Movie Review for Panic Room

Summary: After purchasing a brownstone in New York, a thirty-something divorced woman and her daughter are forced to take advantage of the hidden room- the "panic room" -when intruders break into their home. However, they soon find that what the intruders want is locked in the panic room with them.

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By Kamal 'The Diva' Larsuel of 3BlackChicks Review (7/0)
            Enjoyable, but not enough to make me panic.

By Carlo Cavagna of AboutFilm.com (7/0)
            a thriller stripped down to its bare essence

By Mike McGranaghan of Aisle Seat (7/0)
            Panic Room is like the Energizer bunny of suspense; it just keeps going and going and go...

By Philip Martin of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (7/0)
            ...a skillful special effects thriller with shockingly modest aspirations...

By Eleanor Ringel Gillespie of Atlanta Journal-Constitution (6/1)
            Suffers from a bad case of TMS -- Too Much Stupidity.

By Jordan Hiller of Bangitout.com (7/0)
            The panic room itself is a provocative concept and it says something about modern society, but I'...

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By Neil Smith of BBC (7/0)
            Hugely accomplished slice of Hitchcockian suspense.

By Bryant Frazer of Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus (7/0)
            Fincher builds a self-contained, claustrophobia-inducing thrill machine.

By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (7/0)
            Once we sense Panic Room isn't going to cheat, it gathers in tension, because the characters are ...

By Mark Caro of Chicago Tribune (7/0)
            Fincher mounts some clever, tense sequences in which the trio devises increasingly threatening st...

By David Sterritt of Christian Science Monitor (7/0)
            Koepp's screenplay isn't nearly surprising or clever enough to sustain a reasonable degree of sus...

By Alex Ramirez of Cinenganos (7/0)
            Sin una historia tremendamente cautivante, pero con un gran manejo de cámara y unos visuales que ...

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By Karina Montgomery of Cinerina (7/0)
            A delicious feast of filmmaking.

By Paul Clinton (CNN.com) of CNN.com (7/0)
            A classy, intelligent thriller for grownups.

By Mark Palermo of Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) (7/0)
            An uneven mainstreaming of Hitchcock and De Palma, Panic Room's thrills are in the right place, b...

By Harvey S. Karten of Compuserve (7/0)
            Cookie-cutter though this may be, Jodie makes for some awfully good eye candy.

By Bob Aulert of culturevulture.net (7/0)
            Tries to think 'outside the box,' but instead ends up being trapped in one.

By Tim Robey of Daily Telegraph (7/0)
            We expect more than just craftsmanship from Fincher -- we expect bite.

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By David Hunter of E! Online (7/0)
            ...rates as an astonishing disappointment from filmmaker David Fincher...

By Brian Mckay of eFilmCritic.com (7/0)
            Atmosphere, deliberate pacing, intriguing characters, and edge-of-your-seat suspense . . . its on...

By Erik Childress of eFilmCritic.com (7/0)
            David Fincher’s Panic Room is the closest we’ve come to a film worthy of the banner “a female Die...

By Emanuel Levy of EmanuelLevy.Com (7/0)
            Fincher is such a technically brilliant director that he can elevate a genre film--a suspenser ab...

By Brent Simon of Entertainment Today (7/0)
            A crackerjack genre piece; what Panic Room aims for it accomplishes with deadly precision and edg...

By Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly (7/0)
            The skirmishes for power waged among victims and predators settle into an undistinguished rhythm ...

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By Eric D. Snider of EricDSnider.com (7/0)
            It's unlikely we'll see a better thriller this year.

By Eugene Novikov of Film Blather (7/0)
            Redefines "edge of your seat."

By Walter Chaw of Film Freak Central (7/0)
            Not even the expansion of Psycho's peephole into a bank of video monitors can convince of Panic R...

By Ed Kelleher of Film Journal International (7/0)
            Foster makes for a plucky Meg, and young Stewart is a talent to watch. But it’s Whitaker, Yoakam ...

By John R. McEwen of Film Quips Online (7/0)
            ...Even if it misses the mark on the thriller elements, it is at least stylish enough to be watch...

By Christopher Null of filmcritic.com (7/0)
            The best new film of the year!

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By Victoria Alexander of FilmsInReview.com (7/0)
            In Fincher's hands, this rather obtuse premise (how can the audience relate?) not only actually w...

By Michael W. Phillips, Jr. of Goatdog's Movies (7/0)
            Everything is perfectly planned and laid out.

