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Friday, January 28, 2005
'Hide and Seek' has no story to fall back on when the surprises run out
A throwback to the psycho-thrillers of the '60s with contemporary window dressing over the psychological cliches, "Hide and Seek" takes itself seriously enough to pull off a clever bit of sleight of hand, but doesn't have much to offer once the twist comes out of hiding.
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After his wife's suicide traumatizes his daughter, Emily (Dakota Fanning), psychologist and withdrawn widower David Callaway (Robert De Niro) leaves Manhattan for upstate New York.
Speaking in the hushed tones of a concerned parent without actually appearing concerned, De Niro presents us with a strange sort of psychologist. He can barely engage his new neighbors in conversation without driving them away in discomfort and at their first meeting the local sheriff marks him as a suspect to be named later.
Despite such handicaps, David is such a successful doctor that he purchases a palatial vacation home (sight unseen) and retires to give his full attention to Emily. In practical terms, it means that she rattles around alone and unsupervised in their drafty old house, playing games with her imaginary playmate, Charlie, while becoming increasingly drawn and dead-eyed.
Turning into the prodigal daughter of the Addams family (10-year-old Fanning has the haunted little goth girl look down cold) doesn't seem to shake David from his complacency. But when "Charlie" starts scribbling nasty things on the bathroom walls and drowning small animals, he takes notice. And when the bodies start getting hauled off, David figures that Charlie may not be so imaginary after all.
Director John Polson uses craft and contrivance to create a film full of creepy moments and suspicious revelations. But the script feels more engineered than written and, while the little details dropped in for shivery effect may keep an audience guessing for a while, they don't add up to anything coherent.
By the time the red herrings have been tossed away, it becomes obvious that there isn't much of a story holding up the plot, just a few clever ideas that are at best slickly executed set pieces and at worst empty scares.
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