Hide Away 2011

Stephen Holden, New York Times: Elliot Davis's pretty greeting-card cinematography, which lingers on birds, clouds and branches as it follows the seasonal changes, is better at evoking the passage of time and the rhythms of nature than all the sodden, pretentious dialogue. Read more

Barbara VanDenburgh, Arizona Republic: At only 83 minutes, the film is too slight to feel so padded. Water ripples. Ducks fly. Close-ups of ice-encrusted leaves do not a deep movie make. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: A tactile, emotion-laden world of beauty, loss, recovery. Read more

Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times: [It] feels padded even in its brief running time; it's a slight mood piece posing as a character study. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: It's basically just Lucas going through a short story-like period of reflection and redemption almost entirely without dialogue. It's not enough, but it is what this underappreciated actor does best. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: In "Hide Away," Josh Lucas plays an alcoholic widower who undergoes a spiritual rebirth by fixing up a sailboat, and I really wish he hadn't. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: A man-versus-nature parable heavy on the sappy existentialism that's very much of our time. Call it Nicholas Sparks's The Grey. Read more

Eric Hynes, Village Voice: The film stays afloat, if barely, thanks to Elliot Davis's uncluttered camerawork, a surprisingly unsentimental denouement, and performers who deftly undersell the script's corniest pretensions. Read more