Recently widowed
psychologist, David Callaway (Robert DeNiro,) takes his catatonic
daughter (Dakota Fanning) to the country hoping to bring her back.
However, they are soon terrorized by her new “friend” – someone or
something named Charlie.
CRITIQUE
I’m always up for a
good thriller. There’s something fun about watching films like this
and trying to figure out what’s going on or who’s behind everything.
However, in this instance, I saw through the ruse quickly, ruining the
fun. In a film with such a small cast of characters, it is difficult
to hide the twist, however there have been films that have had similar
concepts and have hidden their twist much better. Session 9
comes quickly to mind. The nihilistic My Little Eye has a
disturbing twist that one never sees coming. Even Mindhunters’
twist was better than the one in Hide and Seek.
The cast is good.
DeNiro, Fanning, Famke Janssen, every one in the film are competent
actors, but they cannot fix this mess. Where the film fails is
through its lazy direction and bad writing. Visually, the film is
nothing special and anyone who has seen a thriller should be able to
stay ten steps ahead of the story. It’s that predictable. Even the
twist is poorly revealed. This is a film that leaves the viewer
feeling cheated out of an hour and forty minutes of life.
The nicest thing I
can think of, in regards to this film is that at least this film isn’t
as bad as Gothika. Take that however you wish.
THE VIDEO
The transfer is
standard. The black levels are good and the colors are consistent.
THE AUDIO
Hide and Seek
is mixed in both Dolby Surround 5.1 and 5.1 DTS. The mixes are nothing
special.
THE EXTRAS
Commentary by
Director Polson, Writer Ari Schlossberg, and Editor Jeffery Ford:
An okay track that deals mostly with the story than any other aspect
of the film making process.
Deleted Scenes:
14 scenes cut from the film, featuring optional commentary. The “red
paint” scene is somewhat amusing to watch.
Alternate Endings:
4 different endings (all of which can be cut into the film,) none of
which are that much better than the theatrical ending (though one is a
happy ending that feels really false.)
Pre-Vis sequences:
Three storyboard segments. They are extended scenes that were never
shot.
There is also a
brief Making-of featurette with interviews, clips and on-set
footage.
FINAL THOUGHT
A fairly lame
thriller aimed at those who have never seen thrillers before.
