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Tell Others About This Page By Using This Button "HIDE AND SEEK" (2005) (Robert De Niro, Dakota Fanning) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Mild Heavy Extreme Heavy Heavy Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild Moderate Extreme None Heavy Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy None Extreme Heavy Extreme QUICK TAKE: Suspense/Thriller: Following his wife's untimely death, a psychologist moves into a new home with his young daughter, but becomes progressively disturbed by her involvement with a new friend that he initially believes is imaginary, but eventually begins to question when increasingly peculiar and dangerous events start occurring in their house. PLOT: Following the suicide of his wife Alison (AMY IRVING) and against the wishes of his daughter's therapist, Katherine (FAMKE JANSSEN), psychologist David Callaway (ROBERT DE NIRO) and his young daughter, Emily (DAKOTA FANNING), have moved to the small resort town of Woodland, NY. There, he hopes that a change of scenery might break Emily out of her depression-based daze, and when he spots Elizabeth Young (ELISABETH SHUE), a stranger playing with her young niece, Amy (MOLLY GRANT KALLINS), he hopes that maybe the two young girls will become friends. Yet, Emily states that she doesn't need any more friends since she now has Charlie. David believes she's created a make-believe friend and Katherine confirms that's a usual childhood coping mechanism. Even so, Emily's behavior continues to worsen, including toward their married neighbors Laura (MELISSA LEO) and Steven (ROBERT JOHN BURKE), and even Sheriff Hafferty (DYLAN BAKER), but especially toward Elizabeth who's become friendly with David. As odd, creepy and eventually dangerous things start occurring around the house and Emily blames them on the never-seen Charlie, David sets out to discover what's really going on. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're into suspense/horror films and/or are fans of anyone in the cast, they just might. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For frightening sequences and violence. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: Note: Not everything is as it seems in the film, with some of the behavior apparently not being real. ROBERT DE NIRO plays the psychologist who must not only deal with his wife's recent suicide, but also their daughter's depressed and increasingly out of touch with reality behavior. He briefly uses strong profanity and becomes rather violent with several people while trying to figure out what's going on inside their house. DAKOTA FANNING plays his depressed, bitter and morose daughter who withdraws into a sheltered world with her make-believe friend and wants nothing to do with anyone else. Her attitude and behavior worsen as the story unfolds until she becomes frightened by the acts of her new friend. FAMKE JANSSEN plays her therapist back in the city (and David's former student) who worries about Emily's well-being. ELISABETH SHUE plays a recently divorced woman who takes a liking to David. AMY IRVING plays David's wife who commits suicide. DYLAN BAKER plays the local sheriff who noses around the Callaway home when things seem fishy. MELISSA LEO plays the Callaway's next door neighbor who's dealing with the recent death of her young daughter. ROBERT JOHN BURKE plays her husband who acts a bit creepy around Emily (but his wife explains that's due to their familial loss). CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this suspense/horror film that's been rated R where not everything turns out to be the way it initially seems, but the following is noted as it initially occurs. Profanity consists of 1 "f" word, while some colorful phrases are also uttered. Some potentially sexually related dialogue is present, as is a husband seeing his wife fooling around with another man in a stairwell (with kissing and some audible moaning on her part). Other bad attitudes are present, including that of an increasingly sullen child as well as a person who kills others and terrorizes a child. Violence consists of several murders (being shot, falling out a window, and being smothered) and other violent physical contact (people hitting, striking, cutting or otherwise attempting to kill others). Some of that has rather bloody results, and that material and related visuals, as well as other material (including various jump scenes) that appears to be supernaturally based may be unsettling, suspenseful or downright scary to some viewers (particularly if they're young and/or have low tolerance levels for such material). Tense family material includes parental deaths (including a girl seeing her dad finding her mom dead in a bloody bathtub following an apparent suicide) and talk of a child's death, a recent divorce and a man terrorizing his child. Some brief drinking is also present. