Film Forum: Critics Post Best-of-2004 Lists, Slam Current Fare
Christian film critics pick their favorites of 2004, and warn moviegoers: Don't go looking for Hide and Seek. Alone in the Dark should have stayed in the dark. Plus: Aliens of the Deep, Les Choristes, Are We There Yet?, Coach Carter, and Million Dollar Baby.
By Jeffrey Overstreet | posted 10/29/2009 10:34AM
Last week, Christianity Today Movies managing editor Mark Moring and I compiled a list of particularly inspiring films, called The 10 Most Redeeming Films of 2004 (a claim that, I'm sure, is open to debate). This week, a CT Movies panel put together their Critics' Choice Awards for 2004—a different kind of list, focusing on artistic excellence rather than uplifting or inspiring effect.
And, as is their peculiar obsession, critics are publishing their own different lists of favorites. My own personal list of 20, or so, is at Looking Closer. Here are some lists from other religious press critics I monitor for Film Forum material:
Hide … Don't Seek this De Niro bombThe actor who became a legend in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver now has a career that's gone off the road.
Hide and Seek, the latest movie starring Robert De Niro, might be the box office champion, but critics and DeNiro fans agree—this once-great actor's career has become an embarrassment. This paranormal thriller, which also stars young Dakota Fanning (soon to co-star in Spielberg's War of the Worlds), is getting panned by critics, including those in the religious press. DeNiro's participation fails to elevate the material; in fact, it sounds like his work makes it worse.
Russ Breimeier (Christianity Today Movies) says DeNiro "comes off as cold and boring from the very first scene. [The] question we all should be asking is, 'How did this stinker attract such a big name cast?' No thriller cliché goes unused in this movie, relying once again on cheap jumps to frighten the audience: the leaping cat, the quickly whisked shower curtain, the overly loud sound mix, the extreme close-up. Yet as reliable as these usually are for a few flinches, rarely have they been executed with so little effectiveness."
Breimeier went on to say that Hide and Seek "has more red herrings than an Agatha Christie novel combined with the aquarium downtown." The "red herring" theme was also popular with at least two more critics.
"One can only wonder if [DeNiro] actually read the script before signing on," says David DiCerto (Catholic News Service). "The cliché -ridden script lacks any real suspense, let alone the faintest semblance of logic. What it does have is more red herrings than your local fish market and a ridiculous twist ending which elicits more snickers than surprise."
Tom Neven (Plugged In) calls it "a psychological thriller with two big twists—blink and you'll miss the second one—and enough red herrings to stink up an entire fish market. . . . [U]ltimately the film proves to be like one of those Rube Goldberg contraptions: a whole lot of moving parts to accomplish very little.
Michael Elliott (Movie Parables) calls DeNiro's performance "bland and unremarkable," adding that the "by-the-numbers script . . . telegraphs its secrets and often unintentionally borders on and occasionally crosses over into camp. For anyone familiar with the genre, the only thing surprising about the ending is the fact that it was used . . . again."
If you see this movie, you'll be Alone in the DarkYou could read about director Uwe Boll's new sci-fi action film starring Christian Slater and Tara Reid—Alone in the Dark—or you could just pretend the movie doesn't exist. The critics who have seen it wish they had ignored it.
February (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49
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