Susan Granger’s review of “Hide and Seek” (20th Century-Fox)
“Come out, come out, wherever you are…” That familiar childhood chant haunts this sinister horror-thriller about a grave young girl who has been traumatized by her mother’s suicide. One night, Emily Callaway (Dakota Fanning) awakens at 2:06 a.m. to discover that her doting mother (Amy Irving) has slit her wrists in the bathtub. To help Emily escape such distressing memories, her distraught father (Robert De Niro), a psychologist, decides to leave Manhattan and move to a picturesque house in the country, despite dire warnings from his protŽgŽ (Famke Janssen) who is treating Emily. But soon Emily has found a new best friend named Charlie. Always unseen, Charlie is obviously an imaginary playmate. Or is he (shades of “The Sixth Sense”)? Could he be an evil spirit that’s haunted the old Victorian house (shades of “The Grudge”)? Or perhaps one of the overly nosy neighbors (Robert John Burke, Melissa Leo)? Her father isn’t sure. Nor is the rural sheriff (Dylan Baker). And certainly the pretty divorcee (Elisabeth Shue), who surfaces as the widower’s potential love interest, is clueless. With her round-as-saucers eyes, 10 year-old Dakota Fanning almost steals the picture from Robert De Niro, but “almost” is the operative word here. She’s an amazingly precocious and perceptive actress, as demonstrated in “Man on Fire” last year. Utilizing Ari Schlossberg’s underwritten screenplay that’s filled with obsessive, pop-culture symbolism and numerous red herrings, director John Polson (“Swimfan”) focuses on heightening the creepy suspense, often by dimming the lighting and creating ominous shadows. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Hide and Seek” is an intense 5. “Trauma causes pain” – but what about the psychobabble?
