With three John Hughes movies threatening to forever mark him as “Brain” nerd-types, seventeen-year-old Anthony Michael Hall opted out of the part of Cameron in Hughes’s Ferris Bueller’s Day Off to try something different—the lead role in Richard Tuggle’s Hitchcockian “wrong man” thriller Out of Bounds (1986). Written by Tony Kayden, whose credits mostly included wholesome family fare, it was a departure for both writer and star.
The jumping-off point of the story is fitting: Daryl Cage (Hall), emerges from a corn field at his family home in Iowa, contemplating the landscape before entering the house to the sound of his parents arguing. They’re both sick of the country lifestyle, and with plans to split send Daryl to his older brother in Los Angeles. Having barely set foot in the city, he mistakenly picks up a duffel bag that turns out to belong to a drug dealer, and then becomes the number one suspect after his brother is murdered. One bad decision leads to another, until he embroils the woman he met on the flight to help him sort out his mess.
Jenny Wright (memorable as the girl Mae in Near Dark) is that woman, calling herself Dizz—an aspiring actress and bad waitress. Although her aesthetic leans very pseudo-punk, Wright’s style is intoxicating. She’s not your average love interest, and I was rather smitten with her here as well as in Near Dark. Dizz gives Daryl a poser-punk makeover, and the two make their way across LA, dipping into clubs (where we land on a performance by Siouxsie and the Banshees) and fast-food joints.
Screenwriter Kayden wanted to portray the punk scene of LA, having observed the influx of kids from other parts of the country who gravitated there and tried to fit in. Some of these kids populate the background of the movie—you can play a guessing game as to who might be authentic vs. the studio-appointed interlopers. (For a great slice of behind-the-scenes, check this Los Angeles Times article). The movie feels like a very curated, imaginary LA, with a villain that resembles serial killer Richard “Night Stalker” Ramirez.
Out of Bounds remains largely unknown, even as Anthony Michael Hall successfully broke free of his typecasting (a few years later he crossed over to jerk-jock territory in Edward Scissorhands, 1990). Although it suffers from its somewhat nonsensical plot, if you suspend disbelief for long enough and just take the ride, it has its rewards.
Out of Bounds screens tonight, August 24, at Nitehawk Prospect Park on 35mm. Screen Slate members get $5 off.
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