There are two major characters in Hide and Seek: the psychiatrist Dr. David Callaway (De Niro) and his young daughter Emily (Dakota Fanning). The story begins with the suicide of Dr. Callaway’s wife in their apartment in the city. To shake off all bad memories, he and his daughter move upstate where they try to start life anew.
Even with just the two of them, there is extreme difficulty adjusting to each other. And it doesn’t help that Emily brings in an imaginary friend named Charlie because this further complicates the situation between father and daughter.
Hide and Seek is not a ghost story. Watching it, however, I couldn’t help but compare the development of the plot to Sixth Sense. It has something to do with a revelation that unfolds toward the film’s climax. Clue: This story device is also used in The Others of Nicole Kidman.
The comparison unfortunately ends there. Unlike The Sixth Sense and The Others, which are both seamless (The Others actually has little defects here and there – but you will only point out those if you want to go nitpicking), Hide and Seek has loopholes galore, which are difficult to enumerate here without giving away the story.
When it comes to suspenseful moments, Hide and Seek has a lot of that to offer all over the film and if only for those riveting enough scenes, I’d like to say that watching this Robert de Niro film wasn’t really a complete waste of time for me.
But as a psychological thriller, the story structure of Hide and Seek could have been built in a smoother manner. Instead you see all the plot devices staring down at the viewer.
And when you analyze the story after you’ve viewed the film, you see more gaping holes in the screenplay. For instance, why would Dr. Callaway bring his daughter to an almost deserted place with only one neighbor if he really wants the child to recover from whatever trauma that may stem from the mother’s suicide? Wouldn’t the peace and quiet all the more make the child brood over that most unfortunate twist in her family life? Wouldn’t Emily be better off socializing with other kids here age in a busier environment if Dr. Callaway’s intention is to hasten the child’s emotional recovery? I don’t know. But that’s what I would have done if I were in his place. My humble opinion regarding this matter, of course, has no medical basis and it is Dr. Callaway who is the psychiatrist – a bad one though if you ask me. Maybe he is as bad in his profession as the creative people behind this film. The writing and direction of Hide and Seek – I swear – is slipshod.
Toward the end, everything actually becomes horrifying. No, there are no ghosts that come into the picture. I only say horrifying because the viewer gets horrified over the manner in which everything is resolved in the end. I’m telling you, you will leave the theater feeling like you’ve just seen a B-movie because of the ending.
But with all that bad material, there is still a saving grace to this movie: The very inspired performances of Robert de Niro and Dakota Fanning, the new child wonder of Hollywood.
Yes, for all the sloppiness of Hide and Seek, I still don’t regret spending time watching it – thanks to De Niro and Fanning. They really are great performers to survive this mess of a movie.