Panic

Rating:
Summary: Part Sopranos Part American Beauty = Great Movie
Review: After reading a review of this movie in the Boston Herald, I quickly logged on to Amazon.com and ordered this movie. I was not disappointed. Panic is about a hitman (a family business run by his father) played by the great William H Macy who's going through a midlife crisis and wants to quit his job as well. While trying to deal with both of the above issues, Macy's character falls for a young hairdresser played by Neve Cambell. If you like quirky, offbeat movies , pick up Panic today.

Rating:
Summary: Looking for Peace and A Beautiful Young Thing
Review: Alex (William Macy) needs to see a therapist. He is a hit man and wants to give up his job. The problem is this is a family business, although we are never told if this is part of the Mafia or a private business- the latter, I think. Anyway, in the waiting room, Alex runs into this beautiful young thing played by Never Campbell, and they start talking. What is Alex to do? His wife thinks he runs a mail order business and what he really does is kill people. Neve Campbell's character is someone who knows nothing, an innocent young thing, just what he needs.

Alex tells the therapist about his job and his therapist (John Ritter) is upfront. If Alex tells him about a forthcoming job he will have to report it, otherwise he is protected by doctor/patient confidentiality. Alex's father is played by Donald Sutherland, and a more cold blooded man would be hard to find. We see in flashbacks how Alex was trained by his old man and his first job as that of a killer.

"Panic" is one of those movies that grab you. It is well written, the actors are marvelous and just right for their parts. I had never heard of it. It is a quiet movie that seems to have come and gone. Daniel Dorfman is Alex's son, Sammy. What a fabulous young actor he is. We realize that Alex needs to save his son, so that the next generation, Sammy, that is, will not have to become a killer. A scene that is so telling is one of Gram and Grampa browbeating Sammy. We understand how Alex became the hit man, the murderer, the killer, the confused, mixed up man he is.

Alex makes a decision to quit this job. He will confront his father and put a stop to this horrible business. And why does Alex have to support his mother and father through this killing business? It is lucrative enough, so that dad tells Alex he will buy his wife a new Lexus and a vacation after the job is done. Just what kind of family is this? How did Alex such a wonderful man with a conscience, it seems, come to this family? What genetic characteristic is going to help him be finished, kaput, done, fini with the killing job? A great, great movie with a message and with a fabulous cast. Highly recommended- go find it now and rent it and watch it immediately! prisrob




Rating:
Summary: Is there anyone out there better than William H. Macy?
Review: All fans of masterful acting should take a gander at "Panic". A little-seen gem that initially seems to be a part of the ever-expanding "criminal and his psychiatrist" mini-genre, but separates itself from 'The Sopranos" and "Analyze This/That/The Other" by it's detail and sobriety.
No big laughs, no big explosions, not a lot of yelling and screaming...but gut-wrenching nonetheless. Macy's depiction of his ever-growing but completely internal "panic" sets this apart. This is really 'Best Actor" type stuff here.

Rating:
Summary: A HITMAN AT A TURNING POINT IN HIS LIFE: A MUST-WATCH GEM!
Review: Anyone who likes character-driven movies should take a chance with this fine film!

A professional killer (played brilliantly by Bill Macy) is at a crossroads in his life as his own young son has reached the age when he himself was indoctrinated by his father to bottle his emotions and start shooting at squirrels, an activity that ended in him adopting the family business of paid assassinations.

That predicament is intriguing in itself, but handled as professionally as the film does, it is absolutely riveting. The dialogue is sharp and smart, and this relatively short film nevertheless has the power to elicit a full range of emotions from the viewer. There are places to laugh, to be shocked, horrified, saddened, aroused, angry, and to love. A wholesome treat.

It is an actor's movie, and the ensemble of terrific artists -- Macy, Neve Campbell, Ullman, and Ritter -- play off each other like members of a top-notch theatrical troupe, who realize that a quality product requires each actor to support the others unselfishly. Barbara Bain and Donald Sutherland -- who play father and mother -- are positive chilling, discussing the "family business" as if it were a grocery store or a dry cleaners. And remarkably, there's Sammy (David Dorfman), the young boy, who turns in an absolutely stunning performance, not to mention his uncanny resemblance to Ullman, whose son he plays! Great cast selection.

Watch this masterpiece if you get a chance! This is stuff you'd even want to own.

Rating:
Summary: To be viewed with calm detahcment.
Review: Before I saw this film, all signs said I would enjoy it. Its cast includes two of my favorite actors, William H. Macy and Donald Sutherland. I read boatloads of positive reviews about it, some even calling it one of the year's best films. I typically avoid mass-produced Hollywood films in favor of little-known sleepers like this one. And the premise had great potential.

Consequently, it was pretty disappointing when halfway through the film I found myself uttering aloud to nobody in particular, "Wow, this is bad."

After having time to absorb the film, I realize that's not entirely true. The film isn't that bad. But I'm still baffled by the praise it's received.

