THE SURE THING (1985)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
John Cusack has always had an incredible gift for making us believe he is sincere and forthright in his ambitions and his abilities. You never doubt him, especially during the 1980's when he reigned supreme with films like "Better Off Dead," "Say Anything" and "Journey of Natty Gann." "The Sure Thing, a delicate, sweetly funny and very romantic comedy about college students on the road to Los Angeles, is one of the very best teen romantic comedies not directed by John Hughes. The fact that Cusack appears is a stroke of good luck. The fact that Daphne Zuniga is the reluctant romantic interest makes it doubly appealing.
Cusack is Walter, an insecure freshman college student who has a romantic interest in Alison (Daphne Zuniga). She brushes him off yet falls for his incessant attitude - he claims he needs tutoring in English. Alison almost falls for his little speech about astronomy and "speaking each other's unspoken language." Then Lance, Walter's buddy (Lance Guest) from California, invites Walter for Christmas vacation to meet the "sure thing" - a blonde girl who will sleep with Walter, no questions asked. Yep, sounds like the plot of a million other spring break vacation movies of the 1980's only this film is much smarter, wittier and becomes a road movie, my fave genre. Another plus is that the sure thing is not dumb and Zuniga is a very smart young woman. In order for Walter to save money and travel to L.A., he rides with a sing-along couple (played hilariously by Tim Robbins "I am not the Gary Cooper that's dead" and Lisa Jane Persky) and also happens to share the ride with Alison! What are the odds.
During the road trip, after getting thrown out by the couple for stripping their clothes to passerby, Walter and Alison walk and hitch rides, sometimes with eccentric people along the way (Walter continuously jokes that he loves "living on the edge"). Walter and Alison are smitten with each other yet both can't admit to it and find other ways of revealing their love for each other. When Alison is sexually assaulted by a creepy older driver, Walter feigns insanity as if he was some sort of serial killer just to save her. When they stay at a fancier hotel, they sleep in the same bed and inadvertently caress each other in the morning. In typical John Cusack fashion, he gets up from the bed, says he is apologetic though she doesn't mind and steps outside for fresh air while waving to her from the balcony. Not too many teen movies of this period deal with a similar situation honestly and with a winsome attitude. Oh, in case I forget to mention, Alison is on her way to meet her L.A. boyfriend who is far nerdier and WASP-ier than you can imagine. Alison and Walter both think they are traveling for sure things, and both are wrong in thinking they are better off with other partners. Nothing new in terms of story but the execution of the material, written by Steven L. Bloom and Jonathan Roberts, is what it makes fun and spirited and deeply touching by the end.
"The Sure Thing" has so many bright moments of romantic yearning and romantic spells that I was just smiling through the whole film. Directed with complete assuredness by Rob Reiner, "The Sure Thing" is brisk, tight storytelling that is neither fanciful nor thickly maudlin. Even the subplot about the sure thing herself (played by Nicolette Sheridan) is handled with sensitivity - you just know Walter won't go through with it (though we never do find out what Sheridan's character's opinion about all this is). The point is otherwise made abundantly clear - Walter is meant to be with Alison and we cheer for them and wait for them to admit their mutual love. Their love is a sure thing.
