Jon Cryer stars as a stockbroker who goes back to High School in the cult classic Hiding Out, new to 4K UHD from Kino Lorber.
The Film
Only in the ‘80s would the hero of a film be a progressive anti-Nixon stockbroker. It’s one of the many contradictions in terms that go through the runtime of director Bob Giraldi’s high school comedy thriller Hiding Out.
A stolen high school election. A not-so-bad school villain. A hitman who looks like Eddie Munster (Dracula). Are more of the contradictions in terms that must be dealt with by Andrew Morenski, nee Maxwell Hauser (Jon Cryer), as he’s on the run because of a Rico case against a gangster he and his junk-bond buddies dealt with. Hauser gets to relive his high school days, hiding in plain sight as he tries to figure out his next move. He never counted on becoming popular, forced to run for class president, and in a romance with one of the high school seniors (Annabeth Gish). Max/Andrew isn’t sure what’s more dangerous … surviving high school or surviving the mob.
As long as you don’t look too hard at the romance of the film, Hiding Out is an utterly charming bit of young adult genre filmmaking. A spiritual cousin to the equally entertaining Hot Pursuit, Hiding Out gives Andrew/Max and the audience the ability to do what many want – relive high school or their misspent youth. The clever script by Joe Menosky and Jeff Rothberg understands all the right notes to make and the balance between thriller and high school comedy. The film wastes no time in setting stakes and setting up the plot within the first ten minutes, allowing the film to vibe for the rest of the 85 minutes until its tense ending.
The performances are all around winning, led by Cryer and Gish. The fact that Cryer is aged up and Gish is aged down (they were literally the same age when they were cast) makes the story of an almost in his thirties man romancing a high school senior almost palpable. In fact, other than the constant amount of smoking Andrew/Max does in the film, it’s the only thing that’s truly questionable here. Keith Coogan, Claude Brooks, and Tim Quill are all great in supporting roles as high schoolers Andrew/Max befriends or contends with. Character Acting stalwarts John Spencer and Lou Walker both make appearances as well.
Hiding Out is one of those cult classics that became such because of its constant rotation on cable. It’s aged nicely into a truly unique genre film amongst the teen genre films of the era and a nice reminder that you can mix two very different genres with great results.
The Transfer
The all-new UHD SDR Master by StudioCanal – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative is an excellent representation of the film. Though some would complain about the lack of an HDR but the image in SDR has wonderful contrast and black levels. Adding an HDR layer to the image may not do a lot for this film. The transfer is still wonderfully verbose in its sharpness. There is nary a scratch or blemish on the image. An all-around excellent transfer that mimics the film’s 35mm origins to the tee. This new scan is by far and away the best the film has ever looked.
The Extras
They include the following;
Product Extras :
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
NEW Audio Commentary by Director Bob Giraldi, Moderated by Black Mansion Films Producer Heather Buckley
NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Jarret Gahan
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
NEW Audio Commentary by Director Bob Giraldi, Moderated by Black Mansion Films Producer Heather Buckley
NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Jarret Gahan
NEW Interview with Actor Jon Cryer
NEW Interview with Actress Annabeth Gish
Theatrical Trailer
The first of three all-new Audio Commentaries is by Director Bob Giraldi, moderated by Black Mansion Films Producer Heather Buckley, opening with their credentials before diving into a brief discussion of Dino DeLaurentiis and meeting him through working with his daughter and Giraldi’s overall thoughts on the film. Some of the other details include how Giraldi became attached to the script, which Cryer was already attached to; his career in TV ads and music videos, some of which were very famous musical acts like Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Lionel Ritchie, Pat Benatar, and so many more; competing with David Fincher over directing gigs, specifically Madonna; a great conversation about the development of the visual story of Jackson’s Beat It and where the inspiration came from; a discussion of the great character actor John Spencer – and honesty about the difficulty the actor had during the shoot; working with Cryer and how amendable the star was; the shooting locations in Boston and DeLaurentiis’s studio in North Carolina; the role that Cryer’s mother was cast in; the way they casted and art directed the high school; the work of cinematographer of Daniel Pearl; the difference between doing a music video and a feature length film – how he approaches both; his favorite directors and films that inspired him; a larger discussion of the actors that appear in the film and his honest assessment of the various performances, some of which he felt were over the top for his tastes; and much more. Giraldi and Buckley provide a wonderful, oftentimes non-screen-specific commentary track that’s filled with information about the production and the director’s own career.
