Rating: 
Summary: symbolic
Review: There is a scene in the middle of the movie when Alex takes his son to see his grandfather, who has bought him a birthday present. It is the most interesting scene of the movie, and the heart from which everything else should radiate. It is the only time that Alex, his father, and his son are all onscreen at the same time and you realize that this is the conflict that is killing Alex -- he is his father's son, cynical, secretive, and ruthless, but he is also equally his son's father -- innocent, curious, and affectionate. Framed that way, both his father and his son can be seen as reflections of his own psyche. The reason why he is so blank, so tired and depressed, is that they cancel each other out. By then end of that scene I knew how the movie had to end. The side story involving Neve Campbell isn't very interesting.
Rating:
Summary: symbolic
Review: There is a scene in the middle of the movie when Alex takes his son to see his grandfather, who has bought him a birthday present. It is the most interesting scene of the movie, and the heart from which everything else should radiate. It is the only time that Alex, his father, and his son are all onscreen at the same time and you realize that this is the conflict that is killing Alex -- he is his father's son, cynical, secretive, and ruthless, but he is also equally his son's father -- innocent, curious, and affectionate. Framed that way, both his father and his son can be seen as reflections of his own psyche. The reason why he is so blank, so tired and depressed, is that they cancel each other out. By then end of that scene I knew how the movie had to end. The side story involving Neve Campbell isn't very interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: William H Macy and Neve Campbell are excellent.
Review: This film is really great. The acting is beyond fabulous, and the story is a powerhouse of emotion. William H Macy has always been one of the best actors around, and here he proves it once again with a performance that is haunting and uplifting all at once. Neve Campbell once again proves that she is a force of dramatic nature. She gives this movie its heart and soul with a performance that is heartbreaking. If you have not seen this film, see it. It's one of the best films to come out in years.
Rating:
Summary: A Small Masterpiece
Review: This film needs your support! It was apparently completely disregarded by critics when it played theatrically... Written and directed by Henry Bromell, writer-producer of the Baltimore-lensed HOMOCIDE TV series, PANIC is a tight little masterpiece (clocking at less than 1 hour and 25 minutes) of ensemble acting and superior screenwriting. All principal actors hit just right notes in their roles, from William H. Macy (one of the best actors currently working in the US, who single-handedly made my experience of watching ultra-sophomoric FARGO durable), Donald Sutherland, John Ritter, Barbara Bain (Remember MISSION IMPOSSIBLE?), Tracy Ullman (TRACY ULLMAN?!) and, oh, Neve Campbell. The characters are so well-written and so devoid of historionics that some viewers may actually suffer from disorientation, adjusting their brains from the state of overexposure to usual mind-numbing stereotypes in Hollywood movies. Ritter's psychiarist, for example, is one of the two or three among hundreds of psychiarists I have seen in Hollywood movies who actually behaves like a NORMAL PSYCHIARIST and acts SENSIBLY. (MUCH superior to Lorraine Bracco's shrink in THE SOPRANOS) David Dorffmann plays Macey's son, and even though he is supposed to be a super-smart kid, he is NEVER annoying. The scenes are all underplayed with minimum of melodramatics, but they nonetheless pack emotional wallop. The quiet, beautifully lit sequence in which Donald Sutherland introduces the child version of the Macey character to "family business" is not only absolutely chilling, but also immesaruably sad. PANIC reminded me of Paul Schrader's AFFLICTION and Claude Chabrols' morally complex thrillers, such as THIS MAN MUST DIE. It is also like a particularly well-made 1950s film noir suffused with psychological insight ordinarily missing from them. The DVD version includes a generally informative if a little reticent commentary by Director Bromell, and six deleted scenes. The deleted scenes provide additional background information for characters and deepen our understanding of them, but they also include some stilted and overblown dialogue completely absent in the actual film, the reason I suspect they were in the end dropped from the final product. I am a little disappointed that the audio commentary does not come with Macey, Sutherland and others discussing their acting strategies, given the fact that this film's success depends so much on their contributions, but this is nit-picking. I definitely recommend this movie for anyone who is a fan of Macey, Sutherland, Campbell and those who appreciate morally complex human dramas and/or thrillers. NOT RECOMMENDED, however, to those who want an action film like AIR FORCE ONE or a "quirky" movie like FARGO.