By Eric Lurio of Greenwich Village Gazette (7/0)
            The tension builds from the very start and keeps on pumping for the rest of the film.

By Steve Rhodes of Internet Reviews (7/0)
            In an intriguing opening title sequence, the cameras pan about New York City's skyscrapers with f...

By JoBlo of JoBlo's Movie Emporium (7/0)
            This film had me crunching down on my fingernails and enjoying every tension-filled minute.

By Alex Sandell of Juicy Cerebellum (7/0)
            The movie should jolt you out of your seat a couple of times, give you a few laughs, and leave yo...

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By Manohla Dargis of L.A. Weekly (7/0)
            There's just no denying Fincher's gifts. Give the guy a camera or two or three, millions upon mil...

By Robert Roten of Laramie Movie Scope (7/0)
            'Panic Room" is a conventional, but well-crafted thriller which benefits from very talented actor...

By Jon Niccum of Lawrence Journal-World (7/0)
            From the bravura title sequence ... to tracking shots of the criminals casing their target, Finch...

By Kenneth Turan of Los Angeles Times (7/0)
            What's surprising about this traditional thriller, moderately successful but not completely satis...

By Mark Dujsik of Mark Reviews Movies (7/0)
            Placing it in the wide perspective of many other thrillers, it most definitely stands out in the ...

By Duane Dudek of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (7/0)
            Fincher brings suspense but few surprises to this mousetrap of a tale written by Pewaukee native ...

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By Kevin N. Laforest of Montreal Film Journal (7/0)
            For an average filmmaker, this might be a nice addition to a résumé but for Fincher, this is a di...

By Marty Mapes of Movie Habit (7/0)
            David Fincher hasn't made a bad movie yet

By Kevin A. Ranson of MovieCrypt.com (7/0)
            The 'fretful room' is a better description of this light thriller that unfolds like "Die Hard wit...

By Jeremy Heilman of MovieMartyr.com (7/0)
            Panic Room is a state of the art example of solid Hollywood filmmaking.

By Jorge Avila Andrade of Moviola (7/0)
            Fincher comprueba que el cine de escapismo y entretenimiento puede hacerse de forma inteligente y...

By Michael Dequina of Mr. Brown's Movies (7/0)
            Style definitely wins over substance, and it's difficult to imagine the film being as enjoyable a...

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By Cynthia Fuchs of Nitrate Online (7/0)
            As beautiful and well used as all this space is, midway through the film, it starts to feel less ...

By Edward Johnson-Ott of NUVO Newsweekly (7/0)
            Director David Fincher is on cruise control here, his ambition apparently sated by the knockout t...

By Frank Swietek of One Guy's Opinion (7/0)
            Viewers willing to settle for a refried thriller might be mildly intrigued...but anyone who's see...

By Dennis Schwartz of Ozus' World Movie Reviews (7/0)
            A "Home Alone" film that is staged like "Rosemary's Baby," but is not as well-conceived as either...

By Sean Burns of Philadelphia Weekly (7/0)
            There's nothing at all wrong with Panic Room, except that it should have been better.

By Jon Popick of Planet Sick-Boy (7/0)
            A taut thriller that would have made Hitchcock proud.

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By James Kendrick of Q Network Film Desk (7/0)
            a first-rate nail biter, a taut, claustrophobic thriller that is part modern Hitchcock and part P...

By Andrew Manning of Radio Free Entertainment (7/0)
            Jodie Foster makes a good Sarah Connor, kicking butt and flashing cleavage...Panic Room isn't an ...

By David Nusair of Reel Film Reviews (7/0)
            ...one of the most taut and exciting thrillers to emerge out of Hollywood in a good long while.

By Rod Armstrong of Reel.com (7/0)
            Fincher clearly has talent to burn, and though this one doesn't set the screen ablaze, it certain...

By Laura Clifford of Reeling Reviews (7/0)
            The camera glides between floorboards, through stair railings and keyholes, and even performs a l...

By Robin Clifford of Reeling Reviews (7/0)
            ...a routine, by-the-numbers suspense thriller that succeeds in rising above the writing and prov...

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By Betty Jo Tucker of ReelTalk Movie Reviews (7/0)
            Gets better after Foster leaves that little room.

By James Berardinelli of ReelViews (7/0)
            The suspense in Panic Room never ebbs, and that makes for a thoroughly entertaining -- if somewha...

