Skin Deep (1989)

Zach Hutton is a womanizing, drunken, allelic writer whose life seems to be falling apart at the seams. He's still in love with his ex-wife (whose family can't stand him), writer's block is... See full summary »

Director:

Blake Edwards

Writer:

Blake Edwards

Stars:

John Ritter, Vincent Gardenia, Alyson Reed

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Ritter	...	Zach
Vincent Gardenia	...	Barney
Alyson Reed	...	Alex
Joel Brooks	...	Jake
Julianne Phillips	...	Molly
Chelsea Field	...	Amy
Peter Donat	...	Sparky
Don Gordon	...	Curt
Nina Foch	...	Alex's Mother
Denise Crosby	...	Angie
Michael Kidd	...	Dr. Westford
Dee Dee Rescher	...	Bernice
Bryan Genesse	...	Rick
Bo Foxworth	...	Greg
Raye Hollitt	...	Lonnie

Storyline

Zach Hutton is a womanizing, drunken, allelic writer whose life seems to be falling apart at the seams. He's still in love with his ex-wife (whose family can't stand him), writer's block is keeping him from completing his latest novel, and he repeatedly finds himself in trouble of one sort or another with the law, ex-girlfriends, and jealous boyfriends.

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Plot Keywords:

condom | duel | rock star | piano on fire | cockfighting | 

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Taglines:

The comedy that glows in the dark.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 March 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Changes

Filming Locations:

Malibu, California, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$19,674,852 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beco Films, Morgan Creek Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

'Nina Foch', who played John Ritter's mother-in-law in the film, was originally Ritter's acting coach when he was a student at Hollywood High School and he was really nervous when he met up with her again on the set of the movie.

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Goofs

During the latter half of the movie Zach's beard alternates between real and obviously fake.

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Quotes

Jake: I gotta get home to the fucking loved ones.

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Connections

Spoofed in Wrongfully Accused (1998)

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Soundtracks

"Have You Met Miss Jones"
Performed by John Ritter & Vincent Gardenia

User Reviews

ONE OF BLAKE EDWARDS' VERY BEST

"Skin Deep" was marketed incorrectly. Fox marketed this as a raunchy comedy. It is more of a companion piece to "10" rather than "S.O.B." in that it is fairly serious as well.

But this isn't all drama. "Skin Deep" is not only one of Blake Edwards' very best films, it is probably his most successful combination of comedy and drama to date. Edwards wants to have it both ways and it succeeds.

The film stars John Ritter as Zach Hutton, a one-time famous, best selling author who has stumbled. He is quick to blame it on writer's block, but he has other problems. He drinks excessively. He womanizes even more excessively. His wife has left him after finding him in bed with his mistress' hairdresser. (No, I'm not spoiling the film for you; Edwards makes this all clear in the first 12 minutes) Hutton then sets out on a mission to get his life in order and gain his wife back.

Right there, "Skin Deep" resembles another film, Paul Mazursky's great "Blume in Love". But Edwards takes some turns that Mazursky never even considered. Yeah, Zach wants his wife back, but does he want to change? The answer could be no, but I'm not saying yes either. As in his best films, Edwards never gives any easy answers to the questions he asks and he simply records an existence.

I've made "Skin Deep" sound awfully serious. But I want to say that "Skin Deep" is one of the funniest Edwards films I've ever seen. There are sequences here that rival the best Panther films in terms of hilarity. The house fire. The glow-in-the dark condoms. The electrical therapy sequence. The tsunami warning. His sleepover at his best friends' house, but I can't list them all. I want you to discover some as well.

A real surprise is John Ritter. Most people have written him off as Jack Tripper from his hit TV series "Three's Company", but he has developed into a fine actor with roles in "Sling Blade", "Unnatural Causes" and "Nowhere". Here, he finds the right tone for all of his scenes. He can go from comedy to drama and always be convincing. It's a brilliant performance and it was a real shame the Academy couldn't recognize it.

"Skin Deep" marked a milestone for Blake Edwards. At the time of its' release, 1989 was his 50th year in show business. I've always been an admirer of his work and it gave me great pleasure to see that he still has it in him. It is also kind of sad that Edwards followed this masterpiece with the lackluster "Switch".But at least "Son of the Pink Panther" was a good cap to a great career.

**** out of 4 stars