Panic Room (2002)

David Fincher, upon completing Fight Club, decided he wanted to make something a little simpler.  David Koepp had a script about a woman and her daughter trapped inside a safe room when their house was invaded.  It's a good set-up, limits the filming locations and allows for a tight focus on both the action and the drama.  It also keeps the budget down, keeps the actors to a minimum and, despite a confined feeling for the audience, provides a number of possibilities for various scenarios.  

Problem is things didn't go the way Fincher had planned.  Nicole Kidman, who was supposed to play the lead, was injured early on in filming.  Also, instead of using a real location, Fincher had the complete interior of the brownstone built on a stage, resulting in extra expense.  Still, it resulted in one of the highest grossing films of 2002 even if it did receive mixed reviews at the time and is pretty much forgotten now. 

Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) is recently divorced and is looking for a home in Manhattan for her and her daughter Sarah (Kristen Stewart).  They find what appears to be the perfect place, with one strange addition: a panic room, with full video surveillance of the home and an ample supply of water and food.  The house is unique enough that Meg puts down an offer and, a few weeks later, they move in.  

On their first night they receive unwanted visitors in the form of Burnham (Forest Whitaker), Junior (Jared Leto) and Raoul (Dwight Yoakum).  Burnham installs safe rooms while Junior worked for the former occupant of the home and knows where a floor safe is that contains a few million dollars.  The only thing they didn't account for is the new occupants who moved in a week early.  Junior decides to continue with the plan and convinces Burnham, but soon Meg becomes aware of their presence, grabs Sarah and heads for the room.  From then on it is a battle between the men to get the women out and the women to survive. 

Fincher, always the visual artist, entertains with some great camera work as the initial home invasion occurs, but the problem is the tension needed for this sort of movie isn't present.  It's rather predictable and at times silly, as the plot contrivance of having someone stupid enough to try to rob an occupied house and two other people willing to go along with it stretches belief.  For professionals it seems like the three make bad decisions throughout.  It also feels like purposeful fearmongering to have their home invaded on their first night. 

Still, Foster once again puts on a good performance rather than phoning it in.  Stewart has the same expression and bland acting as she would as an adult, Leto overacts, Yoakum does a great job as a psychopath and the Whitaker collects his paycheck.  It's a workmanlike project and it feels like everyone put in the effort because of Fincher's reputation, and the movie is entertaining as a light popcorn film, but there is a reason it has been forgotten over the years. 

Panic Room (2002)

Time: 112 minutes

Starring: Jodie Foster, Kristen Stewart, Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto, Dwight Yoakum

Director: David Fincher