Hiding Out
Encyclopedia
Hiding Out is a 1987 movie
starring Jon Cryer
as a Wall Street
broker "hiding out" as a high-school student as the mob tries to kill him.
. Convincing his FBI hosts that he wants breakfast and out of the safe house
, Andrew and his FBI bodyguards are followed by hitmen hired to eliminate them. One of the FBI bodyguards is killed in a diner, the other injured, and Andrew flees the scene. While running from the hitmen, he manages to board a train and temporarily escapes.
Needing a safe place to hide, Andrew, under disguise, attempts to contact his cousin (played by Keith Coogan
) and his aunt (portrayed by Cryer's real-life mother
), arranging to meet the latter at the high school at which she works as a nurse. While sitting in the nurse's office, he impulsively opts to enroll, taking the name of Maxwell Hauser (off of a Maxwell House
coffee can) and begin high school all over again. He pulls his cousin, Patrick, aside and reveals himself, eventually using Patrick's house to sleep in, unbeknownst to his aunt.
Not willing to take adult teachers' attitude that he is merely a high school student, Andrew becomes a hero to those tired of the school's status quo upsetting Kevin O'Roarke (played by Tim Quill), the current class president, and capturing the heart of Ryan Campbell (Annabeth Gish
). During an afternoon at the local diner, he accidentally drops a birthday card meant for his grandmother (who had raised him) and it gets mailed. Later, a hitman posing as an FBI agent contacts his grandmother and sees the card and its postmark, telling him where Andrew is hiding.
One night, on the way back from a date with Ryan, Patrick stops Andrew from entering the house. FBI agents have arrived, knowing Andrew is close because of his use of an ATM card. Patrick steals his mother's keys and Andrew ends up using the high school as his refuge. He meets the school janitor, Ezzard, and shares a drink with him, revealing who he truly is. Andrew embraces the opportunity to run for class president, not knowing the election committee has already decided to rig the results in favor of Kevin.
Bored with high school, Andrew decides to drop out. During the presentation of class election results, Kevin is announced the winner. However, Kevin demands a recount, which reveals that most want Andrew as President. As Morenski starts to address the crowd, a hitman begins firing at the stage. Ezzard, watching the proceedings, manages to dispose of one of the hitmen, while the other moves up into the rafters of the gym. Andrew chases him and a spotlight is used to blind the hitman. The hitman loses his grip and falls to the gym floor below as police sirens are heard.
Images of graduation are spliced into images of Andrew taking the stand in a court against the mobster who he sold the bogus bonds for. After his testimony, Andrew is given a few minutes to say farewell to his grandmother before being placed in the Federal Witness Protection Program
.
The last scene is of Ryan, sitting under a tree at college. Andrew, now known as Eddie Collins, appears from behind the tree and tells her he has decided to become a teacher. Morenski is reunited with Ryan as the credits roll.
s in the United States: "Crying" by Roy Orbison
(re-recorded as a duet with k.d. lang
); "Live My Life" by Boy George
; "Catch Me (I'm Falling)
" by Pretty Poison
, which went top ten in the U.S. and also topped the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in September 1987; and the top-20 U.S. hit "You Don't Know" by Scarlett and Black
. The U.K. hit "Seattle" by the Sex Pistols
splinter band Public Image Ltd.
was also recorded in 1987 and featured in the film.
compared the film to Like Father, Like Son
, also released in 1987
, in that it was an "example of the newest Hollywood genre, the Generation Squeeze, in which plots artificially combine adult and teenage elements" in order to attract the latter to the movie theater while attracting enough of an adult audience for the success of the rental market. Ebert describes as "dumb" the main plot device
involving the gangsters' continuing pursuit of Andrew, and the story arc
about the janitor he befriends, and notes that the film fails to depict how the 29-year-old protagonist could have much in common with Gish's character, who is over 10 years younger than him. He credited the film with getting him to wonder what it would be like to revisit one's high school years, but cites Peggy Sue Got Married from 1986 as a film that had portrayed that scenario much more successfully.
Janet Maslin
called the film "pleasant enough" with "mild" jokes that "revolving around things such as Mr. Cryer's accidentally giving tax advice to the father of a teen-age girl he's dating, or his feeling out of place at the roller rink"; she thought the film's coda
suggests that "Mr. Cryer could have unexpected charm in more adult roles."