By Peter Travers of Rolling Stone (7/0)
            Foster nails the role, giving a tight, focused performance illuminated by shards of feeling.

By Harry Guerin of RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland) (7/0)
            A film which finds Fincher doing a straightforward studio thriller but peppering it with enough o...

By Jim Lane of Sacramento News & Review (7/0)
            The film is pitiless and efficient, and it's certainly effective, but it isn't really a lot of fu...

By Charles Taylor of Salon.com (7/0)
            Fincher takes no apparent joy in making movies, and he gives none to the audience.

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By Jim Judy of Screen It! (7/0)
            A generally taut and effective little thriller.

By William Arnold of Seattle Post-Intelligencer (7/0)
            It all comes together to be a suspenseful ride.

By Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine (7/0)
            Panic Room may lack depth but it's great eye-candy nonetheless.

By Rob Blackwelder of SPLICEDWire (7/0)
            Without question, "Panic Room" is robust thriller. But I expected more from a filmmaker as creati...

By Tony Toscano of Talking Pictures (U.S.) (7/0)
            Foster breathes life into a roll that could have otherwise been bland and run of the mill.

By Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone of TheMovieChicks.com (7/0)
            Effective use of camera movements, slow motion and total silence - all to build the tension. You ...

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By Maitland McDonagh of TV Guide's Movie Guide (7/0)
            A well-crafted exercise in urban paranoia that's so controlled it never achieves the reckless, vi...

By Ian Waldron-Mantgani of UK Critic (7/0)
            Very well made, but doesn't generate a lot of tension.

By Mike Clark of USA Today (7/0)
            ...fabulously shot but mundanely written...

By Jeffrey Chen of Window to the Movies (7/0)
            During the thrilling moments every ounce of suspense earned the right to be there.

By A. O. Scott of New York Times (3/5) Login Required (Login Required)
            [Fincher's] camera sense and assured pacing make it an above-average thriller.

By Phil Villarreal of Arizona Daily Star (3/4) No reference
            What goes on for the 110 minutes of "Panic Room" is a battle of witlessness between a not-so-brig...

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By Josh Gilchrist of Billings Outpost (Montana) (3/4) No reference
            Highly suspenseful yet full of conventional ideas

By Luisa F. Ribeiro of Boxoffice Magazine (3/4) No reference
            For a film that feels suspiciously like an early summer release, Panic Room pushes just enough of...

By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (3/4) No reference
            ...embraces realism almost as a challenge.

By Mark Caro of Chicago Tribune (3/4) No reference
            ...this is look-at-me filmmaking but not in a bad way.

By Pablo Villaca of Cinema em Cena (3/4) No reference
            Mais um momento inspirado de David Fincher.

By Bill Pearis of Citysearch (3/4) No reference
            A class act from its elegant opening titles to its intense, nail-biting climax.

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By Steven Rosen of Denver Post (3/4) No reference
            Director David Fincher and writer David Koepp can't sustain it.

By Jeff Vice of Deseret News, Salt Lake City (6/1) No reference
            Features Fincher's characteristically startling visual style and an almost palpable sense of inte...

By Susan Stark of Detroit News (3/4) No reference
            It confirms Fincher's status as a film maker who artfully bends technical know-how to the service...

By Sean O'Connell of Eclipse Magazine (3/4) No reference
            Offers a tight plot audiences can digest with a mild suspension of disbelief.

By David Foucher of EDGE Boston (6/1) No reference
            Jodie Foster locks herself into a room for nearly an entire film… unfortunately, she probably sho...

By Shirley Klass of Fantastica Daily (3/4) No reference
            David Koepp has worked backwards to write the worst movie of his career.

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By David Grove of Film Threat (3/4) No reference
            A very scary film, well made and lovingly dark, and it illustrates how terrified we are of becomi...

By MaryAnn Johanson of Flick Filosopher (3/4) No reference
            [Foster and Fincher are] locked in a box... and it's a box that's unopenable except by cheating.

By Donald Munro of Fresno Bee (3/4) No reference
            By toying with that idea of 'perfect' safety -- because there's no such thing, of course -- Finch...

By Bruce Kirkland of Jam! Movies (3/4) No reference
            The sophisticated, superior performances [Fincher] coaxes from his entire cast start to layer in ...

By Louis B. Hobson of Jam! Movies (3/4) No reference
            Foster brings much more subtle depth and insight to her character than is normally associated wit...

