Director David Fincher has cut out a niche for himself with two films dealing in urban paranoia, "Seven" and "Fight Club." So it makes perfect sense that he should be directing "Panic Room" for its producer and writer David Koepp who has dabbled in the genre as well with "The Trigger Effect." That was about a group of people who revert to a primitive state to defend their families when a blackout leads to food and fuel shortages, fear of the unknown, and total anarchy.

In "Panic Room," Jodie Foster is called upon as the recently divorced Meg Altman to use all her cunning and intuitive skills to protect herself and her daughter against intruders who have invaded her posh new digs, a multi-level house in New York City. It seems the previous owner installed a panic room, a refuge made for just such a scenario. It is cleverly concealed behind a false door that hides a barricade of impenetrable steel. The room has a bank of monitors with an overview of the main rooms, its own telephone line, and other assorted survival goodies.

Jodie is simply terrific, as always but this is not an actor’s movie. There are no showy rolls, just one set piece after another, moving the players into positions like pieces on a chess board. Each of the bad guys has a particular skill or some inside information necessary to break into a secret vault in the panic room where they hope to find the secret to the missing fortune of the home’s previous owner. Part of "Panic Room"s fun is finding out how these Three Stooges of crime came to be partners. Their antics provide the movie with some weird character driven comedy relief. They are constantly at each other’s throats. Of the three, Forest Whitaker has the most complex role as a surprisingly sympathetic thief with a conscience in need of money for his family. Jared Leto and Dwight Yoakam are too one dimensional to take seriously until the movie starts to heat up and Meg Altman becomes more desperate. Relative newcomer Kristen Stewart does a commendable job as Meg’s sickly daughter who needs an occasional shot to restore her blood sugar level during times of emotional stress. It’s not hard to figure out what part this will play in stirring up Meg Altman’s primordial instincts.

Once the flimsy premise of "Panic Room" is set up, the action takes off like a horse out of the gate. There just enough character bits to keep the movie from becoming a strictly-by-the-numbers thriller. The best is with Paul Schulze, best known as Father Phillip on "The Sopranos," as a cop who comes knocking at Meg’s front door after the neighbors complain about the strange doings at Meg’s place. He projects an intensity in just a few lines that lets you know he is playing out a set of possible scenarios in his head that may be taking place behind closed doors while Meg assures him she’s just having first night jitters. It’s enough to make him come back for a second look and one of the hooks that should help keep your attention glued to the screen.

Copyright 2002

"Se7en" (1995) - Evil and depravity ooze from the screen with Morgan Freeman as a seasoned cop ready to go to pasture and Brad Pitt as the new guy on the block on the trail of a serial killer whose victims are guilty of committing the Seven Deadly Sins. I won’t say who the killer is just in case you missed this one. Low on violence but long on ghoulish atmosphere with one helluv’ an ending.

"Apartment Zero" (1988) - Co-written with director Martin Donovan (not to be confused with the actor of the same name), this is another tale of a serial killer who may or may not be living in the rented room of Art House Cinema owner, Colin Firth… in Argentina no less. Hart Bochner plays the mysterious stranger.

"Bad Influence" (1990) - Directed by Curtis Hanson who went on to make "L.A. Confidential." Shades of Alfred Hitchcock in this tale of a naïve businessman who feels indebted to a psychopath who has more on his mind than good deeds. James Spader is the victim and Rob Lowe is his nemesis. Well done.

"Lady in a Cage" (1964) - You could call this Panic Elevator with Olivia de Havilland stuck in a private open air elevator in her home while some nihilistic thugs terrorize her and trash the place. With a very young James Caan, Jeff Corey, Jennifer Billingsley and Ann Sothern.