The Time Out Film Guide called the film "predictable, slackly plotted nonsense, marginally redeemed by a genial young cast."
1987 in film
-Events:*January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records....
starring Jon Cryer
Jon Cryer
Jonathan Niven "Jon" Cryer is an American actor, screenwriter and film producer. He is the son of actress–singer Gretchen Cryer. He made his motion picture debut in the 1984 romantic comedy No Small Affair, but gained greater fame as "Duckie" in the 1986 John Hughes-scripted film Pretty in Pink...
as a Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
broker "hiding out" as a high-school student as the mob tries to kill him.
Plot
Revealed shortly into the movie, Andrew Morenski (Cryer) and two others, all stockbrokers, have managed to pass bogus bonds for a mobster awaiting trial. After one night at a bar, one of the stockbrokers is killed in his home. The next morning, the FBI take the other two into protective custodyProtective custody
Protective custody is a type of imprisonment to protect a prisoner from harm, either from outside sources or other prisoners. Many administrators believe the level of violence, or the underlying threat of violence within prisoners, is a chief factor causing the need for PC units...
. Convincing his FBI hosts that he wants breakfast and out of the safe house
Safe house
In the jargon of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, a safe house is a secure location, suitable for hiding witnesses, agents or other persons perceived as being in danger...
, Andrew and his FBI bodyguards are followed by hitmen hired to eliminate them. One of the FBI bodyguards is killed in a diner, the other injured, and Andrew flees the scene. While running from the hitmen, he manages to board a train and temporarily escapes.
Needing a safe place to hide, Andrew, under disguise, attempts to contact his cousin (played by Keith Coogan
Keith Coogan
Keith Coogan is an American actor. He is a grandson of actor Jackie Coogan.-Biography:Coogan was born Keith Eric Mitchell in Palm Springs, California, the son of Leslie Diane Coogan Mitchell, an actress...
) and his aunt (portrayed by Cryer's real-life mother
Gretchen Cryer
Gretchen Cryer is an American playwright, lyricist and actress.-Early life:Cryer was born Gretchen Kiger in Dunreith, Indiana, the daughter of Louise and Earl William Kiger...
), arranging to meet the latter at the high school at which she works as a nurse. While sitting in the nurse's office, he impulsively opts to enroll, taking the name of Maxwell Hauser (off of a Maxwell House
Maxwell House
Maxwell House is a brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Foods. Introduced in 1892, it is named in honor of the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. For many years until the late 1980s it was the largest-selling coffee in the U.S. and is currently second behind...
coffee can) and begin high school all over again. He pulls his cousin, Patrick, aside and reveals himself, eventually using Patrick's house to sleep in, unbeknownst to his aunt.
Not willing to take adult teachers' attitude that he is merely a high school student, Andrew becomes a hero to those tired of the school's status quo upsetting Kevin O'Roarke (played by Tim Quill), the current class president, and capturing the heart of Ryan Campbell (Annabeth Gish
Annabeth Gish
Annabeth Gish is an American actress known for starring roles in Shag, Mystic Pizza and Double Jeopardy. She is best known for her roles as Special Agent Monica Reyes on The X-Files, Elizabeth Bartlet Westin on The West Wing and as Eileen Caffee on the Showtime drama Brotherhood.-Personal...
). During an afternoon at the local diner, he accidentally drops a birthday card meant for his grandmother (who had raised him) and it gets mailed. Later, a hitman posing as an FBI agent contacts his grandmother and sees the card and its postmark, telling him where Andrew is hiding.
One night, on the way back from a date with Ryan, Patrick stops Andrew from entering the house. FBI agents have arrived, knowing Andrew is close because of his use of an ATM card. Patrick steals his mother's keys and Andrew ends up using the high school as his refuge. He meets the school janitor, Ezzard, and shares a drink with him, revealing who he truly is. Andrew embraces the opportunity to run for class president, not knowing the election committee has already decided to rig the results in favor of Kevin.
