edwagreen 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.

arieliondotcom Have you seen the Sopranos? Then you have seen this movie. That's all it is, poorly rewritten episodes of The Soprano complete with a hit-man who goes to a Therapist talking about getting out of "The Family Business" and hitting on women along the way. All that's missing are: good writing, good acting, drama, violence, sex or anything that makes you think this isn't a rip-off of the Sopranos.And once you know that it was a "made for HBO in 2001" special...and remember The Sopranos was on HBO you realize this was an attempt to hold the Sopranos market. On the cheap.They fail miserably. Save yourselves. Don't see this. I'd say the writers should be "whacked", but that would be too good for them and too reminiscent of...Well, the Sopranos.

butchfilms Wow I really liked this movie, William H. Macy is great as the quiet hit-man Alex.All the performances here are really good, the plot is interesting and entertaining.Alex, a married hit-man (like his father)with a little son, is going through a middle age crisis and wants to quit the family business so he goes to the psychiatrist for help and in this place he meets the young free will spirit Sarah of whom he falls in love to. One day Alex doesn't know what to do when he gets a job to kill a person he knows. I recommend you to watch it if you like mature interesting movies.8 stars = very good

triple8 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.