Hide (2008)

Review by Tim-O



Starring: Christian Kane, Rachel Miner
Directed by K.C. Bascombe
"Hide" tells the story of a modern day Bonnie and Clyde couple played by Christian Kane and Rachel Miner. After a bank heist, the couple is found out at a roadside diner and kills everyone in sight. Kane is captured and convicted while -somehow- Miner escapes. Seven years later while Kane is being transferred to another prison, Miner helps him escape and the two go to a deserted town to collect the money from the bank robbery that Kane stashed there and to find a safe place to hide out. Along the way, however, the two become convinced that they are being followed by an unseen stalker. This all comes to a bizarre climax when Kane and Miner realize they aren’t alone in the town and someone may be there for revenge and to make them pay for their crimes.

"Hide" is a really hard movie to explain without giving the whole thing away. The synopsis above only scratches what is going on in the movie. "Hide" is also a hard movie to classify. It has some mystery, crime drama, a hint of "Saw" type horror, and even elements of a Christian movie. I’ve read people compare the movie with "Natural Born Killers" and even accuse it of being a rip off. I don’t see that at all. In fairness though, I hated "NBK" with a passion when I saw it and never watched it again. That was many moons ago so I don’t claim to remember it really well, but I do remember enough to be confused by this comparison. "NBK" is a frantic and over the top celebration of violence (in my opinion) and "Hide" is way more subtle and subdued. It has a much slower pace and tries to use the pace to create tension and mystery as to who can and can’t be trusted.

Shot on HD video, "Hide" is low budget but is made very well as far as production values goes. Kane and Miner deliver fantastic performances that are absolutely the high point of the movie. It’s worth watching just to watch these two act together. Their performances were what kept me interested in what was going on. The way Kane manipulates you into liking him and even rooting for him, even after witnessing his horrific crimes, was to me brilliant. Unfortunately, the script twists and turns and teases you in the wrong way. (For me, at least) It seemed like every time the movie was heading in a fascinating direction, it would cut to the next scene. This would be OK if it were leading you to an equally fascinating ending. This brings me to what I didn’t like about it. As with 90% of movies made today, the ending is a twist. Unfortunately, the twist is disappointing and (without giving anything away) even a bit preachy. Had the ending-and therefore the movie-been more upfront and straight forward, the movie probably would have left me with a better impression.

"Hide" isn’t a bad movie. Actually, it was a pretty good movie that I felt unnecessarily ended in a disappointing way. It’s a violent character study that kept me compelled until the end when I felt a little cheated. I guess I felt like the movie held my attention for not much of a pay off. It was made so well though, and the acting so superb, that I would still recommend giving it a chance. You may get something more out of the entire story than I did. 6/10