The second of the three all-new Audio Commentaries is by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson open with their credentials and discuss their first experience seeing this almost forty-year-old film. Some of the details include this being a part of the DEG studio slate and how DeLaurentiis came to buy Embassy, which turned into DEG; a discussion of the art materials, which leads to a discussion of how they were almost too artful and how DEG appeared to not know how to sell their films visually; this leads to a larger discussion of the different new mini-studios appeared at the time; the soundtrack, which was a hit, the various needle drops, music videos, and the rise of Roy Orbison (whose duet with KD Lang, Cryin’ is featured in the soundtrack); a discussion of actor John Spencer and his varied work post-Hiding Out; the work and career of director Bob Giraldi – including a discussion of the style he brings here; the work of cinematographer Daniel Pearl; DEG’s studios in North Carolina and why the state was chosen by DeLaurentiis; the work and career of Jon Cryer – including an interesting conversation about the deal that DEG struck with Cryer for this film; the way that a certain curse word would have gotten them an R-rating now but the film somehow got away with it; it’s failure at the box office and the film’s success on home video and cable; a discussion of the relevant topics that the film deals with that are very topical in this current era; the revisionism of the Reagan era of the 1980s that the film deals with; the commonality of smoking in high school during the era; the work and career of Annabeth Gish; a larger discussion of the 1980s and the specific time frame this film was made; a larger discussion of the various actors that appear in the film, and most who are still working today; and much more. Mitchell and Thompson provide another entertaining track that provides both informational and personal asides about the film.
The final of the three all-new Audio Commentaries is by Film Historian Jarret Gahan opens with his credentials and his overall thesis for this commentary track. Some of the details include the terrible fake beard, including his own beard growing issues, and the decision to go with a false one; why they chose to start with Cryer with a beard; the development of the screenplay and its original story, and how that changed – the similarities the original concept to Rodney Dangerfield’s Back to School; the youth genre where it was a the time on both TV and Film – including similar type of the films of older characters going back to their past or into school at the present; the box office failure of the film, which leads to a larger discussion of studio DEG and their other projects and why they failure at the box office; a discussion of the various changes they made to the screenplay’s original concept; a larger discussion of the deleted scenes (description of where they were and what they contained) and how they were more than likely lost, and why the deleted scenes, totaling 26 minutes; and much more. Gahan provides a deeply researched commentary track including quotes from interviews with the cast and crew.
Adult Education: Jon Cryer Opens Up on Hiding Out (35:19) – is an all-new Interview with Cryer that opens with how Hiding Out came to be in the wake of the success of Pretty in Pink. Cryer goes on to discuss how he was involved in the entire development process watching the initial idea and concept changing to fit him as a star; the hiring of director Bob Giraldi; the collaboration with Giraldi – including a great anecdote about meeting him at the gym; the character work that went into the film for him as an actor; the various cultural changes in the forty years since making the film; the way that the beard came about and how the fake beard also came about; working with Annabeth Gish – both the casting process and working with her during the production; the soundtrack came about and the KD Lang / Roy Orbison collaboration came about for the song for the soundtrack – including the fact that he was at the recording session; and much more.
Teen Spirit: Annabeth Gish Remembers Hiding Out (18:24) – is an all-new Interview with Gish that opens with her audition process and being a teenager during the production. Gish goes on to discuss meeting director Bob Giraldi and a funny anecdote about Kangol hats; working with Cryer – and also knowing him outside of the film; how she got her first agent through her debut feature (Desert Bloom); her three-film run of Hiding Out, Shag, and Mystic Pizza – how much nostalgia she has for that era as everything was shot on location and on actual film; being the only actor that was age appropriate and how that informed the performance; her feelings on the age difference and how its handled in the film; the fact that her mother was on hand for everything on set; and much more.
