# Side Out
**Side Out** is a 1990 American sports comedy-drama about beach volleyball, directed by photographer Peter Israelson in his feature debut, written by David Thoreau, and starring [C. Thomas Howell](https://www.edgepedia.org/c-thomas-howell), Peter Horton, and [Courtney Thorne-Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/courtney-thorne-smith). Tri-Star Pictures released it in limited theaters on 30 March 1990.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58691-SIDE-OUT?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=8&sid=3298505a-8a03-400e-95e7-f2d5dee018f1&sr=0.14004016)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 30 March 1990 (limited), United States; PG-13; 104 minutes[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58691-SIDE-OUT?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=8&sid=3298505a-8a03-400e-95e7-f2d5dee018f1&sr=0.14004016) |
| Original title | *The Perfect Set*, changed by executive producer Jay Weston to *Side Out*, a volleyball term and the name of a beach volleyball clothing line[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58691-SIDE-OUT?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=8&sid=3298505a-8a03-400e-95e7-f2d5dee018f1&sr=0.14004016) |
| Budget | $6 million, described as low-cost and offset by product placement[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58691-SIDE-OUT?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=8&sid=3298505a-8a03-400e-95e7-f2d5dee018f1&sr=0.14004016) |
| Box office | $450,000 domestic gross on a limited release[2](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Side-Out) |
| Real players | Association of Volleyball Professionals players cast, including the tour's No. 1 seeded team of Randy Stoklos and "Sinjin" Smith; Olympic champions Karch Kiraly, Steve Timmons, and Craig Moothart also appear[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58691-SIDE-OUT?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=8&sid=3298505a-8a03-400e-95e7-f2d5dee018f1&sr=0.14004016) |
| Critical scores | 59% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 4 reviews; Metascore of 37 on Metacritic[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/side_out) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/side-out/critic-reviews/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Monroe Clark (C. Thomas Howell) is a Wisconsin law student who comes to [Southern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/southern-california) for the summer to work at his uncle Max's real estate law firm, serving eviction notices on delinquent tenants. He meets Wiley Hunter (Christopher Rydell), a limousine-hearse driver who can be found on the strand at Hermosa Beach, and through him enters the world of professional beach volleyball. After serving papers on Zack Barnes ([Peter Horton](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-horton)), a former volleyball star known as the original "King of the Beach," Monroe receives pointers from him; when Wiley is injured, Monroe partners with Zack as underdogs in a major tournament, facing the tour's top team.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/side_out) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58691-SIDE-OUT?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=8&sid=3298505a-8a03-400e-95e7-f2d5dee018f1&sr=0.14004016)
The supporting cast includes Courtney Thorne-Smith as Samantha, Harley Jane Kozak as Kate Jacobs, Terry Kiser as Uncle Max, and [Tony Burton](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-burton) as Louie; [Kathy Ireland](https://www.edgepedia.org/kathy-ireland), the [Sports Illustrated](https://www.edgepedia.org/sports-illustrated) 1989 swimsuit-issue cover girl, appears in a supporting role in a business suit rather than a bikini, a choice the producers made in favor of a more experienced lead actress.[5](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/side-out/umc.cmc.72jkuktzauvl7fwi1vw3q972k) • [6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-02-ca-443-story.html)
## Production
[Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) ran from 15 August to 29 September 1989. Locations included Zuma Beach near Malibu, where shooting along 300 yards of beach stopped traffic on the [Pacific Coast Highway](https://www.edgepedia.org/pacific-coast-highway), and Hermosa Beach, where the production filmed during the two-day, $150,000 Miller Lite USA Championships on 26–27 August 1989. Although [Miller Lite](https://www.edgepedia.org/miller-lite) sponsored that tournament, the producers filmed the finale at Jose Cuervo's Gold Crown Classic because its 10,000-seat stadium was more elaborate and colorful and had an electronic scoreboard.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58691-SIDE-OUT?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=8&sid=3298505a-8a03-400e-95e7-f2d5dee018f1&sr=0.14004016) • [6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-02-ca-443-story.html)
