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Panic
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
An independent film that was saved from a straight-to-video release earlier this year, "Panic" is an example of a very good - and at times fantastic - picture that simply didn't get picked up quickly after good festival buzz due to a slow marketplace. After being picked up by Artisan, the film was dumped by the studio - strange, since marketing smaller, edgier fare is what the studio does. Although a different company released the film in theaters, Artisan still gets the video rights - and video is hopefully where the picture will find its audience.
Still, this is made fresh due to the fact that director Henry Bromell has attracted a group of terrific actors to the roles. William H. Macy stars as Alex, a hit-man who has become tired of what he does and even saddened by his life. The only problem is that he doesn't have to report his problem to the usual "boss", but to his father, the one who gave him the job. Not even his wife knows what he does.
And, in shades of "American Beauty", Alex finds Sarah in the waiting room of his psychiatrist(John Ritter). Campbell's Sarah is a woman with issues, but not without confidence, either. The two have an odd chemistry; they're visiting two different psychiatrists, but in the waiting room, they seem to have more success talking out their problems to each other.
"Panic" is not something previously unseen; layers run through it from other films, and yet, it isn't a take-off of those pictures. It has an interesting tone of sadness that runs throughout it that engaged me. Macy is easily the best instance of this kind of feeling throughout the picture; he perfectly plays the tone of melancholy. Also excellent is Campbell, who is smart and sharp, flawed and human, certainly more interesting than many of her previous recent roles.
The whole idea of the character as hitman really doesn't seem to be the core of "Panic"; it's the panic of adults who are unhappy with their current lot in life, the same surroundings, same events, over and over again. The relationship between Alex and his father (Donald Sutherland) is an odd one, but an interesting one made interesting only by the fact that two excellent actors take the roles, consistently playing acting "cards" with one another, not showing all of the character's thoughts or feelings right away. Both are calm and yet both have different results; Sutherland's character is often terrifying while Macy's seems be in such pain that he becomes sympathetic - he is a soul not only trapped, but with trouble expressing his feelings. "I'm not sure I've ever gotten angry", he says to his shrink. The actors play off one another perfectly - the film's casting is exactly right. Even the previously never subdued Tracey Ullman does fine, subtle work as Alex's wife. The impressive part of all of this is how much the film is able to do and how fully realized these characters are in just 90 minutes worth of screen time.
"Panic"'s excellent word of mouth brought it back into a release, and it deserved it, even if the small release still didn't find much of an audience. Hopefully, on video it will finally gain more of a following.
The DVD
VIDEO: Artisan provides an enjoyable transfer for "Panic", presenting the film in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. Although "Panic" is a low-budget feature, the film contains excellent, professional cinematography by Jeff Jur that is often coldly beautiful. Sharpness and detail are often very good, if not quite consistent. Some interior scenes seemed a bit soft, but not terribly so. For the most part, the picture remained well-defined and crisp.
As with many of the studio's efforts, a few minor problems popped up along the way, keeping the presentation from being quite as good as it could have been. Although I didn't see any instances of pixelation, there were some instances of edge enhancement. Print flaws seemed to be almost completely absent. I noticed a speckle at one point, but the print otherwise seemed to be completely clean and clear.
The film's colors seemed to be subdued, although accurate. Flesh-tones were also natural throughout. Overall, a very good transfer from Artisan.
SOUND: "Panic" is presented in Dolby 2.0; the majority of the film is dialogue-driven. A few scenes have have some music involved, but the main score by Brian Tyler is one of the reasons why the film works as well as it does; a sad, elegant score that perfectly sets the mood, the music sounds clear and crisp throughout. Dialogue also sounds clear and easily understood.
MENUS:: Starting off with an animated clip that leads into an animated main menu, Artisan again provides an excellent series of menus for "Panic", with animated sub-menus, as well.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary from director Henry Bromell. Bromell provides a decent general commentary, touching on the elements of each scene, starting off rather low-key, but becoming a bit more comfortable with the commentary process as the film goes along. He discusses working with the actors and his thoughts on both the story and opinions on low-budget filmmaking. There are some fairly lengthy pauses of silence during the track, but the director does provide some decent tidbits when he does discuss the movie. For those who are greatly interested in hearing more about the history of the production, they may want to take a listen.
Also: 5 deleted scenes that are interesting but don't really do anything much for the movie and were rightly deleted; trailer; cast/crew bios.
Final Thoughts: "Panic" may contain familiar plot elements, but its outstanding cast and excellent director add powerful performances and atmosphere. Artisan's DVD provides generally good audio/video quality and some solid extra features. Recommended.
