Hide In Plain Sight (1980) What's not surprising.......that James Caan's one and only film as a director is exactly the kind of movie you'd expect this actor to make.
Powerful, immediate, brisk and fueled by superb performances from Caan and his entire supporting cast. A compact, emotional drama-thriller swiftly told......
Here's what is a revelation.......that Caan put this film together with the visual assuredness and editing mastery of someone who's racked up dozens of directing credits.....with not a scrap of self-indulgence anywhere in sight.
Watching this again, I could only wish that the current crop of film directors used this film as guide......especially the ones inflating their skimpy storylines with swollen, bloated 150 minute plus running times.
Taken from a true story, Caan plays a decent, law abiding blue collar working stiff. Divorced by his dim bulb ex wife (Barbara Rae), he's reduced to babysitting his two toddlers while she steps out with her new boyfriend, a bottom feeding mob thug. (Robert Viharo)
Caught after his own stupid freelance bank robbery, Viharo agrees to rat on his mob bosses in exchange for witness protection. Having quickly married Rae, the DOJ spirits away him and his new extended family into a secret hidden life.
Therefore a crushed and enraged Caan finds his two children taken away from him altogether and made to disappear........ essentially kidnapped by the U.S. Government.
The strike force attorney and city cop (the always welcome, familiar Josef Sommer and Kenneth McMillan) stonewall Caan and he's further shrugged off by the courts and his congressman. At the end of his rope (and patience), he has no choice but hunt down Viharo's whereabouts on his own......
I'll say no more, because this is the point where I tell you to seek this film out and dive into it immediately. At a lean and mean 95 minutes, you won't find a better mixture of drama, suspense and even some tender romance...(as Caan shyly woos and marries a sweet schoolteacher played by Jill Eikenberry).
Having endured this first hand experience with studio corporate sharks, Caan decided he lacked the temperament and patience to deal with them, making "Hide In Plain Sight" a one-off directing credit......a deep loss for all of us.
Filled with scenes and individual moments that stay with a viewer forever, this one's without a doubt a 5 star (*****) FIND OF FINDS. Not to be missed by anyone who cares about good cinema.
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