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Alison has a glass of wine and downs an unknown pill. In a flashback to a party, we see various people holding drinks. We see this several times again later in the film. David and Elizabeth have wine with dinner. BLOOD/GORE We see a suicide victim's body in a bathtub full of bloody water. Emily jabs a fishing hook through a live insect's body, with some green goo coming out. David finds Emily's flash book style animated rendering (where still images on successive pages turn into a "movie" when those pages are flipped in order) that shows her mother stabbing herself in the bathtub (with hand drawn blood that grows with each frame). We see that Emily has drawn a picture of a person lying dead on the ground with some cartoon blood around them (following a fall from a second story window). David discovers the message "Can you see now?" written in what looks like blood on the closed shower curtain. He then opens it to discover a dead (clothed) body in the bathtub (briefly seen in what appears to be bloody water). He later returns and the body is gone, but the bloody water is still in the tub. An injured man's face is rather bloody. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE A killer obviously has bad attitudes. Emily develops a bad attitude toward her father and others that only worsens as the story progresses. After Elizabeth has given Emily some books as a gift, the girl slowly and defiantly pushes them off the table and to the floor. Emily states that her and Charlie's game is to upset David. David briefly spies into his neighbors' house with his telescope and seems to observe some sort of verbal fight. We see a flashback where David spots Alison leaving with another man. He then finds them in a stairwell, with the man all over Alison (sexually), with some kissing and the sounds of her moaning (but no nudity). FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence," "Blood/Gore" and "Jump Scenes" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. A woman's hand caresses David's face in bed at night (and we see some flashback images from a party), but when he wakes up, there's nobody there. He sees that it's 2:06 am and that Alison isn't in bed, but he hears dripping coming from the bathroom. He then slowly walks down the hall to it where he sees candles flickering behind the closed shower curtain. When he pulls it back, he finds Alison's body in the bloody water (she's committed suicide). He grabs and tries to shake some life into her, but she's dead (and Emily is standing there watching that). We see Emily starring in a somewhat creepy fashion off into the woods. We see that Emily (or her make-believe friend) has mutilated the face of one of her dolls. We see another shot of the mystery woman's hand at David's face as he sleeps. He then awakens at the same time and again hears drips coming from the bathroom. He slowly makes his way there, yanks open the shower curtain and finds the message, "You let her die" written on the wall. David is a bit concerned when he finds a large kitchen knife sticking half-way out of the knife block in the kitchen. Steven tells David that the latter is lucky to have such a beautiful daughter (arousing pedophile concerns in David, but Laura later states that his odd behavior is attributed to them recently losing their daughter). Emily states that Charlie opened her bedroom window (that David earlier couldn't get to budge). Emily discovers a hidden door in a coat closet and then proceeds to go down into a dirty and dimly lit basement. She's then playing hide and seek with the unseen Charlie and hears a sound across the room. The lone light bulb then suddenly goes out, she screams and David races to find her. David wakes up early in the morning again, hears the same dripping sound from the bathroom and slowly walks down the hall toward it. The words "Now look what you've done" are written there, and when he reaches down into the filthy bathwater to pull the tub's plug, a dead cat's body suddenly pops up. He later places that dead and wet cat into a bag and then buries it in the woods. After hearing some strange noises, David discovers his realtor at his door in the middle of the night, claiming to be leaving a key for him. Emily warns her father that he's going to make Charlie mad. Elizabeth arrives at the house, but neither David nor Emily answers the door or calling out to them. She then lets herself in and cautiously makes her way up to Emily's bedroom (where we see the point of view of someone or something watching her through the closet door slats). Emily tells her she and Charlie are playing hide and seek, so Elizabeth goes to the closet door and opens it. We see the shocked, stunned and horrified look on her face as she then quickly backs up. A person recoils from an unseen image and crashes backwards through a second floor window (we don't see the impact with the ground). We later see this again in flashback. David discovers the message "Can you see now?" written in what looks like blood on the closed shower curtain. He then opens it to discover a dead (clothed) body in the bathtub (briefly seen in what appears to be bloody water). He later returns and the body is gone, but the bloody water is still in the tub. After David has locked Emily in her bedroom and she tries to pick the lock, she hears something on the other side and then sees the doorknob moving and then the door slowly opening. A man slowly approaches