Hatch Harrison (Jeff Goldblum) is “resuscitated” after he died in a car accident by Dr. Jonas Nyebern (Alfred Molina). This miracle has unforeseen side effects as Hatch can now see through the eyes of Vassago (Jeremy Sisto), a murderer who is hunting Regina (Alicia Silverstone), Hatch’s teenage daughter.
Finally, someone has merged Eyes of Laura Mars and The Lawnmower Man; I think it was a drunk monkey. No, your average drunk monkey would know better. Novelist Dean R. Koontz agrees as he wanted his name removed from this mutilation of his work. Directed by Brett Leonard (who just happens to be the director of The Lawnmower Man) with the skill of that previously mentioned monkey, Leonard produces some pretty nice computer effects. Of course someone might want to ask him why he put those effects into this film. Apparently, when we die, we enter cyberspace and zoom around. Angels and devils are also cyber constructs. None of this computer stuff has anything to do with the story of Hideaway, but it’s the only way to explain the visuals. Actually, the angels and devils don’t have much to do with it either, as they are just tacked on.
Back in ’78, Eyes of Laura Mars gave a woman the ability to see through a killer’s eyes, and made a nice mystery thriller from that concept. Leonard and his writing team of blind ducks (see, I knew monkeys weren’t involved) decided to drop the mystery and those annoying thrills in favor of predictability and monotony. Well, with that goal, he succeeded.