Review of Panic

Being a big fan of both William H. Macy and Donald Sutherland I'm not sure how I missed this one for so long. Panic is a smartly written, tightly told story about one man's growing resentment of his father, his assessment of his own life, and his growing concern for who his 6 year-old son will grow up to me. The fact that he happens to be a hitman that works for his dad is, in some ways, treated almost as a sidenote within the film...but then again, it is a pretty important detail. With all this reflection going on our protagonist, played perfectly by Macy, finds himself at the mercy of a mid-life crisis, complete with therepy sessions and 23 year-old temptress. While this sounds simply like a combination of two stories we've heard a dozen times before, I assure you, what makes this film great is that it offers such a fresh take on both. Every character here is granted a striking humanity and originality. Their psychologies are familiar only in there Realness, not because we recognize cliche^s; There aren't any to be found. Panic breathes a tremendous amount of life into its characters and moral dilemmas. Don't overlook this one.