David, prompting him to cut the man's hand with a large kitchen knife (no blood). He then runs back to the house with that man chasing him. As he tries to close the door, the man's arm comes through and David slices it again with the knife. He then races around the house to make sure the windows are closed and encounters that man at one of them (but nothing else happens). David hears the creaking of a door opening and then sees one doing just that, rather slowly. He then slowly goes over to investigate. We see a flashback to a man smothering his wife with a pillow. Emily tries to get away and hide from a deranged man who's after her in her house and later a cave in the woods (in a several minute sequence where she appears quite frightened). Sheriff Hafferty slowly makes his way through the house with a flashlight after the lights suddenly go out. Katherine slowly makes her way down into the basement, looking for Emily. A deranged man repeatedly turns a flashlight on and off as he slowly approaches a young girl in a dark cave. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Kitchen Knife: Carried and/or used to threaten or kill others. See "Violence" for details. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "You sick f*ck." It's possible the film could inspire some kids to hide in an attempt to scare others by jumping out at them. Emily states that her and Charlie's game is to upset David. We see that someone has cut David out of all of the photos taken with Emily. JUMP SCENES While thinking he's playing hide and seek with Emily, David is surprised by the family cat that leaps out of the bedroom closet when he opens the door. Sudden music and a light going out might startle some viewers. Another sudden sound and a flash image might have the same result. A dead cat's body suddenly pops up out of some dirty bathwater. A man is suddenly at a window. A man is suddenly behind a door. A presumably dead man grabs a woman's hand. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of ominous and suspenseful music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 1 "f" word and 1 use of "God." SEX/NUDITY Elizabeth shows some cleavage in her outfit. Emily tells her dad that Charlie (her imaginary friend) "would have satisfied her" (referring to her now dead mom, but it's unclear whether the reference is sexual in nature or not). Elizabeth shows some cleavage in her dress. We see a flashback where David spots Alison leaving with another man. He then finds them standing and clothed in a stairwell, with the man all over Alison (sexually), with some kissing and the sounds of her moaning (but no nudity). SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES David finds Alison's body in bloody water in a bathtub (she's committed suicide). He grabs and tries to shake some life into her, but she's dead (and Emily is standing there watching that). Both David and Emily must deal with Alison's suicide. He's sad but seems to be getting along, but she's in a daze in a children's hospital and later is even more morose. Elizabeth states that she just got divorced. Laura states that she and David recently lost their young daughter. David briefly spies into his neighbors' house with his telescope and seems to observe some sort of verbal fight between the married couple. We see a flashback where David spots Alison leaving with another man. He then finds them in a stairwell, with the man all over Alison (sexually), with some kissing and the sounds of her moaning (but no nudity). We see a flashback to a man smothering his wife with a pillow. A girl must deal with seeing a parent killed in her presence. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Suicide and the guilt of those left behind. Steven tells David that the latter is lucky to have such a beautiful daughter (arousing pedophile concerns in David, but Laura later states that his odd behavior is attributed to them recently losing their daughter). Laura states that she and David recently lost their young daughter. VIOLENCE We see that Emily (or her make-believe friend) has mutilated the face of one of her dolls. Emily jabs a fishing hook through a live insect's body, with some green goo coming out. We see that Emily has mutilated another of her doll's faces. A person recoils from an unseen image and crashes backwards through a second floor window (we don't see the impact with the ground). We later see this again in flashback. A man slowly approaches David, prompting him to cut the man's hand with a large kitchen knife (no blood). He then runs back to the house with that man chasing him. As he tries to close the door, the man's arm comes through and David slices it again with the knife. We see a flashback to a man smothering his wife with a pillow. A man hits another man with a shovel, severely wounding him. A man hits a woman in the face and she tumbles down some steps into the basement. A woman holds a gun on a man, but he knocks it away from her, hits her and then starts to strangle her, but is distracted before finishing her off. A woman shoots a man several times, killing him. Reviewed January 25, 2005 / Posted January 28, 2005

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