Bored with high school, Andrew decides to drop out. During the presentation of class election results, Kevin is announced the winner. However, Kevin demands a recount, which reveals that most want Andrew as President. As Morenski starts to address the crowd, a hitman begins firing at the stage. Ezzard, watching the proceedings, manages to dispose of one of the hitmen, while the other moves up into the rafters of the gym. Andrew chases him and a spotlight is used to blind the hitman. The hitman loses his grip and falls to the gym floor below as police sirens are heard.
Images of graduation are spliced into images of Andrew taking the stand in a court against the mobster who he sold the bogus bonds for. After his testimony, Andrew is given a few minutes to say farewell to his grandmother before being placed in the Federal Witness Protection Program
United States Federal Witness Protection Program
The United States Federal Witness Protection Program is a witness protection program administered by the United States Department of Justice and operated by the United States Marshals Service that is designed to protect threatened witnesses before, during, and after a trial.A few states, including...
.
The last scene is of Ryan, sitting under a tree at college. Andrew, now known as Eddie Collins, appears from behind the tree and tells her he has decided to become a teacher. Morenski is reunited with Ryan as the credits roll.
Soundtrack
Four songs from the film's soundtrack entered the record chartRecord chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
s in the United States: "Crying" by Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
(re-recorded as a duet with k.d. lang
K.D. Lang
Kathryn Dawn Lang, OC , known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress...
); "Live My Life" by Boy George
Boy George
Boy George is a British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by...
; "Catch Me (I'm Falling)
Catch Me (I'm Falling)
"Catch Me " is a dance-pop song released by the American group Pretty Poison in 1987. It was included on the soundtrack to the film Hiding Out, which starred Jon Cryer and came out the same year; the song later appeared on Pretty Poison's debut album, Catch Me I'm Falling...
" by Pretty Poison
Pretty Poison
Pretty Poison is a Dance group based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Group members are Jade Starling ; Whey Cooler ; and Kaya Pryor .-History:...
, which went top ten in the U.S. and also topped the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in September 1987; and the top-20 U.S. hit "You Don't Know" by Scarlett and Black
Scarlett and Black
Scarlett and Black were a pop duo from the UK, whose birth names were Robin Hild and Sue West. They were former backing vocalists for Doctor and the Medics. They released a self-titled album on Virgin Records in 1987, which proved to be a minor success in the U.S., peaking at #107 on the Billboard...
. The U.K. hit "Seattle" by the Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
splinter band Public Image Ltd.
Public Image Ltd.
Public Image Ltd are an English post-punk band formed by vocalist John Lydon , guitarist Keith Levene and bassist Jah Wobble, with frequent subsequent personnel changes. Lydon is the sole constant member of the band....
was also recorded in 1987 and featured in the film.
Reception
Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
compared the film to Like Father, Like Son
Like Father Like Son (1987 film)
Like Father Like Son is a 1987 comedy film starring Kirk Cameron and Dudley Moore. This film is a remake of the 1976 classic Disney film Freaky Friday. The film is one of four body swap comedies to appear in the space of a year; the others were the Italian film Da grande , 18 Again! and Vice Versa...
, also released in 1987
1987 in film
-Events:*January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records....
, in that it was an "example of the newest Hollywood genre, the Generation Squeeze, in which plots artificially combine adult and teenage elements" in order to attract the latter to the movie theater while attracting enough of an adult audience for the success of the rental market. Ebert describes as "dumb" the main plot device
Plot device
A plot device is an object or character in a story whose sole purpose is to advance the plot of the story, or alternatively to overcome some difficulty in the plot....
involving the gangsters' continuing pursuit of Andrew, and the story arc
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
about the janitor he befriends, and notes that the film fails to depict how the 29-year-old protagonist could have much in common with Gish's character, who is over 10 years younger than him. He credited the film with getting him to wonder what it would be like to revisit one's high school years, but cites Peggy Sue Got Married from 1986 as a film that had portrayed that scenario much more successfully.
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
called the film "pleasant enough" with "mild" jokes that "revolving around things such as Mr. Cryer's accidentally giving tax advice to the father of a teen-age girl he's dating, or his feeling out of place at the roller rink"; she thought the film's coda
Epilogue
An epilogue, epilog or afterword is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature or drama, usually used to bring closure to the work...
suggests that "Mr. Cryer could have unexpected charm in more adult roles."
The Time Out Film Guide called the film "predictable, slackly plotted nonsense, marginally redeemed by a genial young cast."