Actors panicky over boring script
by Nick Nance, reporter

    Future lists of good, scary films will not include Panic Room. The right place-wrong time plot is boring.

   Audiences will lose interest fast despite the star-studded cast. Jodie Foster leads the cast of Panic Room. Foster plays Meg Altman, a newly divorced mother of an 11-year-old daughter, Sarah (Kristen Stewart).

   Beginning with the house hunting, Meg’s bitterness toward the world shines through. Never clearly having the inspiration identified, the audience must conclude Meg’s attitude stems from her fear of enjoying life.

   Once a decision has been made to buy the house, the film quickly skips to the big move-in day. An uneventful night is marked by the never-ending, awkward silences between mother and daughter.

   After being in bed for what appeared to be only a few minutes, intruders appear at the front door and are shown entering the house.

   Once inside, the duo become a trio when a masked man appears. Stupidity for these three is in abundance. Burnham (Forest Whitaker), who does the grunt work, wears a coat with his name attached.

   Not expecting anyone to be living in the house at the time, the trio loudly argue in the front room of the house.

   In a search of the house, Burnham finds the family and refuses to complete the job.

   Despite his smart first choice, he is talked into doing the job by slick-talking Junior (Jared Leto).

   Junior, a flashy all-mouth guy, has managed to assemble a desperate group to help him carry out his plan.

   As the argument with Junior transpires, the viewer learns that the house belonged to Junior’s recently deceased grandfather.

   Planning to get what he thought was rightfully his, he sets his haphazard plan into motion.

   Awakened for some unknown reason, Meg walks by the surveillance cameras and observes these strange men in her new home.

   Quickly, she gets her daughter and attempts to get them both into the panic room before their intruders can capture them.
Now, the trio must change their plans.

   In what was intended to be a humorous scene, the bad guys inform the pair their object of desire is in the room they occupy. Not believing the group would allow them to leave the house unharmed, the Altmans refuse to leave the room.

   Continuous mishaps and idiotic decisions plague the trio in their attempts to get the $3 million hidden in the room.

   Despite endless attempts to enter the room, the robbers get their chance when Sarah becomes sick. In a switching of places, the robbers are now locked in the room.

   Now, the robbers have Sarah, and Meg has their gun. Knowing if they step foot outside the room they will be shot, they use Sarah as their protection.

   Panic Room is full of violence, death, profanity, but most of all disappointment. Despite the big stars, Panic Room is a waste of time and talented actors.