The Sure Thing

I took a trip back in time last night, to the mid-eighties, with the film The Sure Thing. From the opening moments of the film, when the notes from a Rod Stewart song accompanied shots of Nicolette Sheridan on a beach, it was as if I was back in my early twenties, working in New York as a copy editor, when Rob Reiner still made good movies, Anthony Edwards had hair, and romantic comedies had that slightly out of focus photography prevalent in MTV music videos.

This was a time when John Cusack was at the height of his powers, and I was a bit stunned to realize he was only seventeen when he made this picture. He is so self-assured and in command in this part, anchoring the film and making it is pleasant as it is. He made several films in the eighties, but this one, along with Better Off Dead and Say Anything, cemented his role as the stand-in for American male youth of the period. He was the avatar for any guy who fancied himself smart and funny and charming, or wanted to be.

For those who haven't seen it, The Sure Thing is a road picture featuring the old "opposites attract" gambit. Cusack is the sex-obsessed Gib, who ends up paired with Daphne Zuniga as Allison, a prim goody-goody. They are both headed to California, and of course they hate each other to start but by the end they are locking lips. Zuniga, who would go on to star in Melrose Place, would become something of an inamorata for the egghead crowd I ran with. She was pretty without being intimidating, and looked really good in a sweater.

This film, I'm glad to say, has aged very well. Yes, it's something of a time capsule, and you can laugh or wince at the fashions and hairstyles. The soundtrack is full of Huey Lewis and the News, Wang Chung, Culture Club, and other mid-eighties mainstays, but the sweetness of the romance and the effervescence of Cusack's character still manage to entertain. It all goes down easily, much like shotgunned beer.