the effect of job related stress and the pressure bear of a moral dilemma that pit conscience against the obligation of a family business ( albeit a unique one ) all bring to a head by or perhaps the catalyst of a midlife crisis and be examine in the dark and absorb drama and ` panic and write and direct by henry bromell and and star william h. macy and donald sutherland . it a telling look at how indecision and denial can bring about the internal strife and misery that ultimately lead to apathy and that moment of truth when the conflict must and of necessity and at last be resolve . alex ( macy ) be tire while he have a loving wife and martha ( tracey ullman ) and a precocious six year old son and sammy ( david dorfman ) and a mail order business he run out of the house and as well a his main source of income and the ` family business he share with his father and michael ( sutherland ) and and his mother and deidre ( barbara bain ) . but he empty while year of ply this particular trade have leave him numb and detached and put him in a mental state that have drive him to see a psychologist and dr. josh park ( john ritter ) . and to make matter bad ( or maybe good and depend upon perspective ) and in dr. park wait room he meet a young woman and sarah cassidy ( neve campbell ) and whose presence alone make him feel alive for the first time since he can remember . she quickly become another brick in the wall of the moral conflict his job have visit upon him and a in the day after their meeting he simply can not stop think about her . his whole life and it seem and have become a ituation one from which he be seemingly unable to successfully extirpate himself without hurt the one he love . he can deny his age and the fact that he have and indeed and slip into a genuine midlife crisis and but he be about to discover that the problem he be face be simply not go to go away on their own . he at a crossroad and and he go to have to decide which way to go . and he go to have to do it very soon . from a concept that be intrinsically interesting and bromell have fashion an engross character study that be insightful and incisive and and he present it be a way that allow for moment of reflection that enable the audience to empathize and understand what alex be go through . he make it very clear that there be no simple answer and that in real life there be no easy way out . his character be well define and very real people who represent the diversity find in life and and moreover and within any give family unit . the film resoundingly imply that the sin of the father be irrefutably pass on to the progeny and with irrevocable consequence and effect . when youre grow up and you accept your personal environment a be that of the world at large while and often it be year into adulthood that one may begin to realize and understand that there be actually moral parameter establish by every individual who walk upon the planet and and that the one set by the father may not be conducive to the tenet of the son . and it be at that point that alex find himself a the story unfolds while ergo and the midlife crisis and or more specifically and the crisis of conscience from which he can not escape . it a powerful message and succinctly and subtly convey by bromell and with the help of some outstanding performance from his actor . for some time and william h. macy have be one of the premiere character actor in the business and create such diverse character a quiz kid donnie smith in ` magnolia and the shoveler in ` mystery men and jerry lundegaard in ` fargo . and that just a sampling of his many achievement . at one point in this film and sarah mention alex ad eye and and it a very telling comment and a therein lie the strength of macy performance here and his ability to convey very real emotion in an understated and believable way that express all of the inner turmoil he be experience . consider the scene in which he be lie awake in bed and star off into the darkness while in that one restless moment it be clear that he be grapple and not only with his immediate situation and but with everything in his life that have bring him and finally and to this point . in that scene you find the sum total of a life of guilt and confusion and uncertainty and all of which have be successfully suppress until now while all the thing that have always be at the core of alex life and only now gradually break through his defense mechanism and finally surface and demand confrontation and resolution . it a complex character create and deliver by macy with an absolute precision that make alex truly memorable . it a character to whom anyone who have ever face a situation of seemingly insurmountable odds will be able to relate . it a terrific piece of work by one of the fine actor around . sutherland be extremely effective and as well while his michael be despicably sinister in a way that be so real it chill . it frighten and in fact and to consider that there be such people actually walk the earth . this be not some pulp fiction or james bond type villain and but a true personification of evil and hide behind an outward appearance that be so normal he could be the guy next door and which be what make it all the more disconcerting . and sutherland brings it all to life brilliantly and with a great performance . neve campbell look the part of sarah and but her performance ( a be the usual case with her ) seem somewhat pretentious and although her affected demeanor here just happen to fit the character and be actually a positive aspect of the film . if only she would occasionally turn her energy inward and it would make a tremendous difference in the way she present her character . ` panic and however and be one of her best effort while a powerful film that and in the end and be a journey well worth take . positive . .