John Cryer in Hiding Out (1987)

Obscurity factor: 3

For those of you who grew up in the 80's, this film will probably be familiar. Though it was never a huge blockbuster, it did good business and got a lot of air play on TV in the 90's. It has a definite "B" quality to it, not because of any lack of production values or sub-standard acting. On the contrary, it's a very nicely done film with good performances and direction. It could be the fact that the stars are more known for playing second leads in other films. Andrew Morenski (Cryer) is a successful young stock broker, who has, through no fault of his own, become mixed up with the Mob. He's set to testify against them, but things get out of control while he's waiting and after a shootout at a diner, he finds himself on the run. While attempting to make contact with his aunt - a school nurse - he is mistaken for a high school student and he decides it's the perfect place to hide out. Of course nothing is ever as easy as it first seems and he gets himself in all sorts of sticky situations - including falling in love with a fellow student (Annabeth Gish).

The suspense is well managed, and the interpersonal scenes between the main characters are nicely nuanced, though, as is par-for-the-course for high school comedies of the time, many of the characters are pretty one dimensional. Look for saucy Joy Behar, with an extremely strange hair style in a small part as a counter waitress.

This film is available on DVD, and can be rented to be watched online at YouTube. The trailer is above, uploaded to YouTube by Lionsgate. The very cool, 80's meets 50's jazz club poster above is available from MoviePosterShop.com.

Obscurity factor: 3 (available on DVD and to rent at YouTube, known to 80's-ophiles)