Gotcha!

This movie is a real 80,s movie but in a positive way. It also brings back those memories of the cold war that used to be. Especially in East-Berlin the movie becomes tense. Besides tense the movie is also quite funny.Anthony Edwards is well-cast as the young man being whirled into the wicked world of espionage behind the Iron Curtain, and I can´t help falling in love with Linda Fiorentino..That woman is so seductive and sexy in a strange mysterious way. She, and the border-tension of East Berlin, is my main reason for really liking this movie...They don´t make´em like this any more....Its Spy Game of the 80,s...

Quite an appealing and quirky, if dated (with its politics) mid-eighties teen romantic comedy-thriller set mainly in Europe and starring a young Anthony Edwards as a college sophomore who's simply an ace at a campus assassination game known as Gotcha, although he can't seem to score with the girls. He hopes that this would change when he travels to Europe for a summer vacation and things do turn out for him when he meets a young lady Sasha. Everything is going well, until they travel to East Berlin where he learns she is not all that she seems. She disappears and he finds himself on the run from some Russian spies who believe he has something they want. "Gotcha!" starts off like your typical simple minded teen comedy, before slowly setting the situation up (dangerous spy games) and then having the novelty (our hero being a pro with a paint gun) ending in an ironically smart manner. Director Jeff Kanew (who was behind "Revenge of the Nerds") does a workable job blending its romantic shades (which familiarly plays out its message) with the lethal action in some amusingly funny exchanges (like those scenes involving the worried parents; "You had to let him go to Europe"!) and thrilling on-the-run scenarios. The script is sharply penned with its dialogues. A likable Edwards is perfectly cast in lead role as the naïve hero who actually becomes a target for real and Linda Fiorentino is ravishingly mysterious as the lady who he falls for. Gotta love the title song too… it has a catchy hook and also showing up in the cast is Alex Rocco.

"It's just a game."

Reteaming with director Jeff Kanew one year after "Revenge of the Nerds", the amiable Anthony Edwards plays another socially awkward college student. Jonathan Moore (Edwards), master of a campus paintball game called "Gotcha!", travels to Europe with his friend / roommate Manolo (Jsu Garcia). In Paris he meets an alluring Czech woman named Sasha (Linda Fiorentino) who ends his days as a virgin. But she also draws him into danger by involving him in espionage; they are soon pursued by a ferocious-looking Russian goon (played by German actor Klaus Lowitsch).

Although interest did wane for this viewer at times, he found this to be a fairly engaging Cold War era movie overall. Kanew manages a fairly light tone at first, and prevents the movie from ever getting *too* grim by coming up with some funny comic bits of business. (Such as Jonathan disguising himself as a punk rocker to avoid detection by the bad guys.). The pacing and the action scenes are reasonably well handled, but what really perks up a lot of scenes are the international locales used.

The tantalizingly sexy Fiorentino is effective as the stranger whom we automatically suspect isn't playing it completely straight with Jonathan. She and the boyish Edwards do have good chemistry, and he also seems to get on well with Garcia (whom you'll recognize as Rod Lane from the previous years' horror classic "A Nightmare on Elm Street"). Alex Rocco and Marla Adams do fine as the well-off parents who refuse to believe their sons' outlandish story, and assume that he's on drugs. Lowitsch is a decent if underdeveloped villain.

The story isn't fleshed out all that much; for one thing, we never do find out the full importance of the object of everyones' interest. Still, the movie does build towards a pretty bright finish, and is basically slick, decent entertainment for fans of the two stars.

Seven out of 10.

It's got action, it's got sex, it's got humor, and most of all, it's got a college kid who seems to be able to outsmart highly trained German spies. Everyone loves it when a complete loser, virgin college guy gets duped by his spy girlfriend to be the patsy for a large coup involving other spies, CIA, and the FBI. And what better way to show Anthony Edwards beat all of these people than with a mere animal tranquilizer gun. See it, if just for the "Yes, I am a weergin" line.

This is superb. There is nothing else to say about it. You know the premise and I'm not about to reveal anymore. Is it somewhat silly? Yes - but aren't they all in this genre? But does it have a good story line and good characters? Does it ever.

I don't think Linda Fiorentino ever looked (or acted) better. This is a romp - and it's filmed across half the world, and it isn't only the second unit that gets to travel, unless there's been some very clever scheduling going on.

This one is a total keeper. Edwards is simply good, Fiorentino is convincing - just don't expect a Picasso. This isn't big like that - but it's bound to cheer you up on an otherwise easy afternoon.

Oh - Alex Rocco and Marla Adams are great as the parents. This is not supposed to be a belly laugh movie, but that just shows what depth and breadth it has. You may not like it - we sure did.