One of the greatest concerns in our modern world is that of safety. People spend thousands of dollars on alarms, weapons, defense classes, and homes in safe areas, in an effort to obtain a sense of security for their families. Recent world events have shaken many people to their very cores, as the sense of security once enjoyed by many has been disrupted by the reality of senseless violence.

In the new film "Panic Room" audiences are introduced to Meg Altman (Jody Foster), a woman who is in the process of divorcing her wealthy, yet adulterous husband. Meg purchases a new home in New York City where she believes she can start her life over and care for her daughter Sarah (Kristen Stewart). One of the unique features of their new home is that it features a panic room, a hidden chamber that allows the occupants to hide safely from any intruders to the home. During their first night in the new house, Meg is startled to see three figures moving about her home on the security monitors. Grabbing Sarah quickly, Meg heads into the panic room and seals them in.

It seems that the three intruders are looking for a safe that is located in the panic room, and had not expected anyone to be in the house for another week. The intruders are lead by Junior (Jared Leto), a tense individual who is attempting to rob the safe in an effort to collect the inheritance he believes his late grandfather owes him. Burnham, (Forest Whitaker), a security expert who is along to get around the security system and open the safe and Raoul (Dwight Yoakam), is a heavy that is brought in as little more than an afterthought by the group, who soon shows himself to be a dangerous character.

What follows is a cat and mouse game as the group tries to roust Meg and Sarah from the panic room so they can get what they want. Fearing for their safety though, Meg fights the intruders in a battle of wits and wills for their safety.

The film was directed by David Fincher who did some outstanding work with the films "Fight Club" and "Seven" but seems to be unsure of what to do in this film. His distinct visual style is evident as the look of the house, the darkness that envelops the cast, and the attention to detail are evident in every scene. What is missing is a sense of tension, Foster and Whitaker are great, but they are given little to work with aside from a stock situation of intruders in a home and without edge of your seat suspense, the film falls flat. Even when danger is present, the audience does not get as caught up in the situation as a film of this type would require. The big problem is the character of Meg, as she is far too intelligent for the intruders and she is always one step ahead of them. She also possesses some unexplained yet outstanding practical applications of science and electronics, which she uses to thwart the bad guys. Another fact I had problems with is the history of Burnham. Junior explains to him that he needs the money, and he has to be there, and he makes mention of his family, yet we never learn of his motivation even when he starts to question what the group is doing.

The film has some entertaining moments, but there is little to make the film stand out aside from the outstanding Foster, but in the end, even that is not enough to raise this movie up from being a middle of the road suspense film.

3 stars out of 5

The walls are closing in. I can't breathe. Please get me out of here! These phrases are probably very familiar to people who are claustrophobic. The thoughts and associations with this fear are very difficult to bring forth to the silver screen. Well unless you are in a submarine movie like "Das Boot".

In the new film "Panic Room", Jodie Foster stars as Meg Altman, a woman who has recently been estranged from her husband Stephen Altman (Patrick Bauchau) and is looking for a safe home to live. Her teenage daughter, Sarah (Kirsten Stewart), is trying to help her mother get through her estrangement.

Meg and Sarah find a very large New York Brownstone that seems to be the perfect place to live. It was previously owned by a reclusive millionaire and has a very peculiar room. This room is small, quaint, and full of television monitors. The room is also packed with emergency gear and incased in steel. The real-estate agent refers to this room as the "panic room". The Altman's doubt they will ever need it.

Meg and Sarah move in and on their first night their safety will be put to the test as their home is invaded by three burglars in search of a hidden fortune. The burglars are headed by Burnham (Forest Whitaker), who seems to have connections to the house, next is the very slimy punk Junior (Jared Leto), and last is Raoul (a ski-masked Dwight Yoakum) who could be the scariest of them all and hired by Junior.

What will Meg do to ensure her daughter's safety? What are the burglars after and how do they know it's in that house? How will the events surrounding the "panic room" be resolved?

"Panic Room" is directed by David Fincher. Fincher's style and interesting direction has really got him noticed in Hollywood circles as he has brought interesting looks to other Fincher films such as "Se7en", "Fight Club" and "Alien 3". His dark demeanor coupled with ricocheting camera angles are vintage Fincher.

In "Panic Room", Fincher re-teams with his cinematographers from "Se7en" and delivers some very interesting and captivating shots that really deliver a "claustrophobic" feel. I liked the dashing across cupboards and counters then ascending through the floorboards. Some of those shots reminded me of how Fincher photographed "Alien 3". The camera dashing down tunnels from the viewpoint of the alien in that sequel really came to mind. But in those shots you really do feel like a "fly-on-the-wall".

Jodie Foster has always rubbed me the wrong way as an actress but in some ways I enjoyed her performance as the mother. During the film's finale, I had a hard time believing her but during the scenes where she is in the bathtub and with the cops I really felt for her character. The role of the mother was originally supposed to be played by Nicole Kidman who had to drop out when she was injured during filming of "Moulin Rouge".

As for the burglars, Forest Whitaker plays the same kind of role he has played in the past. Leto is very slimy and very effective but the film really never lets the character flourish. Yoakum's Raoul is slimier than Leto and reminded me a lot of the abusive husband he played in "Slingblade".

The film's screenwriter David Koepp is usually a really good script-whiz but in Panic he doesn't really dig deep into the psychosis of these characters. In a thriller, we really need to know how these people think. I also was baffled to see literally no plot-twists throughout the whole film. Koepp's script needed some help in maintaining the intensity but when you put 3-inch steel between predator and prey it gets very tough.

I really enjoyed how the film was photographed but it's nearly impossible to maintain "claustrophobic" tension for almost two hours. The situations and conflicts between the mother and the burglars run out of steam half way through the picture. By that time all I really wanted was out of the "Panic Room".

(3 of 5) So Says the Soothsayer.