I must have watched a very different film from the one all these reviewers are writing off. A lot of the "action" part of this film is indeed formulaic, which is why I took it down to an 8. But as a relationship film it is quite good. Both Kristofferson and Barrymore are excellent as two damaged and shuttered people. Kristofferson's "Joe Garvey" lost his wife and 9 year old daughter to a drunk driver, and his bitterness has driven him into a very cold place. He is also an outcast from the force because he refused to go along with a cover-up of an unnecessary killing by two cowboy-cops. No one seemed to mention this, even though it plays a significant role in the film's climax, which leads me to wonder just how closely some reviewers watched this film before they typed out their shallow and flippant reviews. Drew Barrymore's "Tinsel Handley" has never had any adult supervision, which might sound glorious, but the effect has been that she hasn't ever had anyone who gave a damn about her. She is a hardened little piece of work who acts like 14 going on 30 and who looks like a teenage hooker. But she has never had the opportunity to be a child, and she is a child -- a terrified one. The two eventually come together, forming a bond that they both need. The scene in which, at the urging of his female partner, Kristofferson's cop takes the sobbing child in his arms is one of the most poignant scenes I have ever seen. It finally shatters the reinforced concrete in which this man is encased, and taps into the emotional center which he thought had died with his wife and daughter. The sinister conspiracy almost-ending is a bit silly, except for one golden moment; given an opportunity to kill the drunk who killed his family, he cannot do it. The hatred has drained away. It is unfortunate that O. J. Simpson was in the film, but at the time he was cast, no one knew the unsavory details of his personal life. I think holding that particular casting against the film is inappropriate for anyone who wants to be taken seriously as a reviewer.
Review of No Place to Hide
