PANIC ROOM

Starring: Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto, Dwight Yoakam, Patrick Bauchau and Kristen Stewart
Director: David Fincher
Running Time: 112 mins
Certificate: 15

Out to buy on DVD October 28th

Newly divorced Meg Altman (Foster) and her daughter Sarah (Stewart) find what they think is a dream house. For just the two of them and with a large helping of her ex-husband money, this house has everything they will every need in a home and a little more besides. The previous owner was extremely rich but equally as paranoid and has had a Panic Room built into the master bedroom. Like castles keep in olden times, the Panic Room is an impenetrable bunker with its own air supply, surveillance system, secure phone line, walls made from very thick steal and a door that no one will ever open. On their first night after moving in Meg and Sarah are visited by three burglars. Retreating to the Panic Room, they think they are safe until the thieves tell them that what they want is in that room.

After the cult success of the brilliant Fight Club, Director David Fincher returns a more commercial offering and gives us a top class piece of popcorn entertainment. Injecting his own visual flair into the suspense thriller genre, Fincher has delivered a movie that will keep you on the edge of you seat from the point the burglars enter the house. As with all his movies, Fincher has a unique way of utilising camera moments and digital technology to produce some truly outstanding visuals. From the astounding opening crediting sequence, a trademark of all his films, to the dramatic conclusion, the look of the movie is a testament to the immense talent that Se7en and Fight Club showed David Fincher to be.

Jodie Foster, who doesn't make enough movies for my liking, brings another strong female character to the screen. Her character is very driven and intelligent woman and therefore very believable which adds a greater dimension to the movie. The cast is small and it gives all of the supporting characters a chance to shine. Forest Whitaker is good as Burnham, a man forced into the job for his knowledge and desperate need for money. Kristen Stewart as Sarah plays her role well and never becomes annoying like many child characters can. Dwight Yoakam is suitable menacing and Jared Leto is the scheming weasel that everyone will hate.

David Koepp's script gets the pacing of the suspense absolutely spot on. By setting nearly the entire movie in the house and letting the events unfold in real time, it adds a claustrophobic and extremely tense atmosphere to the entire film.

While the finale maybe slightly over the top, the movie is a showcase of talent and an example of how mainstream suspense thrillers should be made.

Filmographies of director David Fincher and the main cast, 'Panic Room' teaser created by David Fincher, Interactive menu, Dolby Digital and dts sound & Scene access