Themes: Fighting the System, Obsessive Quests, Witness Protection
Main Cast: James Caan, Jill Eikenberry, Danny Aiello, Robert Viharo, Joe Grifasi
Release Year: 1980
Country: US
Run Time: 96 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Star James Caan made his directorial debut in the fact-based Hide in Plain Sight. Caan plays a divorced husband and father who comes to visit his ex-wife and children, only to discover that they've evidently disappeared from the face of the earth. Running up against the stonewall tactics of the authorities, Caan eventually learns that his wife's present husband is a witness against the mob, and that his family members have been given a new home and new identities via the Justice Department's new witness relocation program. Denied information concerning his children's whereabouts, Caan desperately attempts to find them himself. Hide in Plain Sight was adapted by Spencer Eastman from the book by Leslie Waller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Hide in Plain Sight is such a gritty, realistic slice of working-class life in Buffalo that it disregards several key elements of narrative filmmaking, most notably a suspenseful build toward an emotionally rewarding climax. This is both a strength and a weakness of James Caan's stridently uncommercial directorial debut. One applauds Caan and screenwriter Spencer Eastman for sticking close to the facts of the true story, which has the inherent sensationalism of involving the mob and a custody battle complicated by the secrecy of the witness relocation program. The authenticity of these characters and the situations they face is unquestioned. Caan in particular plays his frustrations with minimal drama, railing against the bureaucracy with controlled rather than exaggerated outbursts. But Hide in Plain Sight can't achieve more than a middling level of affection because of this restrained naturalism. The final showdown is made possible by a lucky break that doesn't get adequately explained. It arrives so suddenly that it leaves the viewer unprepared. Still, Caan is clearly operating on his own terms, free from Hollywood dictates, and the result is a triumph of quiet independence, one that parallels Thomas Hacklin Jr.'s underdog quest to find his children. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Fred T. Gallo - Associate Producer, David McGiffert - First Assistant Director, James Caan - Director, Franz Steininger - Editor, Frederic Steinkamp - Editor, William Steinkamp - Editor, Leonard Rosenman - Composer (Music Score), Pato Guzman - Production Designer, Paul Lohmann - Cinematographer, Robert W. Christiansen - Producer, Rick Rosenberg - Producer, Mary Olivia Swanson - Set Designer, Gene S. Cantamessa - Sound/Sound Designer, Spencer Eastman - Screenwriter, Leslie Waller - Book Author
