Perfect Parents ?

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Perfect Parents ?

I was checking my emails the other day and had received an email highlighting the issues faced by single parents and it shocked me with facts such as every 1338 minutes a single parent attempts suicide and every six hours a single parent home is burgled, and it reminded me of a few films involving single parents including the 1945 classic Mildred Pierce, an outstanding film which was nominated for six Oscars and an NBR award. It won the NBR best actress award in 1945 and an Oscar for the best actress in a leading role, both for the performance of Joan Crawford which she thoroughly deserved. The email also reminded me of more recent films like Panic Room (2002) and About A Boy (2002) with both films raising the issue of single parents to the masses with the use of top Hollywood stars such as Hugh Grant and Jodie Foster.  

Panic Room, one of the more recent films from director David Fincher, director of other films including the classic Fight Club (1999), was a little disappointing to say the least. Although Fincher's direction of the film was up to his usual high standard, with excellent camera shots, especially his tracking, crabbing and craning shots through the house and the brilliant establishing shots, high above New York used during the opening credits, the film is let down by the somewhat stale acting of key characters including Burnham (Forest Whitaker) and Junior (Jared Leto), the latter not a problem half an hour from the end. However having Jodie Foster playing Meg Altman almost makes up for the substandard acting of Whitaker and Leto.  

The scene is set for the Altman's night of terror within the first twenty minutes of the opening credits – mother and daughter move into a new house including a panic room, Foster leaves the panic room light on, goes to turn it off and who does she see – Whitaker, Leto and Yoakam (Raoul) breaking in. Foster then takes her daughter Sarah, played by Kristen Stewart, into the panic room where they seal themselves in and where most of the action that follows takes place. The trio of intruders then make several attempts to access the panic room using the expertise of panic room builder Whitaker. These attempts include filling the room with propane gas,here Fincher uses some of the only special effects in the entire film, a less than spectacular explosion, the likes of which are done better in films like Home Alone, made twelve years earlier. The actions of Foster in creating the explosion delay the intruders long enough to realise that Sarah's diabetes has got worse and she needs emergency medical attention is when the  parent side of Foster really starts to show.

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It is at that point Foster stops reacting to the attempts of  Whitaker, Leto and Yoakam and starts becoming proactive in finding away to stop the intruders. It is also here that Fincher begins to increase tension using a combination of  extreme close ups, tilting, panning, reverse,over the shoulder shots and even using slow motion shots that would have looked like a film directed by a four year old if even attempted by a less competent director than Fincher. For the first time in the film Foster attempts to exit the panic room and find her mobile to call ...

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