Sacco a pelo a tre piazze

Having fallen for John Cusack's engaging performance as Rob in 'High Fidelity', I jumped at the chance to watch one of his earliest films, 'The Sure Thing'. And, despite a life-long hatred of "girly" films and all things romantic comedy, this slice of 80s college cheese surprisingly hit the spot.

The story is nothing new: boy (an effervescent Cusack as Walt Gibson) meets girl (Daphne Zuniga), and an antagonistic relationship is formed. He hates her studious, organised approach to life; she frowns upon his laddish, devil-may-care attitude. Inevitably, they are soon thrown together - namely by Gib's trip to California on the promise of a blond, beautiful "sure thing" from best friend Lance (Anthony Edwards) coinciding with her journey to visit her boyfriend - and opposites begin to attract.

Yet to complain that the plot is predictable would be to miss the point. You know the ending within the first five minutes: it is the journey there which is important. Director Rob Reiner handles the script with a necessarily light touch, and allows the humour to be more character-driven than situational. To the writers' credit, even the film's most obvious scenes are always relieved through it's witty and eminently quotable dialogue.

What elevates 'The Sure Thing' above the ranks of its genre contemporaries is Reiner's deft hand with a character; in particular his ability to transcend stereotypes yet create instantly recognisable, believable people, a feat he later put to effective use in 'Stand By Me'. This is underpinned by Cusack's energetic performance, showcasing what has become his staple character: the spikily droll male whose shining qualities just avoid being undermined by his easily discernible flaws.

'The Sure Thing' is also notable for its treatment of - and fondness for - the minor characters, few of whom suffer from the "obvious spare part" phenomenon of so many high school based films. Particularly commendable are Tim Robbins' disappointingly brief turn as one half of the cutesy couple from hell, and a remarkably young-looking Anthony Edwards in the long-term buddy role (notable especially for what must be one of the worst 80s fashion statements since Vanilla Ice decided on baggy trousers - see the pool scene featuring Lance's phone call from California).

Despite its premise, this film always endeavours to be about love rather than sex. A refreshing angle on a well-worn tale, 'The Sure Thing' provides a welcome escape from the 'American Pie' view of teenage romance. With consistently endearing performances from both Cusack and Zuniga, this is one romantic comedy I would happily give a second viewing.

Love stories are hard to do right. Especially films in the 80's. They were more concerned with typical Porky's like shower scenes than they were with true love. And although Gib ( Cusack ) is promised a guaranteed lay if he makes his way down to California, the movie is not at all about getting laid and bare breasts and sex, it is about falling in love and the lengths we'll go to obtain the affection of the opposite sex.

The story starts off with Gib in his first year of some Ivy League school while his best friend from highschool, Lance (Anthony Edwards) is partying it up in sunny California. Gib is already striking out with the babes on his college campus and to make matters worse, Lance is seemingly getting action everyday. Then Gib walks into his English class and notices Allison, played by Daphne Zuniga. She is not your typical bimbo in the movies. She is smart, pretty, articulate and she flat out refuses his advances towards her. She does agree to see him strictly on a study basis and he ends up making himself look even more silly and barbaric. Eventually Gib and Allison end up in the same car pool to California. She is going to see her boyfriend and he is going to bang the Sure Thing. Later, a trucker remarks to Gib, " 3000 miles just to get laid, hey you pay the speeding tickets and I'll get you there." Of course along the way, Allison and Gib find they have a mutual admiration for each other and it is only up to the viewer to guess the outcome. Shouldn't be too difficult.

So far this may sound like pretty lame stuff and perhaps it could have been except for a few things. One is the writing, two is the acting and three has to be Rob Reiner. First of all, Allison and Gib are given plenty to do and they have much funny dialogue to go with it. Allison is goated into showing how she is not as repressed as Gib thinks she is by flashing her assets to a passing car. Gib teaches Allison how to "shotgun" a beer using "any household utensil, I use a pen." Gib rescues Allison from a would-be rapist in one of the funniest moments in the film ( I think I'll take your wife ). There are also some great performances by some of the supporting characters. Tim Robbins and Cusack must have met on the set of this movie and thus their strong friendship over the years can be accredited to the filming of this gem. Here, Robbins plays Gary Cooper, but the not the Gary Cooper that's dead, and he is one of the most annoying drivers that you could be stuck with for a cross country trip. Viveca Linfors plays the English professor and she has a way of making you want to learn how to write properly, learn Shakespeare and express yourself. As she says in the film, " Life is the ultimate experience, but you have to experience it in order to write about it." And of course Anthony Edwards is quite funny as Lance.