Rating: 
Summary: A classic mood film.
Review: This is a film in the spirt of American Beauty, in that they are both films about a mans mid-life crisis. This film takes a look at the life of a reluctant hit man who is dominated by his father, and is looking to have an affiar not for love or lust, just for the simple fact that it makes him feel something. The streagth of this film is in its strong characters, great acting and interesting relationships. William H. Macy gives a great performance in the lead character, convicingly protraying the kind of quiet desperation that he is so well noted for. But what makes this film rise above the average is the array of supporting characters that are shockingly well written and well acted. Nev Campell gives a strog performance as the younger better looking half of the affair and manages to create a solid character that has more motivation that the standard sex pot mistress. Donald Sutherland manages to create a truly distubing charcter as a father who will go the extra mile to keep his family business alive. These characters make the basis for a very solid movie. My only problem was the fact that this movie never quite got all the through to me. Somehow the payoff for this movie didn't satisfy me totally, but it was still easily worth the time.
Rating:
Summary: Two highlights: Performances of William Macy & David Dorfman
Review: This movie has two absolute highlights:
First one is William H. Macy as Alex. His feeling of exemption in the end is so obvious and touching.
The second highlight is the performance of David Dorfman. Just watch that little kid act. Also wonderful are Donald Sutherland and Barbara Bain playing Macy's parents. Really scaring. According to the meaning of Neve Campbell's role to the movie her performance is slightly disappointing. It stays quite colorless; esp. if one considers that she was meant to bring more contrasts to Alex' life. Anyway, the film lives from Alex' relationships towards his son on the one hand and to his father on the other. Filling the plot in a very worth seeing way are Tracy Ullman playing Macy's wife and John Ritter playing his shrink, as Alex himself calles him. Great cast. Watch it! You won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT MOVIE
Review: This movie I thought was very good not like other movies I saw on region 1 DVD. Love to see this kind of movies more often from America. No more stuff like MATRIX was just a kung fu movie with special effects.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping, and haunting.
Review: This one of the few films this year that really delivered the goods. A film that redefines the modern crime drama, and gives it a sense of intelligence, wit and heart. William H Macy is just astounding as the man who has to come to grip with his past, and Neve Campbell proves with out a doubt that she is one the best actors of her generation as a woman who has to help Macy's character find his way. Gripping, haunting, and disturbing, Panic is truly one of the best films to come out in years.
Rating:
Summary: A Great film.
Review: This was a really great film. William H. Macy is FANTASTIC as the hitman facing a personal midlife dilemma. His performance should have giving him an Oscar. Neve Campbell is AMAZING as the woman who comes into Macy's life and sirs things up for him. Her Performance proves once again that she is one of the best actresses we have around. Donald Sutherland is just plain SCARY as Macy's father, A man who is not beyond anything. This is a film worth watching over and over again.
Rating:
Summary: The Sins of the Father ...
Review: What a find this movie was. Subtle, tense, occasionally laugh-out-loud funny and ultimately satisfying. A hit-man wants out of the family business, and in to the pants of Neve Campbell. Which, I suppose, makes him a murderer and a philanderer. Not that you'll feel anything but empathy and compassion for William H. Macy's character: which, of course, is his genius. In a story that explores, among other things, the whole family dynamic - from the damage our parents do us, to the effort needed to make a marriage succeed - you'll find it all rings true. The context of the story is alien and exotic, but the relationships aren't. Your father is probably not a controlling and manipulative sociopath (and, you know, small mercies and all that ...) but even so, how many of us would find it easy to step up and admonish him, when he steps over the line? Donald Sutherland's performance as the sociopathic pater is astonishingly good. He actually had me shouting at the screen. And I'm British. We just don't do that ... Give this movie a go. You won't find the experience entirely comfortable, nor will it be an escape from the rigours of the world (because there's too much of the world in the movie) but it will make you laugh, wince, cheer and, most importantly of all, it will make you think.
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