Panic (2000)
Average Rating: 7.7/10
Reviews Counted: 53
Fresh: 49 | Rotten: 4
This quirky little film about a gangster in therapy feels fresh and well-crafted.
Average Rating: 7.7/10
Critic Reviews: 18
Fresh: 17 | Rotten: 1
This quirky little film about a gangster in therapy feels fresh and well-crafted.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 4,040
Movie Info
A middle-aged man finds love in the last place he was looking -- his psychiatrist's waiting room -- in this dark comedy drama. Alex (William H. Macy) is a man in his mid-forties who is having something of a midlife crisis; he's unhappy with his life; his marriage to Martha (Tracey Ullman) is going through a rough patch; he's worried about his six-year-old son, on whom he dotes; and he wishes he hadn't bucked under to the wishes of his domineering father Michael (Donald Sutherland) and started
Dec 1, 2000 Wide
Oct 23, 2001
Roxie Releasing
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Cast
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William H. Macy
Alex -
John Ritter
Josh Parks -
Neve Campbell
Sarah -
Donald Sutherland
Michael -
Tracey Ullman
Martha -
Barbara Bain
Deidre -
David Dorfman
Sammy
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Panic Trailer & Photos
All Critics (62) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (49) | Rotten (4) | DVD (16)
Bromell ... is adept at piercing the heart of dysfunctional family ties.
Top CriticIt's less the plot than the texture that makes the film such an engaging surprise.
The results are quietly electrifying.
Stylish and assured, but it's finally too studied to get the kind of emotional heft it's looking for from its effects.
Radiates quiet and calm, while simmering with tension both comic and tragic.
Singlehandedly, William H. Macy turns "Panic" into a slimmed-down "American Beauty" - a passive man lashing out to break a cycle of dissatisfaction and familial strife for happiness, however fleeting.
...the film never really takes off.
William H. Macy shines in unsettling, unusual thriller.
Quirky, funny, dark, it hits your funny bone, offends your sense of ethics, occasionally even touches your heartstrings.
Panic is the kind of movie that reminds you of other movies, then turns that familiarity into an asset.
Macy is ... remarkably good.
Even if no one sees it, it is one of the year's best films.
A worthy film that's well worth seeking out.
Henry Bromell does a fine job of directing Panic. It's a pity he didn't write a better script.
A beautifully crafted, superbly cast little film that's the very model of what a small independent picture ought to be.
Another case of a film that is exactly what many people would like to see more of in theaters, and yet... Hollywood flinched.
Probably boasts more real psychological insight per scene than any couple of weeks' worth of Sopranos episodes.
An oddly touching movie about fathers and sons and what is passed down between them.
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Movie: ID: 15820 Title: Panic Release Date: 2000-12-01 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 4 Status: 1
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Henry Bromell shows wonderful talent as a director and a writer here. There is no element or moment too many in this great film and the emotional punch it delivers is quite unforgettable.
What really makes this film something greater than many other of it's kind is it's tight screenplay, skilled actors and melancholid mood it casts. There is something nostalgic and sad in Bromell's filmmaking and i honestly loved every second of this film. That hypnotic mood is accompanied by haunting score of composer Brian Tyler.
Films like this don't come too often. Panic is a true treasure and a one of a kind masterpiece. I suggest you to find it and watch it immediatly. This is filmmaking at it's finest. Here is one of the greatest films of 2000 and in my opinion one of the most touching stories about dysfunctional family ever told. Instant classic.