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American Morning

'Panic Room' Sets Easter Record

Aired April 01, 2002 - 07:49   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: There was widespread panic reported this weekend at movie theaters across the country, as the new Jodie Foster film, "Panic Room," set a record for the biggest-ever Easter opening. The thriller had a huge opening weekend, taking in more than $30 million at the box office. "Panic Room" was followed by "Ice Age," "The Rookie," "Blade II" and "Clockstoppers."

Joining us now with a Monday morning look at the movies, entertainment reporter, Bobby Rivers -- thanks for being with us.

BOBBY RIVERS, ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Hey, man. How are you doing?

COOPER: Good -- nice to meet you.

RIVERS: Thank you.

COOPER: So Jodie Foster, a huge opening, not only just in terms of an Easter opening, but also for her -- her best opening.

RIVERS: Right. She had a very good Sunday brunch yesterday. Yes, this is -- her previous movie was "Anna and the King," and then before that was "Contact." But this was a big hit for Jodie, and it deserves to be. It's a good, stylish thriller. And just by -- I think we like watching Jodie Foster in an intellectual smack down with guys who really represent the worst of the masculine ego. There is always some type of subversive behavior in the corporate sense in "Silence of the Lambs" and in "Contact," politically in "Anna and the King."

This, she is trying to get to her role as a divorced mother moving into a new house with her daughter, who has a disability, and then these thugs are trying to get something in the house.

COOPER: And generally, you know when you see a Jodie Foster movie, you know it's going to be relatively intelligent.

RIVERS: Yes.

COOPER: I mean, she is smart. Does this movie hold up?

RIVERS: This holds up. And this was not originally for Jodie Foster. She replaced Nicole Kidman, who had to back out, because she had broken her ankle. COOPER: OK.

RIVERS: But this is -- it's a good for Jodie. A couple of problems with this script, like you don't know -- OK -- these two women, she is divorced. She has got a daughter. She moves into this house on the upper west side of New York. There is enough room for them and the von Trapp family in the "Sound of Music." Why do they need all that space? That is never answered, but it's a roller coaster ride.

COOPER: A lot of product placement in the movie as well.

RIVERS: Oh, my, yes. It's like a commercial for Sony. The monitors are Sony. The phones are Sony, and it's a Sony production.

COOPER: Another movie that opened up this weekend didn't do very well, "The Rookie," Dennis Quaid.

RIVERS: No, "The Rookie" came in third place.

COOPER: It came in third.

RIVERS: That's pretty good for a Disney G-rated movie.

COOPER: OK.

RIVERS: I saw this movie. I loved this movie. If you're a Dennis Quaid fan, this is a must see. He is the guy who finally gets to make his dream come true. It's based on the real-live story of Jim Morris, who was technically too old to be pitching. But the guy is like a champ of a pitcher. It's a family drama. He's got the support of kids, the support of wife. It takes place in Texas.

You almost hate to say the phrase, "a feel good film," because it sounds so cheesy nowadays. But this is a feel-good film, and I think that Dennis Quaid is one of those guys like Jeff Bridges, who consistently does good work. He never became a superstar like a Tom Hanks, but is always good, and this is really Dennis Quaid at his best.

COOPER: Keith Olbermann is going to be along with us in a few minutes, and he's also going to be talking about "The Rookie" from a sports perspective as a film.

RIVERS: OK.

COOPER: Also "Death to Smoochie." Now this was a Robin Williams movie. You would expect it to do extremely well. It didn't even crack the top five.

RIVERS: Like my mother never said Ashonda (ph). Oh, baby! You know, I looked at it -- remember the way you looked at Gwyneth Paltrow's dress when she was on the Oscars? You look at this in the same way, like what were they thinking.

COOPER: What were they thinking? RIVERS: What were they thinking? And it's a Robin Williams film, and there are no laughs, and it's not his fault. He works hard. It's the script. This also is a film that is about eight years late, because it's really a takeoff on the whole Barney, the purple dinosaur, and one kiddy-show host that's been replaced by another one. So it's a revenge comedy.

COOPER: And the audience you saw it with, no one was laughing.

RIVERS: Oh, man, you know what? It was -- remember the look on the faces of the audience members in the movie, "The Producers," when they were watching the "Spring Time for Hitler" number?

COOPER: Yes.

RIVERS: That was my audience. It was like one of those movies, where you thought, OK, if I was in flight, I would walk out of this one.

COOPER: That bad?

RIVERS: Oh, yes.

COOPER: All right.

RIVERS: But I loved Danny DeVito and Robin Williams, but they could do better.

COOPER: All right. Bobby Rivers, thanks very much.

RIVERS: Anderson Cooper -- nice to be with you.

COOPER: Yes, nice to meet you.

RIVERS: Thank you.

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