Surrender

I love this movie, it's very funny and uplifting. Play it if you are in a mood you want to escape. Indeed there are some belly laughs (on my part) Both Michael and Sally do a great job, and Steve Gutenberg is hilarious as a selfish whiny guy. He snaps his fingers when he is on the phone, he wants a pen, he wants a piece of paper. In the shower, he wants to know where his towel is... Michael is a successful writer taken to the cleaners in Court by 2 ex wives, and he is really looking for a girl to love him for himself, and not know about his writing fame and fortune. 2 elevators are open for him to use, one with a stunning blonde inside, the other with an evil guy and his snarling and vicious looking dog. He ignores the blonde and steps inside joining the man with the snarling dog I really should give it a 10...Highly recommended

Michael Caine and Sally Field--reunited from "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure"!--in a curious but unfunny Rock Hudson-Doris Day throwback. Field has such a rapport with the camera that movie audiences immediately relate to her highs and woes. Her fans didn't turn out for this quickie-comedy from writer-director Jerry Belson, however, and yet it's gratifying to see the actress in a sunny bit of fluff for once in place of dramatic Oscar Bait (and one is nearly tempted to give "Surrender" a pass on the basis on Field's likability alone). It's a film built on an overworked premise--love vs. Money--and yet it goes off into many perplexing directions. Michael Caine does what he can with the silly role of a wealthy writer, taken to the cleaners by women over the years, who meets assembly-line artist Field and pretends to be poor--but, of course, she's the one pure lady who wouldn't care if he had money or not. There are some interesting bits in the film: a date to the airport--to watch the planes fly overhead--is unusual (and looks good on film); there's also the embarrassing way in which the two lovers meet. Still, not enough wit was put into the basic make-up of the story, which plays like something from the Doris Day-Rock Hudson generation. That's fine if the picture has the wit and snap of "Lover Come Back", but "Surrender" is terribly insecure and unsure of itself. ** from ****

If you've seen Intolerable Cruelty, you've already got a pretty good idea about this movie, which achingly examines the possibility of true love triumphing over mere greed.

Sally Field is a low income artist who is just looking for a real romance, not finding much satisfaction in her relationship with Martin (Guttenburg) a self centered lawyer. What a coincidence that Shuan Stein (Caine), a wealthy writer who have written over much of his fortune to gold digging ex-lovers, should be looking for the same thing. With a few moments of good timing, the two find each other. But, Shuan Stein secretly tests his girlfriend's loyatly by hiding information about his wealth, posing instead as a poor, out-of-work writer madly in love with her. And this is where the story is enjoyable, as Sally Field and Michael Caine charm the audience as conveniently matched romantics.

But, the story becomes a drag once the movie gets into seemingly endless bickering among the characters over matters of money when Martin asks Daisy to marry him and when Daisy (as you should expect) will discover Stein's secret. At that point, everything becomes talk about money, money, money and each character (except for maybe Martin who never seems to have a clue about what's going on) doubting if true love really exists. And as a result, the sweet love story we once enjoyed among Daisy and Martin in the first half is never recovered.

As a romantic comedy, it is a tolerably sweet and funny movie, for the first half. But, I think it ran out of steam as characters never quite seem to retain or even redevelop the charm that they had in the beginning, even after they've resolved their problems.

This is a good show by Sally Field (this is just her kind of part...kind of Murphy's Romance styled) and Michael Caine as the sweet English chap. As for Steve Guttenberg, I only didn't like him because his character was such a creep.

Surrender (1987) isn't much mentioned or remembered nowadays. That being said, anyone who has seen it will probably never forget the scene where Sally Field and Michael Caine are tied-up together, naked.

• I have to breathe.

• That's not what you breathe thru.

The roped-together scene has, HAS, to be inspired, or nicked, from Woody Allen's Broadway Danny Rose (1984), although for my money Surrender's version is funnier, especially when Caine's character, who has already been fleeced by two grasping ex-wives in divorce settlements, tries desperately to persuade the robbers not to pair him with a woman. He knows he only has to get a whiff of perfume or a soft-eyed glance and he's toast, once again. This movie was only a year after Caine had triumphed at the Oscars, winning Best Supporting Actor for his role in Woody's unbeatable comedy, Hannah and Her Sisters (1986). Obviously Surrender isn't in the same class as Hannah, but it is the kind of movie you can stick on as comfort viewing.

Sally Field, the American equivalent of Felicity Kendal, is pretty and pretty adorable in the role of an artist who can't tell a lie without her fluttering eyelashes telling on her. Caine's novelist thinks he's at last found someone who isn't into him for his money and fame, but is he right, and what about her assets?

So wanna know why this movie has aged like wine? Well, I'll tell ya. Because we've all turned to vinegar. Surrender would have been dismissed as lightweight tosh back in the 1980s, one of those movies Caine did for the cash, no other motive. Thing is, lightweight tosh of the likeable, entertaining, genuinely FUN kind, is hard to come by in the po-faced 21st century, and thus Surrender is more appreciable now for being just that, light, frothy, fun, and with familiar, charismatic stars in it. And it's so sweet, so romantic, especially when a nervous Caine comes to Field's house without an invitation, persuades her to have dinner with him, and then comes back several hours too soon, because he just can't wait to start getting to know her. Today he'd be accused of inappropriate stalking, and Field would be all over TikTok venting about her ick.

So here it is, a romantic comedy about love and other banana skins. A good time movie. Wanna have a good time?

Successful writer Sean Stein (Michael Caine) had been taken to the cleaners over and over again. First, he let his wife win due to his guilt about his mistress. Next, he's giving up another half to the mistress. He even gets robbed by a hooker. Now, he's gunshy with women. He's moving to Kuwait where women can't vote. Daisy Morgan (Sally Field) is a frustrated artist forced to mass produce hotel room paintings. She's stuck dating unscrupulous lawyer Marty (Steve Guttenberg) who refuses to commit. Both Sean and Daisy happen to be at a large fundraiser when robbers break in and strip everyone naked. Sean and Daisy are forced tied together.

I remember the elevator scene. I think I remember a few other scenes. It may be from the trailer. More likely, I saw the movie and forgot it. There's a reason to forget this. I don't like Sean and this movie is bothersome. I do like everybody initially. Sally Field is always adorable. Michael Caine can be very fun but when he starts pursuing Daisy, he becomes a stalker and a bit creepy. He needs to hit the cute button rather than the creepy button. The meet-cute is pretty cute but it goes downhill from there. The money issue keeps interfering with the rom-com. The basic premise is problematic for its romance and its comedy. It's in the movie's genes. I'm sure that Jerry Belson thinks that this is funny for all those divorced guys out there but I'm not sure that it's funny for anyone else.