Jon Cryer stars as a stockbroker who goes back to High School in the cult classic Hiding Out, new to 4K UHD from Kino Lorber.
The Film
Only in the ‘80s would the hero of a film be a progressive anti-Nixon stockbroker. It’s one of the many contradictions in terms that go through the runtime of director Bob Giraldi’s high school comedy thriller Hiding Out.
A stolen high school election. A not-so-bad school villain. A hitman who looks like Eddie Munster (Dracula). Are more of the contradictions in terms that must be dealt with by Andrew Morenski, nee Maxwell Hauser (Jon Cryer), as he’s on the run because of a Rico case against a gangster he and his junk-bond buddies dealt with. Hauser gets to relive his high school days, hiding in plain sight as he tries to figure out his next move. He never counted on becoming popular, forced to run for class president, and in a romance with one of the high school seniors (Annabeth Gish). Max/Andrew isn’t sure what’s more dangerous … surviving high school or surviving the mob.
As long as you don’t look too hard at the romance of the film, Hiding Out is an utterly charming bit of young adult genre filmmaking. A spiritual cousin to the equally entertaining Hot Pursuit, Hiding Out gives Andrew/Max and the audience the ability to do what many want – relive high school or their misspent youth. The clever script by Joe Menosky and Jeff Rothberg understands all the right notes to make and the balance between thriller and high school comedy. The film wastes no time in setting stakes and setting up the plot within the first ten minutes, allowing the film to vibe for the rest of the 85 minutes until its tense ending.
The performances are all around winning, led by Cryer and Gish. The fact that Cryer is aged up and Gish is aged down (they were literally the same age when they were cast) makes the story of an almost in his thirties man romancing a high school senior almost palpable. In fact, other than the constant amount of smoking Andrew/Max does in the film, it’s the only thing that’s truly questionable here. Keith Coogan, Claude Brooks, and Tim Quill are all great in supporting roles as high schoolers Andrew/Max befriends or contends with. Character Acting stalwarts John Spencer and Lou Walker both make appearances as well.
Hiding Out is one of those cult classics that became such because of its constant rotation on cable. It’s aged nicely into a truly unique genre film amongst the teen genre films of the era and a nice reminder that you can mix two very different genres with great results.
The Transfer
The all-new UHD SDR Master by StudioCanal – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative is an excellent representation of the film. Though some would complain about the lack of an HDR but the image in SDR has wonderful contrast and black levels. Adding an HDR layer to the image may not do a lot for this film. The transfer is still wonderfully verbose in its sharpness. There is nary a scratch or blemish on the image. An all-around excellent transfer that mimics the film’s 35mm origins to the tee. This new scan is by far and away the best the film has ever looked.
The Extras
They include the following;
Product Extras :
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
The first of three all-new Audio Commentaries is by Director Bob Giraldi, moderated by Black Mansion Films Producer Heather Buckley, opening with their credentials before diving into a brief discussion of Dino DeLaurentiis and meeting him through working with his daughter and Giraldi’s overall thoughts on the film. Some of the other details include how Giraldi became attached to the script, which Cryer was already attached to; his career in TV ads and music videos, some of which were very famous musical acts like Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Lionel Ritchie, Pat Benatar, and so many more; competing with David Fincher over directing gigs, specifically Madonna; a great conversation about the development of the visual story of Jackson’s Beat It and where the inspiration came from; a discussion of the great character actor John Spencer – and honesty about the difficulty the actor had during the shoot; working with Cryer and how amendable the star was; the shooting locations in Boston and DeLaurentiis’s studio in North Carolina; the role that Cryer’s mother was cast in; the way they casted and art directed the high school; the work of cinematographer of Daniel Pearl; the difference between doing a music video and a feature length film – how he approaches both; his favorite directors and films that inspired him; a larger discussion of the actors that appear in the film and his honest assessment of the various performances, some of which he felt were over the top for his tastes; and much more. Giraldi and Buckley provide a wonderful, oftentimes non-screen-specific commentary track that’s filled with information about the production and the director’s own career.
