William H. Macy and Neve Campbell in "Panic."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, we give this film a: Stars: William H. Macy, Donald Sutherland, Tracey Ullman, Neve Campbell Director: Henry Bromell Rated: R with profanity, graphic violence and partial nudity Length: 88 min.

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Marshall Fine
Gannett News Service

(May 24, 2001) -- "Panic" offers the predictable idea that a professional killer might need to see a psychotherapist.

Being unoriginal isn't a crime. Wasting a cast that includes William H. Macy, Donald Sutherland, Neve Campbell and Tracey Ullman, however, should be.

The culprit is writer-director Henry Bromell, who has created this dour little enterprise. He can't seem to find the tone he seeks and, as a result, "Panic" is neither the dark comedy it aspires to be, nor the kind of viscerally Oedipal drama of a film like "At Close Range," which it resembles at times.

Macy plays Alex, a guy suffering a classic midlife crisis. His job is unfulfilling and causing him so much anxiety that he seeks therapy. While waiting to see the shrink, he meets another patient, Sarah (Neve Campbell), who arouses feelings Alex thought were dead.

Alex's problem: He's a professional killer, trained in the business by his father (Donald Sutherland). But now that he's the father of a precocious 6-year-old, Alex wants out. When his father finds out that Alex is seeing a therapist, he hands him a new contract: to kill the therapist himself.

Mostly this is a film about inaction: about Alex's brooding about his problems, leading up to the only finale possible. But Bromell's script is decidedly unfunny, preferring long shots of Macy's hangdog expression (he may have the saddest eyes in film today) to actually having him do anything. The one feeling missing from this film is the one in the title, a quality that might have enlivened these otherwise grim doings.

"Panic" suffers from conflicting tones. The menace conveyed by the vulpine Sutherland seems out of step with the restrained, distinctly human vibe given off by Macy. Campbell, meanwhile, serves mostly as a distraction from Macy's story, while Ullman skulks around the edges as the unhappy wife.

"Panic" wants to be the indy-film version of "Analyze This." Obviously, not enough thought went into that premise, since "The Sopranos" already has that distinction.