Hide in Plain Sight

Director: James Caan James Caan

Overview

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.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/01/2010
UPC:	0883316256367
Original Release:	1980
Rating:	PG
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:38:00
Sales rank:	44,464

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

James Caan	Thomas Hacklin
Jill Eikenberry	Alisa Hacklin
Heather Bicknell	Junie
Robert Viharo	Scolese
Danny Aiello	Sal
Joe Grifasi	Matty Stanke
Barbara Rae	Ruthie Hacklin
Kenneth McMillan	Sam Marzetta
Thomas Hill	Bobby
Chuck Hicks	Frankie Irish
Andrew Gordon Fenwick	Andy
David Margulies	Detective Reilly
David Clennon	Richard
Peter Maloney	Lee
Ken Sylk	Frantuzzi
Leonardo Cimino	Venucci,Venucci
Nick Corello	Fiacco,Flacco
Tom Signorelli	Moriarity
Alice Drummond	Mrs. Novack
Beatrice Winde	Unemployment Clerk
Josef Sommer	Jason
Anne Helm	Reid's Secretary
Robert Gerringer	Judge Duval
Terrence Currier	Congressman Evetts
Josephine Nichols	Hacklin's Mother
Walter Scott	FBI Agent Sheeler
James DeCloss	Ray Reilly
Danny Costa	Dink
Charles Hallahan	Dixon
Eddy Donno	Man at Party
Jude Farese	Carmine
Gerald Cantor	Jackie's Driver
Dan Zanghi	Man at Treasury Department
H. Jack Jaeger	Security Guard
Nancy Weber	Waitress
Sidney Ehrenreich	Bartender
Gary Pace	Pianist
Carolyn Ferrini	Singer at Spring Fling
Vinnie DeCarlo	Chick
Vincent Cavalleri	Man at Ballgame
Lorena McDonald	Crossing Guard
John Kiouses	Teenage Boy
Mina Evans	Teenage Girl
Jeff Ring	Reporter #1
Keith Watts	News Photographer
H.P. Evetts	Frankie's Driver
Ken Bellet	Man at Unemployment Office
Frederick Seaton	Hippie
Anne McLeod	Waitress
Tony Mancini	Out-of-Towner
Ben Gerard	Out-of-Towner
Madonna Young	Carvello's Secretary
Sam Ippolito	Warehouse Foreman
Irv Weinstein	Newscaster

Technical Credits

Spencer Eastman

James Caan	Director
Robert Christiansen	Producer
Rick Rosenberg	Producer
Spencer Eastman	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

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.

All Movie Guide