**Product placement** was central to the financing. Marketer Russ Krasnoff arranged for sportswear lines to audition their products for the film; Mossimo Sport clothes were worn by Howell, and Spot Sport sponsored several volleyball champions. Tri-Star vice president of production [Christopher Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/christopher-lee) said the placement offset the $6 million budget and reflected what the beach scene actually looked like, with more than a dozen beach volleyball clothing lines then on the market and companies such as Reebok and L.A. Gear beginning to sponsor players.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58691-SIDE-OUT?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=8&sid=3298505a-8a03-400e-95e7-f2d5dee018f1&sr=0.14004016) • [6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-02-ca-443-story.html)
The production cast more than a dozen tour regulars in key roles. Horton, who had played volleyball on Santa Monica beaches for ten years, did his own playing after six weeks of training; Howell was occasionally doubled by the trio's instructor, tour player and former champion Jon Stevenson.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-02-ca-443-story.html)
## Beach volleyball context
The film arrived as professional beach volleyball was expanding beyond its Southern California roots. In the early 1970s the sport was a laid-back local tradition with prizes as modest as a case of beer; by 1989 the Association of Professional Volleyball ran a seven-month, 25-event tour with stops in Dallas, Milwaukee, and Cleveland, drawing as many as 50,000 spectators, with tournament purses as high as $150,000 and national cable television coverage. Stoklos, then 28, earned $135,000 on the 1988 tour and stood to add an estimated $250,000 in endorsements. Two-man beach volleyball was scheduled to debut as a demonstration sport at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, and Stoklos called the movie's timing right for the sport's momentum.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-02-ca-443-story.html)
## Reception
The film grossed $450,000 domestically on its limited release, about $1.2 million in inflation-adjusted dollars.[2](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Side-Out) Critics were largely negative: Metacritic recorded a Metascore of 37 from four mixed reviews, and the Los Angeles Times review criticized the film's intercutting of beach and law-firm scenes as shameless button-pressing, while the [Chicago Tribune](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-tribune) credited Peter Horton with bringing shaggy-dog sincerity to the mentor role.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/side-out/critic-reviews/) The Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer stood at 59% from four reviews, and audience reactions have treated the film as a nostalgic time capsule of late-1980s beach culture with well-shot volleyball sequences.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/side_out) [Leonard Maltin](https://www.edgepedia.org/leonard-maltin)'s guide called it a C-rated 100-minute film, and VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever dismissed it as bogus.[7](https://thengamer.com/AxZ/Pics%20%26%20Stuff/Litt/Leonard%20Maltin%27s%202010%20Movie%20Guide.pdf) • [8](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/side-out)
The film was the only feature directed by Israelson, a photographer, and was the last film for Aurora Productions.[9](https://thefilmjunkies.com/side-out-blu-ray-review/) Its title term refers to the side-out scoring system then used in volleyball, under which only the serving team could score.[10](https://www.kifst.unist.hr/~grga/Istrazivanja%20iz%20odbojke%20na%20pijesku/IJPAS%202003b.pdf)
## References
1. [Side Out (1990), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58691-SIDE-OUT?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=8&sid=3298505a-8a03-400e-95e7-f2d5dee018f1&sr=0.14004016)
2. [Side Out (1990) – Box Office and Financial Information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Side-Out)
3. [Side Out, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/side_out)
4. [Side Out critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/side-out/critic-reviews/)
5. [Side Out, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/side-out/umc.cmc.72jkuktzauvl7fwi1vw3q972k)
6. [Daniel Cerone, "Volleyball, Anyone? : 'Side Out' Tries to Spike Notion That Beach Movies Can't Score," Los Angeles Times, 2 October 1989](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-02-ca-443-story.html)
7. [Leonard Maltin's 2010 Movie Guide](https://thengamer.com/AxZ/Pics%20%26%20Stuff/Litt/Leonard%20Maltin%27s%202010%20Movie%20Guide.pdf)
8. [Side Out, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever via Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/side-out)
9. [Side Out: Blu-Ray Review, The Film Junkies](https://thefilmjunkies.com/side-out-blu-ray-review/)
10. [The effect of changing the rules on score fluctuation and match duration in the FIVB women's beach volleyball, IJPAS 2003](https://www.kifst.unist.hr/~grga/Istrazivanja%20iz%20odbojke%20na%20pijesku/IJPAS%202003b.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 1990 to 1994 › Titles K to W*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license