What I Watched, What You Watched: Installment #118

I had only seen David Fincher‘s Panic Room once and that was back in 2002 when it first opened and all I remember was not being too impressed. It’s the only Fincher film I do not own on DVD or Blu-ray (or HD DVD for that matter), but it was on Netflix Instant and I’d been meaning to give it a second look for quite some time and man am I glad I did.

I still have some problems with it, such as the fact the place gets broken into just as Meg (Jodie Foster) and her daughter Sarah (Kristen Stewart) move in and the idea a cell phone wouldn’t work inside the panic room seems incredibly stupid to me. Why would someone develop a safe room where you couldn’t use your cell phone? I also think Sarah being diabetic is a bit of a cheap plot conceit even though I do like the way it’s used in the story.

However, the one big thing I love about this film on seeing it a second time is the use of sound, the cinematography and the editing. The difference in sound from room to room is very noticeable when Meg is taking a tour around the place before buying it and then it plays into the film from that point forward. The editing is excellent, particularly the cutting back-and-forth combined with the use of slow motion when Meg rushes out to get her cell phone. And the cinematography (which you may as well combine with the effects) is amazing, which is why I’ve included the following effects reel directly below, which you may not have seen as Fincher uses visual effects to capture the initial break in all in one shot.