HIDE AND SEEK

“Hide and Seek”  has two things going for it - Robert De Niro and Dakota Fanning. The credibility of the movie hinges on their performances and they deliver. 

Don’t get me wrong. “Hide and Seek” is not a great movie. It follows a tried and true formula with a surprise ending that is anything but a surprise. However,  so much effort is vested in developing the father/daughter relationship of psychologist David Callaway (De Niro) and \ Emily (Fanning) that the obvious manages to fade into the background.

The original teaser for “Hide and Seek” had me thinking that it might have something to do with the paranormal. I was wrong. It’s a slasher film that relies more on psychology than gore to build suspense.  The death of David’s wife (the gracefully aging Amy Irving) is ruled a suicide by a depressed woman. The circumstances surrounding her demise should be suspect at least to the audience. David decides his daughter needs a change. They hightail it to the country where the neighbors are few and far between. An imaginary friend named Charlie begins to occupy her time. He begins to frighten Emily more and more as time goes on. She purposely thwarts friendships. Is she becoming reclusive? Unhinged? Or is she being protective. Is Charlie really imaginary or something else?  He loves to play hide and seek. Emily’s playmate appears to become more threatening with time. Emily retreats from the world, her father’s new lady friend (Elizabeth Shue), and anyone else who might want to share time with them. When things get truly bizarre, red herrings are dropped like bread crumbs in the forest leading nowhere. When the imaginary friend becomes real, the slasher element tosses most of the film’s credibility to the wayside until all we have left are the mesmerizing performances of the stars. The obvious finale rears its head with an unlikely heroine in the guise of Emily’s shrink (Famka Janssen) rushing to the rescue. There is a nice little twist that hints at what the future might hold for Emily.

Once again, “Hide and Seek” is not a great movie, but De Niro and Dakota Fanning make it worthwhile.

                                                                                                                      Copyright 2005

Here’s some older  thrillers that share some common elements with “Hide and Seek”

“Night Must Fall” (1937) - Based on a theatrical play by British Playwright/Actor Emlyn Williams, Rosalind Russell begins to suspect that the mysterious stranger who has become part of her life may be a killer. With Robert Montgomery and Dame May Witty.

Remade in 1964 with Albert Finney  But the original holds up surprisingly well.

“Undercurrent” (1946) - Katharine Hepburn is a newlywed who slowly discovers that her new husband is not the nice guy she thought he was. Robert Taylor is the husband. With a Robert Mitchum.

“Strait-Jacket” (1964) - Joan Crawford is a suspect in axe murders similar to the ones she went to jail for years earlier. Written by Robert Bloch who penned the novel, Psycho.

“The Dark Half” (1993) - Timothy Hutton is a writer whose alter ego takes on a life of his own and goes on a killing rampage. This was reworked into “The Secret Window” for Johnny Depp. Both stories are by Stephen King. For King fans mostly.