Movie Review: Hide and Seek
Ashley Partin
Issue date: 2/2/05 Section: Entertainment
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Friday, January 28th, "Hide and Seek" joined the legion of horror/suspense films released recently. The film boasts several pros, such as an amazingly talented cast (including Robert de Niro, Dakota Fanning, Amy Irving, and Elizabeth Shue), good edge-of-your-seat moments, and a strong first hour. However, as with everything, there were cons.
The film takes place in New York, where the small Callaway family deals with a stifling blow when the mother commits suicide. Dr. David Callaway (de Niro) makes the decision to move himself and his daughter (Fanning) upstate so she can sort out her feelings in a new environment.
This proves to be a fatal mistake when Emily begins to find solace in an "imaginary friend". The solace is slowly transformed to fear during the course of the movie as clues are dropped about who "Charlie" could be and why he's so angry.
"Hide and Seek" doesn't make much of an effort to rise above typical suspense-movie cliches. Rickety old house? Check. Suspicious neighbors? Check. Random doors leading to bursting scares? Check. The limited dialog between Emily and her psychologist father is written off as some sort of "post-traumatic stress disorder", but it quickly becomes frustrating.
Emily seems to have the same glassy, wide-eyed, bewildered look throughout the entire movie. Too much of a good thing does exist here.
De Niro does an excellent job of playing a sincerely concerned and grieving father. And he even jumps it up a notch, as the character becomes panic-stricken when vicious acts begin to occur in the house and Emily can do nothing more but blame "Charlie".
But all good things came to an end, as is expected, when the imaginary friend was finally revealed. Suspense films seem to be much more effective when the antagonist remains lurking in the shadow.
Crowds will react to classic surprise moments behind the many closed doors. And the film certainly receives quality points for a couple of shock-value images and excellent acting throughout. But audiences should be warned not to spend more than matinee prices to see it.
The film takes place in New York, where the small Callaway family deals with a stifling blow when the mother commits suicide. Dr. David Callaway (de Niro) makes the decision to move himself and his daughter (Fanning) upstate so she can sort out her feelings in a new environment.
This proves to be a fatal mistake when Emily begins to find solace in an "imaginary friend". The solace is slowly transformed to fear during the course of the movie as clues are dropped about who "Charlie" could be and why he's so angry.
"Hide and Seek" doesn't make much of an effort to rise above typical suspense-movie cliches. Rickety old house? Check. Suspicious neighbors? Check. Random doors leading to bursting scares? Check. The limited dialog between Emily and her psychologist father is written off as some sort of "post-traumatic stress disorder", but it quickly becomes frustrating.
Emily seems to have the same glassy, wide-eyed, bewildered look throughout the entire movie. Too much of a good thing does exist here.
De Niro does an excellent job of playing a sincerely concerned and grieving father. And he even jumps it up a notch, as the character becomes panic-stricken when vicious acts begin to occur in the house and Emily can do nothing more but blame "Charlie".
But all good things came to an end, as is expected, when the imaginary friend was finally revealed. Suspense films seem to be much more effective when the antagonist remains lurking in the shadow.
Crowds will react to classic surprise moments behind the many closed doors. And the film certainly receives quality points for a couple of shock-value images and excellent acting throughout. But audiences should be warned not to spend more than matinee prices to see it.
