Panic Room (David Fincher, 2002)
Before she was choosing between a vampire, a werewolf or a life as a lesbian rocker; Kristen Stewart was living the idyllic childish life fighting off robbers.As the mysterious popularity of The Game continues to keep it out of reach, I move on to the fourth film in my David Fincher marathon, Panic Room. Having watched Se7en and Fight Club, I would not have anticipated saying it, but this is my favorite so far. Those films both reach a bit while this one sticks with a pretty simple premise and just nails it completely. The basic premise is you've got a mother (Jodie Foster, who plays the tough woman who isn't going to take crap from anyone as well as anyone) and her daughter (Kristen Stewart) moving into a new house complete with a "panic room," safe against intruders. Well, naturally the first night they are there three intruders (Forrest Whitaker, Jared Leto and Dwight Yokum) show up, looking for something left by the previous resident. The interplay of the safe room and the rest of the house creates a lot of tension without anything so dramatic as a gun to the head. You see two sides who seem pretty equally matched as they try to turn the situation in their advantage.
Leto and Yokum get stuck in too
too (though still effective) roles but it is Foster (and her cleavage), Whitaker, and yes, Stewart who really stand out here. As her first major role, at 12, it is really quite a feat (something she tops two years later in Speak which probably remains her best performance). And for those who said she looks a little boyish in the discussion of puzzlement over the Twilight stars' rise as dreamy idols, she probably will never look quite as boyish as she does here given her hair styling. It is so short she can't even play with it...also not a lot of lip biting.
After the grainier/rougher style of Se7en and Fight Club, the cinematography here is spectacular. I'm going to credit Darius Khodji, who incidentally also worked Se7en, for the magnificent shots here. His work in some other films like My Blueberry Nights (which I've heard receive praise though I've never seen it) and the US version of Funny Games certainly supports his role in making this film so effective.
Anyway, this is just really enjoyable entertainment.
Rating: 4/5