HIDE AND SEEK (**½)
This picture is advertised as a horror flick. And though I haven’t been frightened by one in a long time (Stanley Kubrick’s THE SHINING and John Carpenter’s THE THING still chill me to this day), I still get a good kick out of those that grip me with building suspense and creative storylines (the last two were THE OTHERS and STIR OF ECHOES). Surprisingly, HIDE AND SEEK nearly did it for me, but it made one slight miscalculation, and to quote Robert Frost, “… that has made all the difference.”
The movie starts with Alison (Amy Irving) and Emily (Dakota Fanning), a strongly bonded mother and daughter. Moments after Alison tucks in her child for bed, her husband David (Robert De Niro) finds her dead, apparently of suicide. Emily of course is devastated, and David, a psychologist, determines to the chagrin of his colleague-protégé Katherine (Famke Janssen) that she needs a new environment to start over, and heads to the countryside to do so.
The locals who welcome seem to be friendly enough, but in time their peculiarities slowly merge. The friendly neighbor emits an interest in Emily that would creep out any parent. The house’s former owner seems to know something about the premises, but isn’t sharing it. The local sheriff (Dylan Baker) seems unapproachable and stern. Meanwhile, Emily’s demeanor grows more morbid every day (she’d creep out Wednesday Addams). David learns of her new friend “Charlie,” but Emily won’t let him in on who he is. Once David starts to favor his neighbor Elizabeth (Elisabeth Shue), Emily’s disapproval reaches a gruesome denouement.
I was impressed with John Polson’s direction. Unlike his pale imitation of FATAL ATTRACTION with his last work SWIMFAN, he expertly unveils each piece of his mystery. I was completely ready to take on the challenge of figuring out just who Charlie was. Is he/she real or imaginary? Emily’s dual personality? A deadly neighbor? I appreciated the varied pieces of information he presented me with. Such as a brush of the face, a recurring dream, a time of death, a loosely placed blade, the lack of children in the town, and unsettling townspeople. Lots of horror movies these days are predisposed to simplistic explanations, content to have supernatural beings responsible for reprehensible acts, without reason or believability. You don’t get much puzzle-solving these days.
Though I cannot speak for everyone, I must say I was genuinely surprised to discover who Charlie is (you might realize it sooner than I did). If you’re like me, such a find can be intensely satisfying. But the movie’s mistake is in continuing too far after its revelation. It goes on autopilot, having its villain seek out our loved ones in dark corners and crevices. What do you think might happen? Did I say it was on autopilot?
Another disadvantage the film’s prolonged ending wrings is that it gives us too much time to rethink all events that had come before it. When the twist occurs, it has just enough sense and plausibility for us to enjoy and marvel at it. But the more time the climax had, the more I realized how flawed its premise was. Moments of great emotional truth become undermined, and details that once had meaning grow to be worthless. If the movie had ended on a somewhat more sinister note by being open-ended, it might have been more effective.
It’s a shame that the film’s climax had to be as long as it was, as it discredits two exceptional performances that at first lift the picture. Dakota Fanning is the best and most renowned child actress working today. I don’t know if she strives to work with the cream of Hollywood, because it might be the other way around. Just look at those she’s worked or about to work with (Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington, Steven Spielberg, & Sean Penn to name a few). I pray to God that she doesn’t become overexposed or overworked (she should take a cure from Haley Joel Osment and less from Macaulay Culkin). She is on the cusp of greatness.
Though a lot of people are raving about Ms. Fanning, Robert De Niro matches her step by step, and shows once more why he might be the greatest living American actor (Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson might have something to say about that). The believability and reticence he shows as Emily’s father provides the base on which the audience can anchor its emotions upon. We empathize with him as everything is shown through his eyes, and feel bewildered when his daughter conceals the truth from him. Watch for a scene when he looks for something in a tub. His fright, shown from his reaction, is palpable.
I wish I could have walked on to the editing room and told the John Polson to cut it short. He almost pulled off an amazing work of misdirection, but squandered it with a textbook serial killer type of ending. If you decide to go see HIDE AND SEEK, seek the exit once you find out who Charlie is, and hide from whatever comes next.
Posted by FLIPCRITIC at April 8, 2005 03:08 AM