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	Hide And Seek
	John Polson Robert De Niro, Dakota Fanning, Famke Janssen, Elisabeth Shue, Amy Irving, Dylan Baker, Melissa Leo, Robert John Burke 2005		Rather than suggest that Robert De Niro will do anything for moolah, let's face facts: His iconographic performances ("Raging Bull," "The Godfather II," etc.) will stand the test of time, but in recent years, he willingly signed on to do the crummy sci-fi horror film "Godsend," the misguided live-action/cartoon mishmash "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle," and "Analyze That" and "Meet the Fockers," two second-rate sequels to two much funnier comedies. Even in that context, the undistinguished horror film "Hide and Seek" is hardly a step up. Caricaturing himself, De Niro is teamed with the precocious, increasingly ubiquitous kid actress Dakota Fanning in a father-daughter tandem. Widower David Callaway (De Niro) is a New York psychologist who recently lost his wife (Amy Irving). Their daughter Emily (Fanning) has withdrawn since her mother died, so David decides that the two of them should move to a small town upstate. Within hours of relocating, Emily reveals that she has found a mischievous, elusive companion who she identifies as Charlie. David, a potential new girlfriend (Elisabeth Shue), the next-door neighbors, the local sheriff (Dylan Baker), and Emily's therapist (Famke Janssen) soon discover that Charlie — assumed to be imaginary — is a dangerous entity with malice in mind. There are the usual twists, turns and knee-jerk shocks, and too little that is fresh or scary.


	Sunday, November 17, 2024





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