The opening scene is promising: Alex (Macy) visits a psychologist for the first time, and when asked what he does for a living, he frankly replies, "I have two jobs. I run a mail order business out of my home...and I kill people for a living." Alex begins to have doubts about his career, however, when his father Michael (Donald Sutherland), the founder of the "family business," assigns Alex to his next target--his recently acquainted psychologist.

You can pretty much guess the path the film takes from there. Alex is at the perfect age for a midlife crisis. He wants to quit his job as a hit man but fears his father's reaction. And he takes a mistress, Sarah (Neve Campbell). For much of the film, Macy resorts to hanging his head and looking sad, which he does well, but like Hugh Grant's sputtering speech and fluttering eyelids, this fallback device wears thin quickly. My biggest qualm with his performance is I never believed for a moment that Macy's character was capable of killing anyone.

This is surprising, because Sutherland goes to great, indeed excessive, lengths to portray a man who could father a killer. In flashbacks we see Michael teaching an eight-year-old Alex to kill squirrels with a pistol, and later coaching him through his first "hit," chuckling fondly all along. In the present, Michael viciously berates Alex's 6-year-old son Sammy for spilling glue, shouting, "What are you, stupid? A moron? Is there a brain in there?"

We're never given any other foundation for this character, and as a result Sutherland's performance is one-dimensional and devoid of any human qualities. Although it's fun on some level to see him portray an over-the-top maniac, it doesn't lend any credibility to the film. Alex's mother Diedre, as well, is implausibly unsympathetic.

As Sarah, Neve Campbell plays a patient of the same psychology clinic as Alex. In one of her first scenes she unapologetically explains to her therapist in graphic terms that she's bisexual, and thus we learn from the getgo what a spunky and unconventional character she is. She spends most of her screen time spouting purposefully quirky lines of dialogue like "50 minutes is way too little time to fit in a week of tragedies" (referring to her therapy sessions). Of course, her unconventional demeanor is attractive to the alienated Alex, who visits her apartment with unclear intentions, wandering around answering "I dunno" to her questions and looking oh-so-confused and beleaguered.

Sammy is an obnoxiously precocious kindergartner who poses timely questions to his father such as, "What's infinity, Daddy?" Ultimately the son's function in the film is to act as the "last straw": when Michael takes his grandson out to shoot a squirrel, apparently with the intention of rearing another soldier for the family hit business, Alex has had it, and wants it all to end.

With Michael sporadically contributing vignettes of wisdom about "destiny" along the way, the result is a lumpy, confused film.

The screenplay can't escape it's plot-driven structure by clumsily fleshing out its characters along the way, and for the first time ever, I could *see* Macy and Sutherland *acting.* The cinematography is elegant and the music is effective (if a bit familiar at times), but ultimately the film can't escape its clunky dialogue, desperate performances and obvious conclusion. This film should have been better, but unfortunately I can't understand the praise it's received.

Rating:
Summary: A surprising disappointment
Review: Before I saw this film, all signs said I would enjoy it. Its cast includes two of my favorite actors, William H. Macy and Donald Sutherland. I read boatloads of positive reviews about it, some even calling it one of the year's best films. I typically avoid mass-produced Hollywood films in favor of little-known sleepers like this one. And the premise had great potential.

Consequently, it was pretty disappointing when halfway through the film I found myself uttering aloud to nobody in particular, "Wow, this is bad."

After having time to absorb the film, I realize that's not entirely true. The film isn't that bad. But I'm still baffled by the praise it's received.

The opening scene is promising: Alex (Macy) visits a psychologist for the first time, and when asked what he does for a living, he frankly replies, "I have two jobs. I run a mail order business out of my home...and I kill people for a living." Alex begins to have doubts about his career, however, when his father Michael (Donald Sutherland), the founder of the "family business," assigns Alex to his next target--his recently acquainted psychologist.

You can pretty much guess the path the film takes from there. Alex is at the perfect age for a midlife crisis. He wants to quit his job as a hit man but fears his father's reaction. And he takes a mistress, Sarah (Neve Campbell). For much of the film, Macy resorts to hanging his head and looking sad, which he does well, but like Hugh Grant's sputtering speech and fluttering eyelids, this fallback device wears thin quickly. My biggest qualm with his performance is I never believed for a moment that Macy's character was capable of killing anyone.

This is surprising, because Sutherland goes to great, indeed excessive, lengths to portray a man who could father a killer. In flashbacks we see Michael teaching an eight-year-old Alex to kill squirrels with a pistol, and later coaching him through his first "hit," chuckling fondly all along. In the present, Michael viciously berates Alex's 6-year-old son Sammy for spilling glue, shouting, "What are you, stupid? A moron? Is there a brain in there?"

We're never given any other foundation for this character, and as a result Sutherland's performance is one-dimensional and devoid of any human qualities. Although it's fun on some level to see him portray an over-the-top maniac, it doesn't lend any credibility to the film. Alex's mother Diedre, as well, is implausibly unsympathetic.

