Side Out

Side Out follows Monroe Clark, a law student who heads to California for a summer job working for his uncle Max, an attorney who also runs a debt collection business. Sent to recover money from Zack Barnes, a former volleyball champion now running a beach club and competing in summer tournaments, Monroe instead befriends him. The two strike an arrangement: Zack teaches Monroe the game, and in return Monroe lets the debt slide. Along the way Monroe becomes involved with Samantha, while the pair train to take on the reigning beach volleyball champions.

The film was directed by Peter Israelson from a screenplay by David Thoreau, produced by Gary Foster for TriStar Pictures and Aurora Productions. C. Thomas Howell plays Monroe, with Peter Horton as Zack, Courtney Thorne-Smith as Samantha, Harley Jane Kozak as Kate Jacobs, Christopher Rydell as Wiley Hunter and Terry Kiser as Uncle Max. Twenty-four cast members and seventy-five crew members are credited.

Released in March 1990, Side Out runs 104 minutes and mixes comedy, drama and romance around its beach volleyball setting. On TMDB it holds a rating of 5.3 out of 10 from 41 votes, a modest score from a small sample that suggests limited lasting attention compared with the genre's better-known titles.