By James Sanford of Kalamazoo Gazette (6/1) No reference
            borrows a bit from the classics "Wait Until Dark" and "Extremities" ... But in terms of its style...

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By Robert W. Butler of Kansas City Star (3/4) No reference
            A sly celebration of the sheer joy of moviemaking, filled with playful visual and aural tricks th...

By Bob Strauss of Los Angeles Daily News (3/4) No reference
            It's a pleasurable revelation to see Foster feel out a role, both emotively and physically, with ...

By Kenneth Turan of Los Angeles Times (3/4) No reference
            moderately successful but not completely satisfying...

By Chuck Rudolph of Matinee Magazine (3/4) No reference
            Has all the charm of a filmed industrial presentation on recent technological advancements.

By Matt Easterbrook of Matt's Movie Reviews (3/4) No reference
            Panic Room is pretty much all suspense; you don't exactly need Fiennes, Olivier and Gielgud in th...

By Michael Elliott of Movie Parables (3/4) No reference
            An intensely riveting, nail-biter of a thriller ably directed by David Fincher.

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By Mark Ramsey of MovieJuice! (3/4) No reference
            An instant white-knuckled classic.

By James Rocchi of Netflix (3/4) No reference
            David Fincher's directorial skill makes a tense tale snap with smart terror.

By Lou Lumenick of New York Post (3/4) No reference
            ...an acceptably diverting Saturday night at the movies...

By John Anderson of Newsday (3/4) No reference
            Taut and forbidding, enough so that you won't mind the implausibilities.

By Jay Boyar of Orlando Sentinel (3/4) No reference
            A remarkably straightforward and effective thriller.

By Steve Schneider of Orlando Weekly (3/4) No reference
            The script's snazzy dialogue establishes a realistic atmosphere that involves us in the unfolding...

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By Gary Thompson of Philadelphia Daily News (3/4) No reference
            What the audience feels is exhaustion, from watching a movie that is dark (dark green, to be exac...

By Jack Garner of Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (6/1) No reference
            The talented Foster manages to inject considerable depth into her character.

By Joe Baltake of Sacramento Bee (3/4) No reference
            The star of this movie is Fincher, who has filmed it in a grand style that manages to avoid showy...

By Sean Means of Salt Lake Tribune (3/4) No reference
            Unencumbered with the usual sociological weight his movies carry, Fincher gets to revel in the sh...

By David Elliott of San Diego Union-Tribune (3/4) No reference
            It's a terrific entertainment.

By Joe Leydon of San Francisco Examiner (3/4) No reference
            Style dominates content, even when it comes to such niceties as continuity and establishing shots...

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By Stefan Birgir Stefansson of sbs.is (3/4) No reference
            Solid

By Moira MacDonald of Seattle Times (3/4) No reference
            It's a triumph of technical filmmaking; as a story, it's got ice in its heart.

By Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine (3/4) No reference
            ...may lack depth but it's great eye-candy nonetheless.

By Todd Anthony of South Florida Sun-Sentinel (3/4) No reference
            [Fincher] magically crafts stylish suspense out of the narrative equivalent of thin air.

By Dustin Putman of TheMovieBoy.com (3/4) No reference
            A superb exercise in eliciting suspense out of simple, progressively sticky situations.

By Audrey Rock-Richardson of Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah) (3/4) No reference
            Just like a nightmare, only better.

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By Desson Thomson of Washington Post (3/4) No reference
            It's a treat for the eyes and ears.

By Lawrence Toppman of Charlotte Observer (6/1) Not Reachable
            Defies logic, the laws of physics and almost anyone's willingness to believe in it. But darned if...

By Yazmin Ghonaim of Cinephiles (6/1) Not Reachable
            Although Panic Room manages to deliver a visual story about a horrific home intrusion, the film l...

By Shay Casey of Daily-Reviews (3/4) Not Reachable
            Fincher crafts supremely effective suspense sequences.

By Rene Rodriguez of Miami Herald (6/1) Not Reachable
            Tense, terrific, sweaty-palmed fun.

By James Berardinelli of ReelViews (3/4) Not Reachable
            ...does what all the best suspense-based thrillers accomplish: it keeps us on edge for about 90 m...

                         Reviews of Panic Room
By Chris Hewitt (St. Paul) of St. Paul Pioneer Press (3/4) Not Reachable
            One of those rare movies where you realize you're being manipulated but you succumb to it because...

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Indelible Pictures

Movie Studios
Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group