Panic
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 working in the family business. Making things even more problematic is the family's line of work -- Alex is a killer-for-hire. Alex feels as if he's about to unravel from stress when he begins seeing Josh (John Ritter), a psychiatrist. One day, while waiting for his session with Josh, Alex meets Sarah (Neve Campbell), a sweet, pretty, but severely neurotic young woman with an omnivorous sexual appetite. Alex and Sarah take an immediate liking to one another, and Alex begins to pursue a romance with her, though he knows an affair could create more problems than it solves, especially after Michael informs Alex that Josh is his next target. Panic marked the feature debut for writer/director Henry Bromell, who previously distinguished himself as a novelist and a television producer. The supporting cast includes Barbara Bain as Alex's mother, who helped get her husband started in the business. more..
Director: Henry Bromell
Starring: William H. Macy, Neve Campbell, John Ritter, Donald Sutherland, Miguel Sandoval
Seeps with melancholy, old wounds, repressed anger, lust. That it is also caustically funny and heartwarming is miraculous.
A handsome, absorbing debut feature by the fiction and television writer Henry Bromell.
Graced by bleak, stylized direction and an insightful ending that suggests that nothing ever really ends, this first feature film by "Northern Exposure" and "Homicide" writer and producer Bromell is a promising debut.
A black-comedy gem.
Not the kind of movie anyone will remember at Oscar time. But no one who sees it will forget it.
Best DVD Release
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (2002)
Henry Bromell
Deauville Film Festival (2000)
No lists