Out of Bounds

Anthony Michael Hall leaves the farm to visit his brother in Los Angeles; his parents are going through a bust-up. When he gets off the plane, he picks up the wrong bag, one full of drugs. When he wakes in the morning, he finds his brother and sister-in-law dead and im on the run. His only help is Jenny Wright, a woman he met on the plane, and who came on to him.

There are some nice bits of writing here, simple solutions to obvious problems. Why doesn't he call his parents? Because his father is traveling and his mother is visiting in Kansas..... and he wrote down the wrong phone number! But while Hall, who was trying to break out his his 'nerdy teen' phase, is very good in the early scenes as an unsure farmboy, after one day in the city he moves through a punk club with an air of assurance. In addition, there's little to interrupt the increasing level of apprehension throughout. A few breaks, a la Hitchcock, would have been nice.

Miss Wright has a far more nuanced and interesting performance to give that would seem to foretell a longer career. Alas, a dozen years later, she made her last film. It's mildly surprising. She's what makes this movie watchable.

I admit, there are parts of this movie which are incredibly dumb. A lot of it owes, the incredibly poor script. But I really liked the fast paced flow of the movie. And we have a new action hero, Anthony Michael Hall. Yeah, right? Yeah too f..in' right. He rocks in the movie, that's a perfect vehicle for him, after the string of John Hughes films prior. He plays a farm boy, Daryl, in Iowa, and we see his miserable self, out there on the tractor working the farm. Some youngies speeding along in a red convertible, yell something to him, from a far, though I couldn't make out what it was, but I'm pretty sure they were dissing him. His parents have been arguing over Daryl's future, and we get a taste of their fracas's. At the advice of his Mother, he's sent out to L.A. to live with his brother. After having some wet dreams on the plane, he meets a would be actress, Dizz, sitting next to him. He makes one fatal mistake that costs him his older brother and fiancée's life, only the start of a bigger body count in the film, though we can't forget the poor sod at the start, who also made the fatal mistake of being a savior to the wrong guy, a drug trafficker, and psychopathic Kober, a great character actor of evil. Daryl had picked up the wrong duffel bag, an identical one to his-what are the chances? This bag worth killing for, contains H. Now, you're asking yourself, how did Kober not find Daryl at his brothers. He was in a segregated outhouse concealed coolly by a hedge. Now Daryl's on the run, with the H, and it isn't long before he's up to his neck in trouble. But this is the thrill ride, Hall, hijacking a bikie was great stuff, while nearly being blown away by a cop, while making a righteous phone call. He's soon reunited with Dizz, his only chance, of clearing himself, and taking pr..k Kober down. We really get to see a bit of L.A's underworld, Dizz and Daryl, putting it out there, he has what Kober's after, and soon enough they're being pursued by this psycho, where in the mean time, more bodies show up + a dead mouse, crushed by Kober's merciless hand. I though the way Kober died was stupid though, with Daryl, just happening to be a champion knife thrower. OOB has some pumping rock scores too, but I liked the energy of the film, regardless of the stupidity or realism, but the latter is not really why we go to the movies, now is it.

It's pretty bad, that's for sure. At one point, the lead character runs from the cops, jumps on the back of a motorcycle and points a gun at the rider and tells him to get us out of here, and the guy instantly does, and helps him elude the cops. And then they bond!

This movie is practically a parody of 80s action movies, with Anthony Michael Hall's presence being the icing on the cake. However, Hall does do a fine job with the material he's given.

The movie tries to balance the main character's folksy farm upbringing charm with a zany LA revenge/caper plot and it doesn't work.

It doesn't look cheap at all, it looks like they dropped some bucks on this, with some complex stunts, lots of speaking roles, quite ample extras and a lavish appearance. But at the same time, it looks they trimmed this to bone in editing, probably thinking they had a turkey.

Crazy and unlikely as it may sound, there might be a more interesting cut that could have happened. It makes you wonder why they even bothered with the Iowa scenes, setting up Daryl's mother and father. Even Daryl's brother seems barely worth setting up, considering they talk briefly then he's dead.

It does have striking music I'd never heard before, particularly Cities in Dust. And they did succeed in the goal of showing LA in a different way than other films.

Anthony Michael Hall is way Out of Bounds on a trip to Los Angeles. Fresh off the farm from Iowa, he picks up Jeff Kober's travel bag by mistake. Kober gets Hall's change of wardrobe and Hall gets over a million dollars in heroin.

I don't think Jeff Kober has ever played a good guy in any of the films or television shows I've ever seen him in. He's succeeded Lyle Bettger in playing a lovely variety psychotics and in this case he's one psychotic drug dealer looking for his stash.

Kober murders Hall's brother and his wife who Hall was staying with when he learns where he's staying and to top it all off, LAPD detective Glynn Turman is thinking Hall did the deed. Some trigger happy cops nearly kill Hall and he's off and running looking for the only other person he knows in Los Angeles, a waitress played by Jenny Wright who he met on the plane out from Iowa.

Farm boy Hall is in one hostile environment as he tries desperately to survive and clear himself.

Anthony Michael Hall was still in his brat pack period when he did Out of Bounds. He portrays the resourceful, but vulnerable Iowa kid very well.

But the acting honors of this film go to Jeff Kober. A really unsung and underrated performer, Kober always delivers the goods when he's a bad guy. In fact one day I'd like to see try doing comedy for a change.

Till then Kober will keep you on the edge of your seat when you watch him in Out of Bounds.

I'll make this short and sweet (well, at least short...)

Good, fun Crime/Thriller. Teen actor Anthony Michael Hall actually did a pretty good job in his role. Interesting casting since he just finished a couple of Classic John Hughes films ('BREAKFAST CLUB' & 'SIXTEEN CANDLES' to name 2) But, all 'n all I think he did a decent job. I personally thought that his performance was just a TAD underplayed; I think being an 'Iowa Farmboy' suddenly dropped in L. A. and found in the situation (and personal loss) that he did, I really think that he would have reacted with a tad more emotion than he did, but it worked okay. The lead girl was decent. But, it wasn't really the acting that stood out in this film. It really was more the story and the way the director kept the pace moving briskly.

Like I mentioned in my title, if you are so inclined, the soundtrack, done by the Police's Stewart Copeland, along with some great songs of the time I thought really added to the enjoyment and pacing of the story. It was cool to see ol' Siouxsie Sioux and her group, along with a lot of other great songs.

Just ONE thing, if I may... Not giving anything away, but the cop was a total, and I mean a TOTAL D*CK! Geez... Personally, I think that the story would have been much better served if that character had been played in a smoother, cooler, more appealing way, like many cops in these kinds of films. Somewhat understanding and sympathetic, but still having to do their 'Duty' But, THIS guy was just a complete D*CK! Period. Had a chip on his shoulder about 2 blocks long. Just plain stupid in my lowly and wretched opinion, and quite honestly detracted from what otherwise could have been a very appealing role. No... Just pure D*CK 😊 Sorry, this guy really annoyed me. Or, I guess I should say, that the way the director had him portray the character was really lame.

But, with that one minor proviso, I thought it was a fun, entertaining movie that kept the tension going really well and therefore held the audience's attention while providing an entertaining backdrop for the story in various cool locations and clubs. Not to mention, some nice car chases and shootouts. The bad guy was of course played to perfection as that actor usually does with these kinds of roles.

So, yeah, I would say if you enjoy a straight forward mid-level Crime/Thriller with a youthful vibe and soundtrack of the time, then you might find this movie entertaining...