Browsing Category
Archive

Panic Room is a David Fincher movie. There is no doubt about it. From the very opening credit sequence to the closing credit reel, Panic Room has the style, and darkness that inhabit all of Fincher’s other movies including Fight Club, and Se7en.

One thing that David Fincher is known for is his high-budget, engrossing opening sequences and tricky camera effects. Many, including myself, relay the same feelings for a similar director, with a similar style, Sam Raimi.

Panic Room takes place in an 19th century New York Townhouse of sorts. This three floor house was once inhabited by a rich businessman who became so paranoid about anything in his later years that he had a massive security system installed, along with a panic room. A panic room is a small room filled with rations, video monitors, and it’s own phone line, so in the advent of a break in, the family could survive months if they had to. Surrounding the room is four feet of concrete with a generous helping of steel, in one word, impenetrable.

The films main character, Meg (Jodie Foster), is recently divorced from her husband and moves into the house with her daughter Sarah after the old businessman’s death. Unknown to her, a small fortune has been holed up in a safe inside of the room, and when one of the old man’s grandsons becomes disgruntled by the lack of inheritance he received, he enlists the help of Burnham (Forest Whitaker) and Raoul (Dwight Yoakam) to get his inheritance. Yes, that Dwight Yoakam, the country singer seems to be expanding, and the scary part is, he does a decent job playing the psychopath that is Raoul.

When Foster’s character discovers the burglars in her house, she takes refuge in the panic room with her diabetic daughter. The film then focuses on the perpetrators various attempts to drive Meg and Sarah from the room so they can break into the safe.

While several plot points and actions are more than cliché the movie doesn’t rely on them to step across the finish line. Focusing on the vision of the subject matter, and how the camera is the audience’s eye into this fictional world, David Fincher makes even the simplest thing very dramatic. At several points during the movie the camera makes it’s way through the banister bars on the staircase for a very subtle, yet dramatic visual effect. Also, at several points during the movie, Fincher uses the same fly by effect he used in Fight Club when appearing from the narrators trash can at work. A close pass by normal household objects leaves you with a sense of awe.

As I mentioned above, the opening credit sequence is so Fincher, there is no other way to describe it. Taking a break from the high energy, techno openings of Fight Club and Se7en, Fincher presents the credits as though they are part of the world. Showing various buildings around New York City, the 3D sans serif characters seem to be apart of, branching off of buildings, casting shadows and reflections. It is very hard to describe, but very, very cool to see.

While falling into more than one cliché here and there, Panic Room is an excellent movie, and very suspenseful at a few chosen times. The acting is very well done and the characters are believable with a script that isn’t full of tacky one-liners and pop-culture references. While I love one-liners and pop-culture references as much as the next guy, it was good to get a break from it all, seeing as I will be experiencing comedy genius next week with the long-overdue release of Big Trouble.

The concept of Death To Smoochy might be a dream-come-true for anyone who has ever had the grave misfortune of having the image of Barney travel across his or her optic nerve, or heard his make-you-want-to-shoot-yourself-in-the-face-with-a-bazooka singing. But alas, there is more to this movie than just killing Smoochy.

The movie begins with Rainbow Randolph Smiley, beloved children’s show host, being fired for a nasty payola scandal. After Rainbow Randolph is taken off the air, the network execs scramble to find a squeaky-clean replacement. Their solution: Sheldon Mopes (Edward Norton), a 20-something Ned Flanders wannabe, who sincerely wants to make the world a better place. Before the network execs get to him, Sheldon is making his way in the world by dressing up in a handmade rhino suit and singing to addicts at a methadone clinic.

Overnight, Mopes’ Smoochy the Rhino becomes a huge success, getting Randolph’s time slot, money, and even more ratings. Now this bugs our pal Randy just a little bit, and he vows for revenge against his fuchsia-colored replacement. However, he doesn’t just want plain ol’ “I want my job back” revenge. Smoochy must die.

As much as I hate to do this, I must preface the rest of this review with a warning. THIS IS NOT YOUR NORMAL CHEERY COMEDY MOVIE. This movie is dark, rude, and Robin Williams swears more times than I’ve ever heard him swear in one movie. And on top of that, trailers be damned, Death To Smoochy is not actually a Robin Williams movie. This is an Edward Norton movie, with Robin in not much more than a supporting role, but it’s a damn good one nonetheless.

Like I said, this movie is dark. Well, the first half-hour is REALLY dark. Quite a few people walked out, and I found myself thinking, “Oh man, this is twisted…” almost to the point of not liking it. Well if you can make it past the convoluted and slow-paced first thirty minutes, you are in for a definite treat. This movie is the most unique and imaginative I have seen since Memento, and has some of the most genuinely original humor I’ve seen in a long time.

The best aspect of this movie is the acting. A considerably less-buff Norton (than he was in American History X) is an absolute treat to watch onscreen, like in any of his movies. Sheldon Mopes is a rather pitiful person, at least by normal people standards. He is one of those won’t-do-anything-bad people: soy dogs, gluten-free buns, alfalfa sprouts, no alcohol, so on. However, he is a truly good person, and really wants to help people. His motto is something along the lines of, “I can’t change the world, but at least I can make a dent.” At first I felt bad for him, but as the movie progressed, I found myself liking and admiring him a lot. He may be a naïve sap, but his heart is in the right place.

Now, Robin Williams. Oh. My. God. I think the old Robin Williams is back. Robin has two movies currently out and one about to be released: Death to Smoochy, One Hour Photo, and Insomnia. One Hour Photo, so far only shown at the Sundance Film Festival, with—to my knowledge—no plans for wide release, is about an employee of a one-hour photo lab who becomes obsessed with a young suburban family through their photographs. Due to its limited release, I have not yet seen it, but have heard that Robin plays a very dark and malevolent character. In Insomnia, also starring Al Pacino and Hilary Swank, Robin plays a sadistic killer, very against his norm. Not having seen these two movie, I can easily say that with Death to Smoochy, I have never seen Robin Williams like this. I’ve seen bits of how nasty he can be on Leno and old standup videos, but this is a whole new Mork from Ork. Rainbow Randolph Smiley has some serious issues, and with Robin portraying him, you can see just how warped he is. I have always liked Robin Williams’ movies, even those that weren’t reviewed too favorably. More than once in this movie, Randolph goes from raving lunatic to a bawling infant in a matter of seconds. Most people probably would discard this as Robin Williams playing an idiot really well, but I beg to differ. I personally feel that he is a very fine actor, and his growing versatility in his roles continues to impress me. I just wish he was in this movie more, because when he is onscreen, he just shines.

Now the movie was not all great. There were a few parts where I was a little confused by the editing, and as in all comedies, a few jokes fell flat. However, Death to Smoochy, overall, is a very interesting movie. But, many people will not like it. I quite enjoyed it, but “black comedies” like this often have trouble finding an audience. If you feel that you take this film, I encourage you to go and do so.