Bullet Points: Out of Bounds (1986)
Anthony Michael Hall became a star thanks to his work in John Hughes’ movies like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Weird Science… but even in Hollywood there is a limit to how long an actor can play a teenager. At some point , Hall was going to have to break out of that comfort zone and take on some more grown up roles.
He did just that in 1986’s Out of Bounds…
- Welcome to Los Angeles: One day Daryl Cage (Anthony Michael Hall, Into the Sun) is working on his family’s farm in Iowa, the next his parents are shipping him off to live with his brother in Los Angeles. Daryl packs his red duffle bag, hops on a plane and has a “Mile High Dream” about the young lady sitting across the aisle from him, Dizz (Jenny Wright, Near Dark). Daryl and Dizz have a conversation as they are exiting the plan and Dizz even tells him where she works if he wants to get together. This Los Angeles trip is looking good so far for Daryl, but things are about to change…
- Seeing Red: If seeing Jeff Kober’s name in the opening credits was not an indication that he was going to be the main villain in the movie, the first few minutes of the film clearly establish that Kober’s Roy Gaddis, is pure evil. The next time we see Roy, he too has arrived in Los Angeles and he too is traveling with a red duffle bag… except Roy’s duffle bag has 10 keys of heroin. Daryl’s brother Tommy inadvertently picks up Roy’s duffle bag instead of Daryl’s as they exit the airport… something Roy figures out as he sees Tommy, his wife Chris and Daryl driving away.
- Sleeping with My Clothes On: Tommy, a contractor by trade, designed and built his own house and he proudly shows Daryl the secluded suite on his property that Daryl will call home while in Los Angeles. Unless you knew the suite was was there, you wouldn’t know it was there. The brothers have a brief conversation and agree to catch up some more in the morning… Tommy goes off to the main house, while Daryl goes to sleep with his clothes on (including his shoes) and apparently without brushing his teeth… the point I am trying to make is, he never opens his bag, so he doesn’t know that he has the wrong bag, but he’s going to find out…
- Rude Awakening: The next morning Daryl wakes up, opens his bag realizes they must have grabbed the wrong bag and when he goes to the main house to tell Tommy about it… Tommy’s not answering, Tommy’s wife Chris is not answering. And that’s when Daryl finds them both dead. Seems that Roy was able to track down Tommy’s house after seeing the license plate of Tommy’s truck and went looking for his drugs. When he didn’t find his bag, he killed Tommy and Chris in cold blood. Daryl freaks out as you might expect and his first attempt to contact the police ends horribly, so there’s only one place left to turn…
- Dizz Biz: A desperate Daryl tracks down Dizz at her place of employment and manages to convince her to help him… she even quits her job! The two make a good team, as they use the drugs to flush out the man who killed Daryl’s family, all while Roy is trying to track them down! Plus, while all this is happening Daryl is a wanted man, so Daryl and Dizz have to evade the police. Then there are two DEA Agents (Raymond J. Barry and Pepe Serna) following the case from afar at first, but end up being real wild cards!
If you are going to cast Anthony Michael Hall in an action movie in 1986, Out of Bounds is exactly the kind of action movie he belonged in. Hall’s Daryl was the quintessential fish out of water, in over his head protagonist. It was easy to buy him in that role especially with the support of Jenny Wright’s Dizz, who had the street smarts that Daryl was severely lacking in.
Having Jeff Kober as the villain, did Anthony Michael Hall a huge favor as well, since Kober is excellent in his role and easy to hate. And it didn’t hurt that the movie delivered a wide variety of action sequences.
Now allow me to deliver these Bonus Bullet Points…
- Score!: Stewart Copeland provided the score for Out of Bounds. Copeland would go on to compose music for The Equalizer, The First Power and Highlander II: The Quickening.
- Familiar Faces: There were quite a few familiar faces in Out of Bounds… Allan Graff (Over the Top) plays a biker who helps Daryl escape the cops… Meat Loaf (The Squeeze) played Roy’s pilot “friend” Gil… Glynn Turman (Gremlins) Lieutenant Delgado, the one cop that Daryl is in communication with… And David Chung, who played the Black Ninja in Ninja III: The Domination has a small role as a detective.
- If You Ever: …wanted to see Jeff Kober kill a mouse with his bare hands, then Out of Bounds is the movie for you.
- Soundtraxx: Out of Bounds has some great 80’s tunes, including “How Soon Is Now?” by The Smiths and “Cities in Dust” by Siouxsie and the Banshees… in fact, Siouxsie and the Banshees appear in the movie and perform that song.