The Sure Thing is not raunchy the way Porky's or American Pie is. It is not crude the Fasttimes or Last Road Trip is. But it is honest in it's humour and fair with it's balance of love and lust. This is 15 years old but it is one of the best teen-comedies to come out of the 80's. 90's comedies and ones that are made in the new millenium are quite good, but there is an innocence that cannot be imitated from films like this. I think a film like Here On Earth may have had The Sure Thing ( or maybe an episode of Bold and Beautiful ) in mind when they made that film. It tried to be sweet and funny but failed miserably. The Sure Thing not only doesn't fail, it surpasses your expectations.

10 out of 10

Check Rob Reiner's bio in virtually any film resource and they don't even mention this movie. Why this is so is beyond me. This is one of the overlooked gems of the 80s. I would rank it as one of Reiner's three genuine classics, along with THE PRINCESS BRIDE and THIS IS SPINAL TAP. Neither Cusack nor Zuniga could have been any better, and yet Reiner shows his directorial skill by including a cast of supporting characters that's as quirky and memorable as the leads. If you're looking for a teen romance road comedy (that isn't a gross-out soft-core flick in disguise), check this one out!

I like this one. Having always been a fan of Daphne Z, I have to say its strange that her career hasn't taken off better than this promised. She has poise, presance, looks, ability. Cusack himself is still around, be it in 'Thin Red Line' or '8 Men Out' or whatever.

I like how sweet natured this is, and how these kids aren't all cock-sure sex-fiends, unlike in all those other Porky's type flix of the era.

The soundtrack is pretty good too-the Cars, Huey Lewis, Wang Chung, Rod Stewart too. Who would thought that Rob Reiner'd turn out to be such a good director? This was his first traditional movie Move, if you will-after the Psuedo-documentary 'Spinal Tap' from the previous year-and it's a good one.

Very 80s, but a Good 80s flick. You will like this if you get a chance to see it.

*** outta ****

Rating: ***1/2

Review: I know I've seen this more than 100 times, and chances are I'll see it a 1000 more times until I die. One of the most underrated films of the 1980s, this film not only marked the second directorial effort by Rob Reiner (THE PRINCESS BRIDE, WHEN HARRY MET SALLY...), but also the starring debut of John Cusack, one of my all-time favorite actors (even if he wasn't, I'd still feel the same way about this film). Even after 15 years, this film remains fresh, funny and wonderfully romantic, with a tenderness and innocence that's missing in so many teen films. It still offends me how so many teen films put it out today (with CAN'T HARDLY WAIT leading the pack) could become hits with their target audiences and films like this are left on the video shelf being forgotten. Their excuse may be simply that "it's old," but considering how cliched teen films are today, I can't believe they are smart enough to realize that. It's a shame that THE SURE THING hasn't recieved the DVD treatment, so that it could be re-discovered by today's audiences. THE SURE THING stars Cusack as Walter "Gib" Gibson a guy who loves junk food, beer, and life in general but feels lost for the first time in his life in terms of love when he completes high school. While having a beer with his best friend Lance (Anthony Edwards), he recalls all the women he's been with and how's he's changed. We now find out that they are about to depart to seperate colleges: Lance is going to California, and Gib is going to an Ivy League school up in the Northeast. Gib discovers that college is not all it's cracked up to be, and soon starts to flunk English. This is when we meet Alison Bradbury (Daphne Zuniga) a straight-A, education committed young woman who is too uptight, to say the least.

Gib tries, but fails, to win Allison and finds himself back to Square One when he gets a call from Lance. Since Christmas is coming soon, Lance invites Gib to travel cross country to spend the holidays with him. Gib declines, until Lance mentions that there is a "very special person...who loves sex" who would very much like to meet him. After seeing a picture of this "sure thing" that Lance sends him, he immediately makes plans to travel to California. He soon realizes that he's not travelling alone, but with Alison, who's also journeying to CA to see her boyfriend (calling him uptight would be much too kind). The majority of the films shows them on the road trying to get to California, though they soon learn not only tolerate but also respect each other, and soon their goals become dimmer, but not forgotten. There are so many wonderful moments on this little trip! Instead of using cliches, director Reiner likes to poke fun at them like in a near-rape scene where Gib becomes a real actor, or when Alison is learning to shotgun beer (one of Gib's favorite hobbies) and finally discovering the last thing you'd expect to be sticking out a car window while driving by. Finally, when they both arrive in California, Alison learns of Gib's reason for coming and the climactic scene is at a dorm party where unions are forged, words are passed and feelings are finally looked at by the two main characters. The film's final sequence is quite unusual and different, which is all the more reason for you to forget the film's only negative element. That element that THE SURE THING seems to get attacked by is predictablity, though most people shouldn't care, considering how charming and funny the film is. Sure, you know that Gib and Alison are going to end up together but the trip to that point is something to a grab a seat for. Writers Steven Bloom and Jonathan Roberts make every character real and believable and manage to give nearly every one of them an unforgettable line. Saying just one of those lines would spoil a lot for the person who hasn't watched this movie yet. All I'm saying is, if there is a film that shouldn't be missed it is this one, because like a lot of critics said "It's a genuinely special love story."