As Sarah, Neve Campbell plays a patient of the same psychology clinic as Alex. In one of her first scenes she unapologetically explains to her therapist in graphic terms that she's bisexual, and thus we learn from the getgo what a spunky and unconventional character she is. She spends most of her screen time spouting purposefully quirky lines of dialogue like "50 minutes is way too little time to fit in a week of tragedies" (referring to her therapy sessions). Of course, her unconventional demeanor is attractive to the alienated Alex, who visits her apartment with unclear intentions, wandering around answering "I dunno" to her questions and looking oh-so-confused and beleaguered.

Sammy is an obnoxiously precocious kindergartner who poses timely questions to his father such as, "What's infinity, Daddy?" Ultimately the son's function in the film is to act as the "last straw": when Michael takes his grandson out to shoot a squirrel, apparently with the intention of rearing another soldier for the family hit business, Alex has had it, and wants it all to end.

With Michael sporadically contributing vignettes of wisdom about "destiny" along the way, the result is a lumpy, confused film.

The screenplay can't escape it's plot-driven structure by clumsily fleshing out its characters along the way, and for the first time ever, I could *see* Macy and Sutherland *acting.* The cinematography is elegant and the music is effective (if a bit familiar at times), but ultimately the film can't escape its clunky dialogue, desperate performances and obvious conclusion. This film should have been better, but unfortunately I can't understand the praise it's received.

Rating:
Summary: Quiet and Impactful
Review: Filled with muted drama, I believe this is one of the better films I have seen this year. William H Macy proves to be a rare breed of actor. I am not a fan of Neve Campbell, however, I was surpised by the genuine chemistry between her and Macy. I can only attribute this to the talents of Mr. Macy. Also, the relationship between Macy and his child is one that is so quietly touching, you really must see it to understand. If you are looking for a break from the typical drama/action movie, then this would be a good choice.

Rating:
Summary: Surprise! William H Macy leading a life of quiet desperation
Review: Good cast. No, make that a damn good cast. Low
key is good, unless a script sucks, which this
does. Bill Macy plays his usual ineffectual mid-
life crisis sufferer. Donald Sutherland is so
effortless, everyone else pales in comparison.
Neve Campbell, while trying to come across termi-
nally hip, never received her wakeup call, & sub-
sequently snoozes her way through this. Barbara
Bain should be content to live on Mission Impos-
sible residuals. Tracey Ullman takes on the role
of Macy's wife, but rather than playing it under-
stated, as she did here, I wish she'd channeled
Rayleen Gibson, and fed the screenwriter to her
dingo family, or at the very least, to a bark chipper.

Rating:
Summary: To be viewed with calm detahcment.
Review: Henry Bromell's *Panic* copiously illustrates that the concept of having a hitman or Mafia kingpin or maniacal serial killer or whatever attend therapy sessions is becoming a very tired one, indeed. Hey screenwriters -- please. No more, OK? Here, William H. Macy is a suburban Everyman who happens to whack people for a living. The "hook" is that his own father (Donald Sutherland in a very flashy performance) got him into the business. Sutherland still provides Macy with "jobs", and the next man on the hit-list happens to be Macy's own therapist. Somehow, Macy's wife has no idea what he really does for a living; she thinks he operates a home-based mail-order business. (What woman would take such little interest in her husband's business affairs as to be fooled by such a story? Perhaps Macy locks her in the bathroom for most of the day.) Needless to say, this is all mightily unrealistic. Of more interest is the hitman's infatuation with a fellow patient (Neve Campbell) in his therapist's waiting room, but this sub-plot comes to nothing much. So forget the story; the main pleasure here will be watching William H. Macy work. He's really, really good, as usual . . . but even so, the pedestrian dialogue constrains him a bit. There's been a lot of moaning and groaning that this film was "criminally overlooked", that it fell victim to bad marketing. Well, having seen it, I can safely say: no big loss.

Rating:
Summary: Similar Yet Very Different From "The Sopranos"
Review: I discovered this film in my public library. I've been impressed by William H. Macy's acting in other films so decided to give it a shot. I'm glad I did because this is a hidden gem of a film that deserves a much wider audience that it's received to date. At first this seems similar to the hit tv show "The Sopranos" in its concept and idea with having hitman Macy see a psychiatrist, ably played by John Ritter. However, Tony Soprano fits into his mobster family's world a lot better than Macy's character Alex does. Alex exhibits all the classic signs of someone who has been steamrollered into the family business, really doesn't belong there and wants out of it. His conflict is with his father (Donald Sutherland), mother (Barbara Bain) and himself. No other mobsters are even used in the film. Sutherland and Bain are superb as the facade smooth parents who expect and get total devotion to their aims from their son and expect the same generation after generation. The other main characters, Alex's wife, his girlfriend and his son, serve as contrast to the tension created by this deadly trio. Alex grabs hold of the three of them, who have no idea of the nature of his "work," as if they can keep the demons of his parents at bay. Macy gives a very subtly layered and nuanced performance that delivers a very profound look at the dark side of a middle aged man caught between his parents and his own desires. I haven't seen Neve Campbell in many roles but she shows lots of promise for the future. Traci Ullman as the wife does not give us her usual comic turn, turning in a solid dramatic performance as the wife instead. Give this film a chance.