'PANIC' A FAMILIAR STORY, BUT STILL WELL TOLD.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

Another professional criminal sees another shrink in ``Panic.'' This low-budget but very well-made independent production does some nice things with the concept, and probably boasts more real psychological insight per scene than any couple of weeks' worth of ``Sopranos'' episodes.

Still, as low-key and honest as ``Panic'' strives to be, it can't help but seem part of a trend before it can be judged on its own merits.

But merits are plentiful. Three superb lead actors - William H. Macy, Neve Campbell and Donald Sutherland - find very compelling behavioral paths through writer-director Henry Bromell's disorienting, architecturally composed, wide-screen emotional wasteland. And the movie mercifully avoids Mafia cliches as it zeroes in on a much more intimate kind of family business, one with heart-rending overhead costs.

Contract assassin Alex (Macy) is having one heck of a midlife crisis. At its core, there's one lulu of an unresolved issue with his domineering father, Michael (Sutherland), who trained him to be a professional killer and still acts as middleman between clients and his son. Further, unlike his equally cold mother (Barbara Bain), Alex's own wife, Martha (Tracey Ullman), doesn't know what her husband really does for a living, thinking instead that he runs a mail-order lawn ornament and sex toys business.

The one uncompromised joy in Alex's life is his bright, sensitive 6- year-old son Sammy (David Dorfman), whom he fears may also come under the influence of the ghastly Michael. Nagged by a sense of deep dissatisfaction, Alex starts seeing a therapist, Josh (John Ritter), who is equally alarmed and intrigued by what his new patient confesses.

Rather than helping, though, the analysis sessions open up two new avenues of complication for Alex. In the waiting room he meets, and soon becomes obsessed with, a provocative, smart young bisexual, Sarah (Campbell). And when dear old Dad hands Alex a picture of his next target, the face belongs to Josh.

Macy's own face, with its hangdog stillness, is the perfect instrument for expressing Alex's confusion in the minimal but dead-serious way that a man trained to repress feelings his whole life would. And the way he apologizes, yet never slackens in determination, all the way through pursuing Sarah tells us volumes about the man's gnarly wrestling match with his long-compromised decency.

For her part, Campbell creates a fascinating trouble child. Confused herself and attracted to others' confusion, her Sarah is self-aware enough to understand that getting involved with Alex is not a good thing, but fatally (actually, more like a post-feminist fatale-ly) intrigued by her power to push his vulnerable on and off buttons.

Ullman strikes a perfect pitch as the increasingly concerned wife. And Sutherland hits such a finely sustained note of controlled monstrousness that we never doubt the more sympathetic but morally choked Alex fell close to the family tree.

An award-winning novelist and writer on such noteworthy television series as ``Homicide: Life on the Streets'' and ``Chicago Hope,'' Bromell proves gifted at directing actors, camera and, most importantly, conceptual exploration with ``Panic.'' You'll surely be hearing a lot more about him when he comes up with a film idea that doesn't have a flavor-of-the-month aftertaste.

``PANIC''

(Rated R: violence, language, sex)

The stars: William H. Macy, Neve Campbell, Donald Sutherland, Tracey Ullman, John Ritter.

Behind the scenes: Written and directed by Henry Bromell. Produced by Andrew Lazar, Lori Miller and Matt Cooper. Released by Roxie Releasing.

Running time: One hour, 28 minutes.

Playing: Sunset 5, West Hollywood; Monicas, Santa Monica; Playhouse 7, Pasadena.

Our rating: Three stars