Can't Hide It

directed by:
Richard Miller, Grant Archer
written by:
Richard Miller, Grant Archer
genre:
Drama

You can't hide it. When you feel like your life isn't your own, or that someones playing some kind of sick joke on you? You can't hide it. When you simply refuse to believe that this could be happening to you? You can't hide it - and when your hair begins to fall out, from the horrendous treatment for this ridiculous illness? Again, you just can't hide it. Does that mean you give up the fight? Slump down and give in? Never. What exactly am I talking about? Cancer of course. That damned cancer - and since we're on the subject of things you can't hide, let me add this to the list. "Can't Hide It" from writers, directors Richard Miller and Grant Archer. This is definitely not a film to be hidden - and I'm grateful to have had a chance to see it.
So what's going on here you ask? It's simplicity at it's best and most meaningful. Kim has cancer. We're introduced to her, and her significant other, at an ugly sweater party. As Kim composes herself alone - we instantly suspect something isn't quite right. As she puts on the mask their friends will see at the party, we outright know somethings wrong. Shortly later us viewers are given the nitty-gritty as "Can't Hide It" confirms what we're dealing with is, indeed, cancer. Keeping things spoiler free isn't really a factor at this point, but that doesn't mean I want to ruin the entire film for you. What follows is the journey, the chemotherapy and Kim's attempts to deal. There's nothing romanticized here and although comedy has been included in the mix, it's not meant to downplay the seriousness of this illness.

So how did this film play? The technicalities of the production are really not worth writing about, except to say it looks and sounds great. As an unwritten rule, micro/lower budget movies usually do better when they look good - but you can't hide bad acting or a bad story with technical prowess. "Can't Hide It" not only features some great production work, but a well written script presented properly by the cast. No complaints. At all.
What I did notice, was that the focus wasn't just on Kim alone. "Can't Hide It" didn't forget Richard was also part of this story - or their friends. It's true that we mainly follow Kim - but many movies of this nature consider everyone who is not sick, as a secondary character. Not here. From the couples initial trip to the hospital straight through to his awesomely lame joke at the end, Richard is definitely part of Kim's story. No question. I also enjoyed the mental brutality this film managed to show me. Cancer is not only about the physical ailments, or even the possibility of death. It's about how the patient must find a way to deal with it, or in some cases, the lack of. This was a real film, put together in a real way.
At the end of the day there really isn't much to not like here. Save that it's not a story anyone should actually like. All the pieces are present and accounted for, and used with an attention to detail that's easy to overlook. That's a good thing. It's when us viewers don't notice something, that a job is done right. I have two words that essentially sum up everything I've written above. Excellent work. Four and a half stars.