The second of the three all-new Audio Commentaries is by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson open with their credentials and discuss their first experience seeing this almost forty-year-old film. Some of the details include this being a part of the DEG studio slate and how DeLaurentiis came to buy Embassy, which turned into DEG; a discussion of the art materials, which leads to a discussion of how they were almost too artful and how DEG appeared to not know how to sell their films visually; this leads to a larger discussion of the different new mini-studios appeared at the time; the soundtrack, which was a hit, the various needle drops, music videos, and the rise of Roy Orbison (whose duet with KD Lang, Cryin’ is featured in the soundtrack); a discussion of actor John Spencer and his varied work post-Hiding Out; the work and career of director Bob Giraldi – including a discussion of the style he brings here; the work of cinematographer Daniel Pearl; DEG’s studios in North Carolina and why the state was chosen by DeLaurentiis; the work and career of Jon Cryer – including an interesting conversation about the deal that DEG struck with Cryer for this film; the way that a certain curse word would have gotten them an R-rating now but the film somehow got away with it; it’s failure at the box office and the film’s success on home video and cable; a discussion of the relevant topics that the film deals with that are very topical in this current era; the revisionism of the Reagan era of the 1980s that the film deals with; the commonality of smoking in high school during the era; the work and career of Annabeth Gish; a larger discussion of the 1980s and the specific time frame this film was made; a larger discussion of the various actors that appear in the film, and most who are still working today; and much more. Mitchell and Thompson provide another entertaining track that provides both informational and personal asides about the film.
The final of the three all-new Audio Commentaries is by Film Historian Jarret Gahan opens with his credentials and his overall thesis for this commentary track. Some of the details include the terrible fake beard, including his own beard growing issues, and the decision to go with a false one; why they chose to start with Cryer with a beard; the development of the screenplay and its original story, and how that changed – the similarities the original concept to Rodney Dangerfield’s Back to School; the youth genre where it was a the time on both TV and Film – including similar type of the films of older characters going back to their past or into school at the present; the box office failure of the film, which leads to a larger discussion of studio DEG and their other projects and why they failure at the box office; a discussion of the various changes they made to the screenplay’s original concept; a larger discussion of the deleted scenes (description of where they were and what they contained) and how they were more than likely lost, and why the deleted scenes, totaling 26 minutes; and much more. Gahan provides a deeply researched commentary track including quotes from interviews with the cast and crew.
Adult Education: Jon Cryer Opens Up on Hiding Out (35:19) – is an all-new Interview with Cryer that opens with how Hiding Out came to be in the wake of the success of Pretty in Pink. Cryer goes on to discuss how he was involved in the entire development process watching the initial idea and concept changing to fit him as a star; the hiring of director Bob Giraldi; the collaboration with Giraldi – including a great anecdote about meeting him at the gym; the character work that went into the film for him as an actor; the various cultural changes in the forty years since making the film; the way that the beard came about and how the fake beard also came about; working with Annabeth Gish – both the casting process and working with her during the production; the soundtrack came about and the KD Lang / Roy Orbison collaboration came about for the song for the soundtrack – including the fact that he was at the recording session; and much more.
Teen Spirit: Annabeth Gish Remembers Hiding Out (18:24) – is an all-new Interview with Gish that opens with her audition process and being a teenager during the production. Gish goes on to discuss meeting director Bob Giraldi and a funny anecdote about Kangol hats; working with Cryer – and also knowing him outside of the film; how she got her first agent through her debut feature (Desert Bloom); her three-film run of Hiding Out, Shag, and Mystic Pizza – how much nostalgia she has for that era as everything was shot on location and on actual film; being the only actor that was age appropriate and how that informed the performance; her feelings on the age difference and how its handled in the film; the fact that her mother was on hand for everything on set; and much more.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for Hiding Out (1:33); Gotcha! (1:35); The Hard Way (2:04); Running Scared (1:30); The Big Easy (2:04)
The Final Thought
Kino has again gone above and beyond to bring us a great upgraded 4K UHD edition of this film. Highest recommendations!!!
Kino Lorber’s 4K UHD Edition of Hiding Out is out now.
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