Side Out

Mostly fair or bad actors, very average script, some nauseating cliche scenes, relies mostly on big 80s hair and C Thomas Howell's 11/10 looks. But hey, someone had to put a cap on al the lousy 80's movies...even if this one waited until the 90's.

The story is actually reasonable, and CT is a solid actor, but so many improbables. Would you get into a hearse with a total stranger?

If you like volleyball, this is your only movie, so you should see it. If you like CT Howell, he's kind of at peak hotness, still a beautiful guy but old enough to finally have some masculinity.

How can anyone say this is not a great movie? Sure, you know what's going to happen, and it's lame, and silly, but so what? There are plenty of songs you hear that you know how they're going to sound less than 20 seconds into it. Pro wrestling is fake, but it's not about that. This movie is fun. People who look into it, and try to analyze the movie are missing the point. It's not Citizen Kane, or Schindler's List. The point is, there's a time and a place for those movies. This movie isn't supposed to be that. It's thoughtless fun, an escape just like anything else. Had a bad day, wanna relax without putting ANY thought into anything, just watch this movie. It brings a smile to my face every time i watch it. Where else will you get a movie with a guy named Wiley, or get to hear Terry kaiser say "I'll even throw in a company car." Classic, simply classic cheese ball movie.

This underrated 90s movie may be a normal sports film, but it's entertaining and it has heart. Unique in that it's one of the few (if there are even any others) films about beach volleyball, that alone makes it worth watching. It's like if Top Gun: Pasión y gloria (1986) and El Karate Kid (1984) had a baby, and volleyball threw up on it.

The performances are all good enough for this kind of movie. C . Thomas Howell is ok, though he's a little annoying, but Peter Horton is good. Another cool aspect of the movie is that a lot of the other volleyball players featured in the movie are actually real beach volleyball players.

Another weird thing is that the movie is painfully 80s. Even though it's made in the 90s, a lot of the clothing and score have serious 80s vibes, and this is probably the most 80s movie of the 90s. The soundtrack is cool, with songs like "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul, and even some songs by the B-52s.

Overall, it's another sports movie, but it's entertaining, and it's about volleyball. You could do a lot worse.

A film about beach volleyball players in California. Do I need to continue? A near total waste as second-rate actors C. Thomas Howell and Peter Horton compete in volleyball tournaments all summer. Howell is a law student who came to California for a summer job but ends up going after good-looking women and spiking volleyballs over the net instead. A really sophomoric film that feels like it was submitted by a group of dumb teenagers that had nothing else better to do. Some very attractive women in swimsuits are the only real attractions here. That is not near enough to make "Side Out" anything more than a long advertisement for its sport. 2 stars out of 5.

"Monroe Clark" (C. Thomas Howell) is flying out to Los Angeles to work during the summer for his wealthy "Uncle Max" (Terry Kiser), who happens to be a real estate lawyer. Monroe's first job is to serve eviction notices to those who cannot pay their rent. In the process of serving a notice on a famous beach volleyball player named "Zack Barnes" (Peter Horton), he also meets an attractive cocktail waitress by the name of "Samantha" (Courtney Thorne-Smith). One thing leads to another, and before he knows it, another person named "Wiley Hunter" (Christopher Rydell) convinces him to team up with him in a beach volleyball competition. And then things begin to get interesting. Anyway, for a beach movie, this wasn't too bad. Although the plot was somewhat routine and the acting was barely adequate, the thing that kept this movie entertaining was the fast-paced sports action and some nice-looking ladies, including Harley Jane Kozak (as "Kate Jacobs"), Kathy Ireland ("Marie"), and the aforementioned Courtney Thorne-Smith. Again, it's a beach movie, so one shouldn't expect too much from it. I rate it as average.