Out of Bounds

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.

This is a story of a good kid on the run from drug dealers and police. It has a great 80's feel in music and scenery, and makes Los Angeles look better than the real thing. What the story lacks compared with it's many cousins in this genre is character interactions between the three principals in the chase. Every time the kid wants to talk, somebody starts shooting. The believability of the story suffers and the characters aren't developed. At least the Richard Tuggle didn't go too over-the-top with the farm boy culture clash. The most prescient line of the movie is when Jenny Wright's character admits, "I'm not really an actress."

If you are looking for a good youth-on-the-run 80's scenery movie, head over to San Antonio and check out Cloak and Dagger (1984).

Predictable '80s actioner. Everything is set up as if it's underlined. We see Anthony Michael Hall practicing with his knife, so we know it'll come into play. Jeff Kober is good as the guy pursuing Hall. HIS motivations and actions are the only ones that make any sense, and he's the bad guy! Somebody gave me the video as a birthday present because I'm a huge Kober fan. If you are too, go watch AUTOMATIC (1994) or your box set of KINDRED instead.

I always liked this film because it showed that Hall was not just some goofy nerd all the time. In this film he is faced by drug dealers and murderers and more real to life situations than that of other movies, such as the "Pretty in Pink" genre 80's movie. I don't see that it ever got released on DVD like some others from that time, why is that? Hall proves himself in a dramatic, thoughtful role as a simple teen who is able to develop survivor instincts under pressure. I have seen it many times and like it much more than the "Breakfast Club" or even "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" where the comedy pales after a few times of watching. I do not think it got the press it deserved. Many of my friends have never seen it. The film barely gets a mention anywhere, I think because it is not a comedy and is R-Rated for showing violence. I think people needed to see Hall do more dramatic acting than just stuck doing continual comedic roles. I think this movie shows part of the man who became one to play in the "Dead Zone."

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.