An independent film that was saved from a straight-to-video release earlier this year, "Panic" is an example of a very good - and at times fantastic - picture that simply didn't get picked up quickly after good festival buzz due to a slow marketplace. After being picked up by Artisan, the film was dumped by the studio - strange, since marketing smaller, edgier fare is what the studio does. Although a different company released the film in theaters, Artisan still gets the video rights - and video is hopefully where the picture will find its audience.
Still, this is made fresh due to the fact that director Henry Bromell has attracted a group of terrific actors to the roles. William H. Macy stars as Alex, a hit-man who has become tired of what he does and even saddened by his life. The only problem is that he doesn't have to report his problem to the usual "boss", but to his father, the one who gave him the job. Not even his wife knows what he does.
And, in shades of "American Beauty", Alex finds Sarah in the waiting room of his psychiatrist(John Ritter). Campbell's Sarah is a woman with issues, but not without confidence, either. The two have an odd chemistry; they're visiting two different psychiatrists, but in the waiting room, they seem to have more success talking out their problems to each other.
"Panic" is not something previously unseen; layers run through it from other films, and yet, it isn't a take-off of those pictures. It has an interesting tone of sadness that runs throughout it that engaged me. Macy is easily the best instance of this kind of feeling throughout the picture; he perfectly plays the tone of melancholy. Also excellent is Campbell, who is smart and sharp, flawed and human, certainly more interesting than many of her previous recent roles.
The whole idea of the character as hitman really doesn't seem to be the core of "Panic"; it's the panic of adults who are unhappy with their current lot in life, the same surroundings, same events, over and over again. The relationship between Alex and his father (Donald Sutherland) is an odd one, but an interesting one made interesting only by the fact that two excellent actors take the roles, consistently playing acting "cards" with one another, not showing all of the character's thoughts or feelings right away. Both are calm and yet both have different results; Sutherland's character is often terrifying while Macy's seems be in such pain that he becomes sympathetic - he is a soul not only trapped, but with trouble expressing his feelings. "I'm not sure I've ever gotten angry", he says to his shrink. The actors play off one another perfectly - the film's casting is exactly right. Even the previously never subdued Tracey Ullman does fine, subtle work as Alex's wife. The impressive part of all of this is how much the film is able to do and how fully realized these characters are in just 90 minutes worth of screen time.
"Panic"'s excellent word of mouth brought it back into a release, and it deserved it, even if the small release still didn't find much of an audience. Hopefully, on video it will finally gain more of a following.
The DVD
VIDEO: Artisan provides an enjoyable transfer for "Panic", presenting the film in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. Although "Panic" is a low-budget feature, the film contains excellent, professional cinematography by Jeff Jur that is often coldly beautiful. Sharpness and detail are often very good, if not quite consistent. Some interior scenes seemed a bit soft, but not terribly so. For the most part, the picture remained well-defined and crisp.
As with many of the studio's efforts, a few minor problems popped up along the way, keeping the presentation from being quite as good as it could have been. Although I didn't see any instances of pixelation, there were some instances of edge enhancement. Print flaws seemed to be almost completely absent. I noticed a speckle at one point, but the print otherwise seemed to be completely clean and clear.
The film's colors seemed to be subdued, although accurate. Flesh-tones were also natural throughout. Overall, a very good transfer from Artisan.
SOUND: "Panic" is presented in Dolby 2.0; the majority of the film is dialogue-driven. A few scenes have have some music involved, but the main score by Brian Tyler is one of the reasons why the film works as well as it does; a sad, elegant score that perfectly sets the mood, the music sounds clear and crisp throughout. Dialogue also sounds clear and easily understood.
MENUS:: Starting off with an animated clip that leads into an animated main menu, Artisan again provides an excellent series of menus for "Panic", with animated sub-menus, as well.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary from director Henry Bromell. Bromell provides a decent general commentary, touching on the elements of each scene, starting off rather low-key, but becoming a bit more comfortable with the commentary process as the film goes along. He discusses working with the actors and his thoughts on both the story and opinions on low-budget filmmaking. There are some fairly lengthy pauses of silence during the track, but the director does provide some decent tidbits when he does discuss the movie. For those who are greatly interested in hearing more about the history of the production, they may want to take a listen.
Also: 5 deleted scenes that are interesting but don't really do anything much for the movie and were rightly deleted; trailer; cast/crew bios.
Final Thoughts: "Panic" may contain familiar plot elements, but its outstanding cast and excellent director add powerful performances and atmosphere. Artisan's DVD provides generally good audio/video quality and some solid extra features. Recommended.
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