Willa's Flic Pic: Panic * * * *

Panic
2000, Henry Bromell
Drama
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Michael: Do you know what destiny is Sammy?
Sammy: No.
Michael: It’s who you really are. It’s who you’re meant to be.

Alex (William H. Macy) is a hit man. It’s the family business. But he doesn’t want to do it anymore. You can tell that it doesn’t fit him. Even in his beautifully tailored assassin-esqe suits, he’s neither cool nor confident. When the movie begins, he’s at the breaking point. The desperation is rising up in his throat and he’s frantic about what to do. He doesn’t know whom he really is or what to do about it.

Alex’s job isn’t the real catalyst in the film. He could have worked for his father in any profession and he would still be a troubled man who’s not in control of his own identity. In scenes with his mother, father and wife, he’s treated like a child. No one talks to him like he’s an adult except his son, Sammy. He has become so emasculated that he responds to almost everything with, “I don’t know” or “I’m sorry”. Their roles are all facades of what they should truly be.

Donald Sutherland plays Alex’s father, Michael. In their scenes together, Alex seems to literally shrink. In the restaurant scenes Alex becomes a little boy in shorts and a t-shirt with his feet dangling from the stool unable to touch the ground or reach the counter. In a flashback scene where Michael forces a 6-year old Alex to kill a squirrel for the first time, you suddenly realize Alex is a victim of child abuse.

The one person who can control Alex’s father is his mother. She refers to Alex’s mail order front business with disgust and the family business with great pride. There is a chilling scene with Sammy and Alex’s parents that reveals who the real cold-blooded killer is in the family.

This movie is built on character development and their relationships and it’s done extremely well. The dialogue is natural and not literal. It’s all the things that are not said out loud that seem to scream the loudest from an outsider’s perspective.

There is very little action in the movie and, in most scenes, the characters are calm and move very little. But the tension and violence are palpable. The ending is very rewarding although you will feel like you want more than what they give you. But think about it. Why is Alex smiling at the end?