A Place to Hide Away

The protagonist of <em>Hide Away</em> (out Aug. 21 on DVD) is wary and haunted by tragedy and bad memory. He says little and that's one of the best things about <em>Hide Away</em>a film that shows much of its story visually without recourse to words. Played by Josh Lucas, the protagonist moves to a remote Great Lakes port and buys a sail boat with the unfortunate name of <em>Hesperus</em>. The craft, where he intends to live alone, is a wreck. A year passes in a bleakly scenic setting that suggests Andrew Wyeth paintings set in motion as the lonely man reestablishes contact with life through often fleeting relations with the town's inhabitants, who also seem marooned emotionally. Directed by Chris Eyre (best known for his American Indian film Smoke Signals), <em>Hide Away </em>is a meditative movie about redemption off the grid through getting ones hands on the tangibles of the everydaysimple things like making breakfast, mending a sail or caring about another person.