THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 9, 1995 TAG: 9503090039
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
GET THOSE colored lights going!
It's time for the movies to once again show us what it's like to ``cross over'' into that other world. Such deep-thinking philosophers as Friedrich Nietzsche and Soren Kierkegaard never did quite solve the greatest puzzle of our lives. Nonetheless, the movies rush fearlessly to picture the afterlife.
In ``Hideaway,'' death is no more than lots of MTV lights leading to a tunnel with a light at the end.
As Peggy Lee used to sing, ``Is That All There Is?''
It's all there is to this nonsensical and outright silly movie, based on a novel by Dean R. Koontz. (Koontz has, quite understandably, asked that his name be taken off the film.)
Jeff Goldblum and Christine Lahti, playing husband and wife, are struck head-on by a truck. After their car falls into a swirling river, he dies. It's a particularly exciting opener for a movie that quickly sinks.
A team of doctors declare that they have special resusitation powers and bring him back after he's been dead over an hour. When he returns to life, he has headaches and a nasty ability to see through the eyes of a serial killer, who has also died and come back.
The serial killer sets his aim on Goldblum's teenage daughter, played by Alicia Silverstone, the teen who is publicized as the latest male fantasy for those of a boyish age. (Silverstone has been seen in three Aerosmith videos and was a MTV nominee a year ago as ``most desirable female.'')
Goldblum is terribly miscast. The part calls for a James Stewart type - the Everyman beset by horrible events beyond his control. As it is, Goldblum, with those dark eyes and intense bearing, looks more threatening than the villain.
Young Jeremy Sisto is cast as the killer. His idea of playing it is to don sunglasses and stare at the camera.
It is shocking that an actress as good as Christine Lahti is on the premises. As Goldblum's wife, all she has to do is react and yell. She seems unusually unsympathetic about her husband's traumas after coming back from the dead.
Brett Leonard, who scored a puzzling hit with the inane ``The Lawnmower Man,'' got the directorial job here. He's apparently more obsessed with technical gimmickry than with plotting.
The supporting cast is unusually respectable. Alfred Molina (so memorable as the slain lover in ``Prick Up Your Ears'') is a doctor. Rae Dawn Chong, finally getting employment again after a long absence, is a soothsayer who has little to do other than say the sooths.
It is teeny Silverstone, though, who has the movie's best, most understated, line.
Amid all the noise, she comments, ``Daddy's really been on edge. You know, dying and all.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
COLUMBIA/TRISTAR
Jeff Goldblum stars as an accident victim brought back to life in
the thriller ``Hideaway.''
Photo
ROB MCEWAN/TriStar
Alicia Silverstone tries to bridge the gap with her father, Jeff
Goldblum, in this psychological thriller.
Graphic
FILM REVIEW
``HIDEAWAY''
Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Christine Lahti, Alicia Silverstone
Director: Brett Leonard
MPAA rating: R (violence, language, sexuality)
Mal's rating: One star
by CNB