The part of the depressed, weird man was tailor-made for William H. Macy. He is often quite droll throughout the movie and although that is what the part calls for, it can rub on your nerves at times.As Alex, he seeks the advice of a psychologist who was nicely played by the late John Ritter. Alex is in the mail-order business and his second job is a hit-man for his father. He is perplexed because he wants to quit, but his dad will never allow it.Of all people, Barbara Bain shows up as Donald Sutherland's (the father) wife. She is the dutiful wife.There is a fine performance by Tracy Ullmann as Alex's perplexed wife and Neve Campbell is in fine form as the girl Alex meets while in therapy who tantalizes him.The ironic ending could be described as somewhat predictable, but it was interesting to view how events folded.

Panic was hard to get my hands on. I looked for it everywhere, couldn't find it. You may have the same problem, but I must say, I liked it a lot, especially the second act. It has nice pace, running-time; the direction was completely on-spot.I was a little underwhelmed by Donald Sutherland. After the way he was described , I expected a Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men. He was still very, very good, though. William H. Macy He was fantastic. Better than Sutherland, IMO. But Neve Campbell was brilliant, she just stole every scene she was in.The writing was first rate for most of the times, but had some bumps along the way. They should've included Campbell's character more in the script. Other than that, it's a pretty solid film; 8.

Had placed this on my TIVO for a rainy day due to the cast, some really hard working people in the industry, and when I finally watched I was NOT disappointed.This movie has some Altman-like flavor (he's mentioned in the end credits as a "thanks" person) utilizing seemingly independent unrelated plot lines that intertwine as the film draws to its climax. Macy is pure, clean, and honest as a man who can't seem to escape his "destiny", Sutherland plays and portrays as few can, Neve adds splash to a deliberately toned down environment, add Tracy Ullman, Barbara Bain (remember Mission Impossible on TV?), not to mention the steady John Ritter and you have all the ingredients for a good FILM. The script is uncluttered, the dialog is free from cliché and thoughtful (especially between Macy and David Dorfman). Suspend belief and enjoy, this is truly time well spent.

Panic is a very well made movie. It also contains excellent acting and the cinematography is a 10 of 10. I really liked the way the movie was photographed. It had a noirish component to it but also curiously, the look of the film, at times, had an 80's quality. If I hadn't known this was such a recent release I'd have thought it came out in the mid 80's. The atmosphere and photography, as well, as the highly charged performances were what I enjoyed most.Unfortunately, the movie is really difficult to watch. There are a handful of movies that, while very obviously maybe well made are just almost to intense. That's the way I felt about Panic. It isn't gory but is very emotionally upsetting though the characters, all of them, hold an element of fascination as well.SPOILERS THROUGHOUT: There is an element of gloom throughout the movie that does not let up. Of coarse, the plot, is in itself, pretty much a downer but Panic while being a very good film in a lot of ways, is so disturbing while watching that it's hard to get through it. Some movies, such as American Beauty, which it's been compared to, are disturbing but in a good way. With American Beauty I felt riveted to my seat. With Panic, after a bit, I just felt like turning it off. It made an impression on me alright, but not the way I'd have wanted.This movie is obviously meant to disturb and it did. There's not a lot to criticize in panic but it's not a movie I could give an 8, 9 or 10 to, simply because I wasn't transfixed as in other films that might be equally disturbing but contain the element of keeping you glued to your seat as well. Panic is a good movie. It is thought provoking, well acted, emotionally brutal and sad. It also has that element of complete realism and really gets you thinking about one's neighbors, friends, coworkers etc-who they really are and what secrets they maybe carrying around. I admire Panic tremendously and do plan to watch it again, it seems the type of film where the second time around might make better viewing, knowing what it's about etc but as of right now my vote is 6.5 of 10. The movie touched, it disturbed, but it also drained. As far as performances go though-10's all the way through.