Panic Room MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +1 1/2 Content: -4

Meg Altman (Jodie Foster), separating from her husband, buys a New York townhome belonging to a recently deceased millionaire. One unique feature of the home is a panic room, a secure retreat from possible intruders. But unknown to the realtors or Meg, the panic room contains a secret. On the first night in the home with her daughter, Meg discovers three men have broken into the house. Although Meg and her daughter hide out in the panic room, the three thieves let them know that what they want is in the room. Meg and her daughter are safe in the room, but its not equipped to take care of her daughters diabetic condition. This intense thriller may draw fans of Foster, but constant and claustrophobic tension lowers the entertainment factor.

It was a dark and stormy night, at least rainy, but this is no comic event. Although some comic relief is intended with the somewhat inept intruders, their violent manner and obscenity-laden comments invoke few laughs. Sadly, the film portrays the young teen daughter using the f-word and, in talking to the intruders, encouraging her mother to use it. Violence escalates toward the end of the story with graphic injuries, including one man who gets his hand mashed in a steel door. He later stops to pick up his severed fingertips. Bloody face wounds from a beating and blood spraying from a gunshot to the head add to the gruesome images. There is no need to subject audiences to almost non-stop obscenities and the gory violence shown in PANIC ROOM.

Preview Reviewer: Paul Bicking
Distributor: Columbia Pictures, 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232