Hardened professional criminal going to psychological therapy is a concept that looked quite refreshing at the end of 20th Century. It was used with great success in The Sopranos and not so great success in Analyze This. Another film to use similar premise is Panic, 2000 crime drama written and directed by Henry Bromell.
The protagonist is Alex (played by William H. Macy), middle-aged owner of mail-order business which supports his wife Martha (played by Tracey Ullman) and 6-year old son Sammy (played by David Dorfman). Alex, who is going through midlife crisis, has recently began to visit psychotherapist Dr. Josh Parks (played by John Ritter). He tells him that the mail-order business is just a front for his real career of professional killer, which began in his youth, when he was trained by his father Michael (played by Donald Sutherland), dark and intimidating figure who is still his boss. Alex wants to turn his life around, and another reason appears when he spots Sarah (played by Neve Campbell), attractive young woman waiting for therapy in neighbouring office. Two of them, despite differences in age and character, begin romantic relationship. In the meantime, Michael is increasingly displeased with his son telling family secrets to psychiatrist and wants to have Dr. Parks taken out.
Panic was made with extremely low budget of 1 million US$ and had its premiere at Sundance Film Festival. There it received very good reviews by critics, often being described as more thoughtful and stylish depiction of midlife crisis than Oscar-winning American Beauty. Test audiences thought differently, and Panic initially had problems securing general distribution. The critics praising the film were, to a degree, right. Writer and director Henry Brommel, best known for his work on television which included Northern Exposure, Chicago Hope and, most notably, Homicide: Life on the Street, has directed film well. He was especially good with actors, particularly William H. Macy who delivers another standout performance, creating a lot of sympathy for his troubled character. Unfortunately, after setting up the plot and using few interesting ideas, Brommel fails to develop them properly and the unimaginative and melodramatic ending makes Panic fall apart. Another major issue is that Brommel tries to hard to make audience take his film seriously and fails to provide any humour that would have made his film more approachable to the general audience. Although watchable due to the work of good cast, Panic represent a disappointment so its relative obscurity despite notable names in th cast isn’t that surprising.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
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