Viewed at Pacific Place Theaters
Rated R; approximate running time of 108 minutes
Genre: Thriller
Written by: David Koepp
Directed by: David Fincher
Cast: Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam, Jared Leto, Kristen Stewart, Patrick Bauchau
.
WARNING - SPOILERS BELOW.
The Digest
Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) has recently divorced her philandering husband and is trying to start a new life with her teenage daughter, Sarah (Kirsten Stewart). The first step to starting anew is purchasing a new house. As Kristen says when asked if her mom is rich, "No, my dad is. Mom is just pissed." Suffice it to say, Meg spares no expense when it comes to the place they will now be calling home.
The house she has chosen is in a quiet neighborhood with lots of extra goodies like an elevator and a "Panic Room." The previous owner was extremely paranoid and had the room built off of the master bedroom.
The Panic Room is completely secure with security monitors, a food supply, a telephone not connected to the main line, a toilet, medical supplies, and most of all - there is no way that anyone can get in. And the three would-be robbers find out that last fact, the hard way.
The very first night that Meg and Sarah are in the house, Burnham (Forrest Whitaker), Junior (Jared Leto), and Raoul (Dwight Yoakam) break in to get something that the previous owner left behind. They believed that the house would be in escrow for another two weeks and therefore empty. Their arguing over the situation wakes up Meg and she grabs Sarah and hides in the Panic Room. That's fine except what the robbers want is in the Panic Room.
Now it becomes a cat and mouse game to get Meg and Sarah out of the room, but they don't count on the tenacity of a mother trying to save her child and getting them out of the room is a lot harder than they bargained for. Their attempts are made even harder by the fact that they are starting to not trust each other and are constantly bickering. Can they keep their wits about them long enough to outsmart Meg and get into the room?
The Dish
My first thought after I saw this movie was, "Home Alone for adults and without the comedy and Wait Until Dark" I know that sounds a bit weird, but that summed it up for me. Just like these two movies, Room puts a vulnerable person in an extraordinary situation and to their surprise and yours, they manage to hold their own and show the bad guys a thing or two in the process.
I loved the interaction and bonding between mother and daughter. Meg was clearly unsure of herself and was used to letting people just walk all over her, but with encouragement from her daughter, she takes the bull by the horns and fights like she's never fought before. I found myself cheering for her because I knew she wasn't just fighting the robbers, she was fighting every person who had ever dogged her in her entire life. She was getting back at her ex-husband who destroyed her self-esteem and hurt her child's feelings. Too bad for the robbers, eh?
Jodie Foster was awesome, she knew how to capture Meg's vulnerability and pain then turn it into the fuel for her anger. Newcomer Kristen Stewart (who I thought was a boy for the first 15 minutes) has a lot of potential and I daresay a great career ahead of her. She seemed so natural on the screen. She reminded me of myself and other children of divorced parents who at some point become the parent for a while. We're forced to grow up fast and she understood that.
Forest Whitaker convincingly plays a man torn between doing what's right and greed. He knows he shouldn't be going after a mother and child, but his need for the hidden objects conflicts with his better sense of judgment, and once again he is playing a "Gentle Giant" on the wrong side of good. Jared Leto was hilarious as the bungling ringleader. It's Dwight Yoakam who surprised me the most. I think I've seen him in a movie or two before, but I've never seen him like this. First of all, I didn't recognize him, but then again, I don't listen to country music so some of his fans might have been able to pick him out better than I did. Beyond that he was down right evil. He was someone you love to hate. I was very impressed.
But alas, the movie wasn't perfect. There were more than few "Yeah Right" moments and quite frankly it didn't scare me or creep me out the way the director intended. Yes it is scary being home alone and having your house broken into, but I wasn't on the edge of my seat. In fact, it was kinda of hooky at times. Despite some plot holes, it kept me entertained and I walked away feeling like I had seen a good - not great- movie.
The Directive
This is a very good date movie. Grab your sweetie and check it out.
Enjoyable, but not enough to make me panic.
back to top
Copyright Kamal "The Diva" Larsuel-Ulbricht, 2002
EMAIL: thediva@3blackchicks.com
ICQ: 8690410
http://www.3blackchicks.com/
Use the feedback form below to send your comments to The
Diva
