still be staring at the screen, transfixed, as it all plays out. Don't expect another Fight Club though.. Fincher did that movie already, and he wisely stayed away from anything resembling that movie for this, his fourth feature. If he continues his trend, there is no telling what his next movie will be.. it could be ANYTHING, and it would still be good.
Rating: 
Summary: C'mon Jodie, ain't it a bit much?
Review: I have always admired Jodie Forster's acting and her choice in films. This is a good thriller, hence the 3 stars. Where it lost me was all the overwhelming gratuitous violence among those who broke into the house. The tenderhearted Forest Whittaker was way out of place here. Jodie's character definitely did not miss her marriage. Her character took out hostilities on the three who broke in. All of them. There's fighting and there's fighting and while I love zany gore films like Army of Darkness, the cruelty displayed in this film left a sick feeling in my stomach. Just too much for me.
Rating:
Summary: Claustrophobic and scary
Review: There is something to be said about PANIC ROOM, an intense thriller along the lines of STRAW DOGS and WAIT UNTIL DARK: It is an extraordinarily claustrophobic film. But that's the beauty of films like these, because it forces us to imagine what we would do if, like the mother and daughter (Jodie Foster, Kristin Stewart) in this film, we were in that kind of a position. The pair find themselves at the mercy of deranged burglars (Jared Leto, Forrest Whittaker, Dwight Yoakam) looking for a stash worth millions in Foster's new Manhattan townhouse. Foster and Stewart barricade themselves in a "panic room", complete with TV monitors and emergency supplies. It is a regular 21st century fallout shelter of sorts. Unfortunately for them, it is also where the crooks want to get into. Except for the excess of profanity in the screenplay, writer David Koepp (JURASSIC PARK, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE) and director David Fincher (SEVEN) are able to keep the tension extraordinarily palpable throughout. In a very good cinematic ploy, the story is set entirely during one single rainy night and early morning. Certain moments are very hair-raising. Foster is, not surprisingly, really good; and Whittaker makes for a convincing heavy who nevertheless seems to allow for some audience sympathy at times, while his two friends go off on psychotic rages. An extremely good "house under siege" suspense item, PANIC ROOM is one of the best films of 2002.
Rating: 
Summary: The Ultimate Un-Thriller
Review: "Panic Room" gets its name from a certain room in houses that is designed to protect its residents from danger. The panic room in this film had a door, similar to that of a bank vault, that could only be opened by those inside and had a supply of milk to last its residents for months. Jody Forster, a newly divorced woman, and her daughter move into a large house in the upper westside of Manhattan, and utilize their panic room in their first night in the house to hide from three burglers who invade their home looking for a cache of money hidden inside this room. Without giving away any more of the plot, I found this movie to be one of the dullest "thrillers" I have ever seen. It seemed that the film was made up entirely of bits and pieces of similar movies of this genre that were haphazardly pasted together. Two of the three thugs were total Neanderthals and the third, who had worked on constructing such panic rooms in the past, was the typical criminal with a heart of gold. He was the true professional and was in it only for the money. He was so good to Jodie, and especially to her daughter, that someone should have nominated him for the Nobel peace prize. I could have predicted the ending even before the film began. My suggestion is not to waste your time and money on this clunker.
Rating:
Summary: Lots of fun and suspense
Review: This is a suspense film for the whole family. When newly separated Jodie Foster and her daughter buy an upper east side Manhattan Townhome they get a lot more than they bargained for. It includes a rich man's toy - "the panic room". When thieves enter the house on their first night there the adventure begins. I will say no more but that running to a locked room for safety doesn't always feel very safe. Jodie Foster is at the sexy and sophisticated best as a very wealthy and serious woman motivated only to protect heself and her daughter. She is wonderful. Her daughter is played beautifully by a young girl very reminiscent of Jodie as a girl herself. The film is loaded with suspense, but it is neither scary nor especially violent. Not falling for the temptation of violence or even excessive gadgetry (just a little of each) the film need to rely on its good acting and script. I recommend this film to a wide audience.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Review: I went to see Panic Room with the hope of being entertained, and I was. The acting is good, and the story is filled with suspense. There aren't too many of those too-convenient-for-easy-belief-moments, but there are a few. Overall, this movie was a good time, however the question is...
Should you go see Panic Room? The answer is yes if you are merely looking for entertainment, but no if you hope to be thrilled to death. If the latter is the case, see something more appropriate ...
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