PANIC ROOM:
A Study in Post 9-11 Paranoia & Claustrophobia
David Fincher has a fascination with the internal - a trait he expressed
freely and repeatedly in Fight Club. In Fincher's adaptation of Chuck
Palahniuk's brilliant novel about a group of men who beat the crap out of
each other in order to feel alive (or simply feel anything), the director
constantly pushed his camera inside the body. Throughout Fight Club,
Fincher probed the human body, taking us through bone, skin and muscles.
The visual choice was an effective one, constantly reminding the viewer how
these men were ripping apart their bodies, tearing away at the skin and
pulverizing the muscles in order to ignite that other, invisible component,
of our internal framework: feelings.
And while Fight Club was a fascinating and complex film, in the end it
seemed as though Fincher had bitten off more than he could chew - the
narrative structure of Palahniuk's novel ultimately crumbled in
cinematic form.
In his latest effort, Panic Room, Fincher tackles a much less complex story
with equally dazzling, if not as compelling, results.
Jodie Foster makes her long awaited return to the screen as Meg Altaman, a
recent divorcee and single mom looking for the perfect new home in
Manhattan.
The chosen humble abode is an impressive multi-story brownstone on the
Upper West Side of the island, complete with an elevator, vaulted ceilings
and a 'panic room'. Located off the master bedroom, according to the
realtors the panic room was built by the previous owner (a reclusive and
wealthy quack) as a guard against home invasion. A kind of 21st century
bunker, the panic room is made of thick steel and equipped with video
monitors, a phone line, a toilet and a full stock of medical kits.
As mother and daughter, Sarah (Kristen Stewart looking eerily like a young
Jodie Foster), settle into their new digs a trio of burglars arrive
(Forrest Whitaker, Jared Leto and country crooner Dwight Yoakam, who spends
almost the entirety of the film in a black ski mask), forcing the new
tenants to test out the panic room.
Ironically, Panic Room is an essentially static film. The burglars want in,
the women want out, and the stalemate that ensues takes up the bulk of
screen time.
But to Fincher's credit, he focuses on the house, this time putting his
camera not inside the human body (as he did in Fight Club) but the lifeless
structure that is propelling the action of the film, which is the house
itself.
Although at times improbable and unrealistic, Panic Room is, nonetheless, a
deftly directed thriller, as smart as it is visually pleasing.
VAN WILDER:
National Lampoon Attempts to Recapture the Genius of Animal House
Click for the Official Site
Returning to the land of toga parties, jello shots and keg stands, National
Lampoon's Van Wilder attempts to bring college debauchery into the 21st
century. Bringing back the beloved gags that made Animal House a huge hit
in the 1970s, this teen flick from director Water Becker adds American Pie
caliber gross-out humor to an otherwise moderately funny trip back to those
not-so-hallowed halls of higher education.
Making the rounds as a seven-year senior, Van Wilder (Ryan Reynolds most
recognizable from his stint on the now defunct sitcom Two Guys and a Girl)
has just received some awful news. His father, Vance Wilder, Sr. (Tim
Matheson who made his film debut in Animal House playing a character much
like
Reynolds') has finally decided to stop payment on his son's seemingly
endless education.
Faced with the devastating reality of paying his own way through school,
Van, beloved by all factions of the student body for his commitment to good
times and his reputation as a man who knows how to party, becomes an
unlikely entrepreneur.
With the help of his pothead roommate (Teck Holmes of, yes, MTV's Real
World: Hawaii) and a foreign exchange student named Taj (Kal Penn), Van
begins a lucrative business as the campus party planner. When students want
to throw a party, they turn to Van to make the magic happen. But when Van
meets Gwen (Tara Reid), suddenly partying isn't the only thing on his mind.
A dedicated reporter for their college newspaper, when Gwen is forced to do
a piece on the most well known man on campus, Van, she begins to have
feelings for her persistent subject.
Complicating matters though, is Gwen's uptight boyfriend Richard (Daniel
Cosgrove). President of the Delta Iota Kappa fraternity (lovingly called
DIK), Richard is everything Van isn't- ambitious, mean and stuck-up. As Van
tries to make enough money to stay in school and win Gwen's heart, he must
wrangle with Richard and the scariest thing of all: the possibility of
graduation.
Reynolds, whose smugness borders on the annoying, is surprisingly
charismatic as the imminently lovable Van Wilder. And, although he has
little comedic help from his supporting cast (save Daniel Cosgrove who's
wonderful as the conniving arch nemesis), Reynolds just about carries the
show.
Amazingly, Van Wilder actually manages to top the 'gag me' scenarios its
predecessors have hung their hats on; forget humping a pie, the students
here do something with an éclair that will make you forever weary of the
tasty pastry.
And, while this film is definitely no Animal House, Van Wilder is certainly
amusing enough to pass as a kind of second cousin to the king of college
comedies.
