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Hide in Plain Sight was James Caan's first effort as a director and thank goodness he stopped after this one. There is a nice story here, and with someone more skilled it could have been exciting and insightful. In Caan's clumsy hands it is simply a story told, but you'll find it hard to stay interested because of the stark cuts and lack of continuity. Indeed, for a first time director, there is really nothing going on in an inventive manner.Caan does double duty as the film's star, and he is perfectly adequate to the task, in a role he's play many times before and since. The rest of the cast is so one dimensional that it's really hard to care about the characters. That again has to be attributed to Caan, as many of these actors are top notch (Danny Aiello, Joe Grifasi, Ken McMillan, Josef Sommer).It's too bad. This is a good story that deserved to be told in a more compelling manner.

Rarely do you see a movie with a hero who is an ordinary everyday working stiff. A man who served his hitch in the armed forces and then returned to civilian life to settle down as an eight hour a day blue collar factory worker. Men of this caliber don't stand out in crowds. They aren't very interesting either to movie audiences that demand larger-than-life heroes caught in life and death predicaments and perform incredible feats of derring-do. In "Hide In Plain Sight," James Caan of "The Godfather" plays a real-life person in a film based on a true incident that occurred in Buffalo, New York, in the late 1960s and became the subject of a book by Lesley Waller.As Tom Hacklin, Caan is your average, middle-class, blue-collar factory worker. No, he isn't an Archie Bunker type. If Hacklin has any opinions, he keeps them to himself, and Caan doesn't portray him as a dummy either. Although Hacklin is divorced (a point that Spencer Eastman's script avoids), he is shown as an individual that treats his children, a boy and a girl, with unbridled love and affection. The action begins one day in 1967 when Hacklin learns that his ex-wife Ruthie (TV actress Barbra Rae) and his pre-school kids have vanished without a trace. Hacklin's wife had been involved with a small-fry Mafioso Jack Scolese (Robert Viharo of "Villa Rides"). Scolese staged a bank robbery and pistol whipped a bank cashier. On orders from the mob, Scolese not only marries Ruthie, but he also turns himself into the authorities.Meanwhile, a U.S. government strike force in Buffalo out to clean up crime convinces Scolese that his mob set him up. Federal authorities persuade him to inform on his former gang bosses; it seems that the government has a Witness Relocation Program. The program calls for a complete change of identity for the informer and his family as well as a new town to settle in with a worthwhile job. Scolese decides to inform. Hacklin sets out to find his kids. He is frustrated at every turn by uncooperative cops and lilied-livered politicos. The police have to stop him from finding Scolese as much as the mob wants him to find a rat that needs killing. Either way Hacklin could care less, he just wants his kids back."Hide In Plain Sight" is a brooding, low-key movie that shuns the extroverted emotionalism of "Kramer Vs. Kramer," another film about a father that wants his child back. Spencer Eastman's screenplay is a fine, literate effort that details the obstacles that Hacklin must overcome to find his children. Occasionally, the script has lapses; Hacklin is shown in a highly favorable light, but why was he divorced? You get the feeling that his wife was to blame, but how did she get custody of the kids? Most of all, however, the script is credible, especially in dealing with Hacklin's frustrations. After the court hearing, which Hacklin loses to the government, he smashes the government attorney's slick, sporty Corvette. The revenge her is so pathetic that it is real and believable.James Caan makes his directional debut with "Hide In Plain Sight." Although he isn't as innovative as Clint Eastwood, he is at best competent and unpretentious. Caan doesn't let anything or anybody, least of all himself, get in the way of the story that he has to tell. The performances by the cast are nicely etched characterizations of real people. There are no bloodbaths or careening auto chases here. "Hide In Plain Sight" is a responsible, evenly paced film. Director James Caan has taken great pains to recreate the setting and the story. He has also done an admirable job in skillfully underplaying the role of Thomas Hacklin. Presumably, Caan both admired and sympathized with Hacklin and the guy's plight for he has made one of the more notable films of the 1980 cinema season. If you aren't accustomed to movie-going because you deplore the excesses of sex and violence on the big-screen, "Hide In Plain Sight" may be just what you're searching for in good entertainment.

One of the great unsung directing debut's from a versatile character actor with stat status. I remember the mid to late 70's cinema scene with fondness and the prospect of James Caan directing as well as starring in a character-driven piece was like manna from heaven to me. Living in the UK I never got to see this release in the cinema (despite excellent coverage in UK's Films and Filming magazine), but I caught up on it during the 80's video revolution (in an un-hired ex-rental video). Unfortunately the video was panned and scanned to 4:3 thus diminishing the composition and I had to wait until the late 90's to catch this excellent drama on TCM where it was regularly screened in it's correct aspect ratio. Since purchasing a DVD recorder last year this title has not popped up on UKTV so I wait with baited breath for the return of "Hide In Plain Sight" to the TV screens.....hey! maybe someone will lobby for a DVD release because you've got to admit it's far superior the 95% of the dross that gets released every week of the year!

'Hide in Plain Sight' is a solid, functional, lean, and smoothly done film. It is 'no frills' in style, but that does not mean that it has a "tv movie of the week" vibe. The film does it's best to bring out the emotional pitch of the complex situation. In this, it largely succeeds. HIPS is not a glossy, gorgeous film, with memorable cinematography--it is strongly blue-collar and gritty in its general feel. But it is focused and stays on-target for what it is trying to do. That's more than you can say for a lot of movies.I hadn't realized until now, that this flick was directed by Caan. This work does credit to his already great resume. He keeps a firm hand on the production and doesn't make any sophomoric mistakes. It is not a 'great' film but it is a good film --realistic--and doesn't disappoint.By the way, it's hard to overlook the relevancy of a plot like this, with current events the way they are, in the U.S. today. This film is particularly poignant and resonant for those of us concerned about American civil liberties.There is a great scene near the end where Caan makes his final stand against the government agencies he has fought throughout the film.