Review of Hide and Seek (2005) by Tristan G — 03 Jul 2009

SPOILERS! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! De Niro carries most of this movie all by himself, Fanning is good too, although she plays 'mute' on much of her screen time, it's part of her impertinent contemptuous kid character, a typical spoiled child that gets her way all the time, De Niro does most of the 'talking', but although Fanning has a lot less to say, she still 'talks' with her eyes, and face.

The men in this movie except for her father (De Niro) seem to be either sexually attracted to the little girl Emily (Fanning), or share a complicit secret or both. What does it tell me at the end, one of the message I get is, men are perverts you can't trust, and that only women are trustworthy, and good friends. This is 'built-in' into the story because how could it be otherwise in this story. But I question why ALL the men in this movie are, or seem like perverts ? It's a very one-sided world view, feministic If I may say so.

At first I thought I was watching an OMEN (1976) type of movie, with a little demonic girl as the main protagonist, and then farther ahead in the movie I wasn't quite sure what to make of the strange occurrences ; doors that open by themselves, or a vandalized bathroom in the middle of the night, which occurs more than once and no sign of intruder in the house ?

Still it's not a bad psychological thriller, and the ending makes sense, there was at least one clue in the movie, that could give us a hint into the mystery, or identity of the 'evil presence Charlie' besides the little brat, but it's only after the film was over that I thought of that. The hint in question, is when David (the father) buries the dog.