SIDEOUT!

With the recent release of Cloud 9 on DVD, the genre of volleyball movies has grown by about 150%. Math has never been my strong suit but what I’m trying to say is that there are not many volleyball related movies out there. With the other “serious discussions” going on right now about foreign players, etc… I thought I would recognize the greatest volleyball movie ever to be made. This may not be saying much, but without further ado, I bring you – SIDEOUT.

The movie stars C. Thomas Howell as young Monroe Clark, just out of college he gets a job at his uncle’s real estate company in Southern California. It should be noted here, that SIDEOUT came out in 1990 and is therefore one of the last of the great 80’s style movies. As proof of this, Monroe’s uncle is played by the great Terry Kiser, (Otherwise known as Bernie from the Weekend at Bernie’s series.) and Melrose Place star Courtney Thorne-Smith plays Monroe’s love interest. Anyways, Monroe, who has never played a day of beach volleyball in his life, gets hooked on the sport. Eventually teaming up with an ex-pro/deadbeat named Zack Barnes, played by the immortal lefty Peter Horton, who Monroe is supposed to evict for his Uncle’s company. Not surprisingly, Monroe and Zack end up shooting it out with the pro tour’s top teams in the grand final, eventually facing off with the world’s number 1 (Played by Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos). I’ll let you guess what happens in the end, but without giving anything away, the last play is really something to experience.

The best way for me to describe this movie is The Karate Kid in a volleyball setting. The sheer improbability of everything that takes place only makes it that much more delicious in the end.

Along the way we are treated to several 80’s movie moments. Fluorescent colors permeate almost every scene, cheesy music montages accompany us through training sequences, love sequences, and of course Southern California sequences (women in thong bikinis on roller skates, etc… Which I can guarantee never happens except in the movies).

C. Thomas Howell as Monroe Clark gives a true pantheon performance as a young midewesterner learning the ways of the beach. A poor man’s Tom Cruise (think volleyball scene in Top Gun) he utters the line, “I used to play a little six-man back in Milwaukee” with absolute confidence. By the end of the film you believe that even though he looks unorthodox on the court, he just might be the greatest player to ever play the game.

For any volleyball fan, the movie has plenty of interesting cameos. As stated earlier, Stoklos and Smith play a major role in the film. There are also several other big names from the 80’s and early 90’s, including Steve Timmons, Ricci Luyties, etc… They all get to “act” at some point which only boosts the entertainment value even more.

Truly, this is the Citizen Kane of volleyball films. I can’t recommend it highly enough. Sadly, I may be the only person in all of Europe who has a copy.

Note: I have included the original cover artwork as well as the updated DVD artwork for the sake of balance. And after looking on Amazon.com, I was able to find a copy of the video tape for as low as 0.38 cents American. That is roughly 2-3 kroners. Value!