The Sure Thing (1985)

A college student plans a cross-country trip to get laid, but ends up traveling with a young woman. They hate each other, so naturally...

Director:

Rob Reiner

Writers:

Steve Bloom (as Steven L. Bloom), Jonathan Roberts

Stars:

John Cusack, Daphne Zuniga, Anthony Edwards

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Cusack	...	Walter 'Gib' Gibson
Daphne Zuniga	...	Alison Bradbury
Anthony Edwards	...	Lance
Boyd Gaines	...	Jason
Tim Robbins	...	Gary Cooper
Lisa Jane Persky	...	Mary Ann Webster
Viveca Lindfors	...	Professor Taub
Nicollette Sheridan	...	The Sure Thing
Marcia Christie	...	Julie
Robert Anthony Marcucci	...	Bobby
Sarah Buxton	...	Sharon
Lorrie Lightle	...	Lucy
Joshua Cadman	...	Jimbo
Krystal Richards	...	Girl in Photo
John Putch	...	Mastin

Storyline

College freshman Walter (Gib) Gibson decides to go cross country to visit his friend in California during winter break. Awaiting there is a bikini-clad babe whom his friend assures him is a "sure thing". Meanwhile, Allison, a cute (but somewhat retentive) girl at Gib's college has also decided to head out to Cal. to see her boyfriend during break. Gib and Allison are thrust together on a road trip from hell, and somewhere along the way, they find each others company to be tolerable. Now, what will become of Gib's "sure thing?"

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Plot Keywords:

road trip | blonde | hitchhiking | one night stand | white bra | 

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Taglines:

A sure thing comes once in a lifetime... but the real thing lasts forever.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 March 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Sure Thing

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,124,782, 3 March 1985

Gross USA:

$18,135,531

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$18,135,531

Company Credits

Production Co:

Embassy Pictures, Monument Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Gib (John Cusack) and Alison (Daphne Zuniga) are on the library roof, Alison says that when she was six she wanted to be a princess. Daphne Zuniga played a princess in Spaceballs (1987).

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Goofs

When Gary is driving after the first night in the hotel he is on the left-hand side of the road. In the next shot he is back on the right.

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Quotes

Gib: [talks to Alison while she swims] I flunk English, I'm outta here. Kiss college goodbye. I don't know what I'll do. Dad will be pissed off. Mom will be heartbroken. If I play my cards right, I get maybe a six-month grace period and then I gotta get a job, and you know what that means.
[Alison ignores him]
Gib: That's right, they start me at the drive-up window and I gradually work my way up from shakes to burgers, and then one day my lucky break comes: the french fry guy dies and they offer me the job...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

This film has an alternate version. The first scene of the alternate version starts with the scene right before Lance's dialogue "Private Gibson" to Gibson (John Cusack) where Gibson is sitting alone. This version doesn't have scenes with Gibson's dialogue to two women. This version delete the scene where Gibson's roommate is making love to his girlfriend. This version also doesn't have the scene where John Cusack kisses the girl in Lance's room close to the end of the film.

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Connections

Referenced in Growing Pains: Ben's Sure Thing (1990)

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Soundtracks

Feelings
Music by Louis Gasté
Lyrics by Morris Albert
Used by permission of Fermata International Melodies, Inc.

User Reviews

After A Weak Start This Turns Surprisingly Enjoyable

For the first half hour or so this movie comes across as little more than a typically sophomoric and lame comedy about a guy who's looking for action with a girl - and it wasn't even outrageous enough to be truly funny. Gib (John Cusack) has just graduated from high school and gone on to an unnamed Ivy League school. He's frustrated by his lack of success with girls, and by his inability to get the attention of his classmate Alison (Daphne Zuniga.) Then out of the blue he gets invited by an old high school buddy to come to California for Christmas where his buddy will set him up with a "sure thing." To that point there was nothing particularly special about this movie, nothing noteworthy, nothing even especially humorous. But then, the road trip begins, and somehow it all begins to fit together.

True - you see the end coming almost from the beginning. Gib and Alison have to end up together. That's the whole point of a movie like this. The question is going to be how they end up together. And that actually became a very enjoyable and at times funny story. It turns out that Alison is also going to California for the holidays to visit her boyfriend, and against their wills they end up having to travel together and through a series of misadventures they fall for each other. In fact, I think one of the truly "sweetest" scenes I've ever come across in a movie is the scene in which Alison and Gib wake up with him holding her in his arms after they innocently shared a bed on the trip. She knows that this is innocent, that nothing happened, and simply enjoys the feeling of being held; he wakes up and immediately starts to assure her that nothing happened, that he hadn't tried anything. In a way that was the central scene of the movie, as their feelings for each other are defined at that moment.

In addition to an enjoyable story, I thought this was also notable for a look at some fairly well known performers early in their career. Here, I think especially of Anthony Edwards and Nicolette Sheridan. In all honesty, both were unrecognizable as, respectively, Gib's high school buddy Lance and the "sure thing" Lance has set Gib up with in California. Edwards was quite good in the role, while Sheridan didn't have a lot to do except look hot - and she pulled that off quite well!

Overall, this is predictable, it's formulaic, it's altogether unoriginal - and in spite of all that, this movie really does grow on you, in the same way that Gib and Alison grow on each other. The development of their feelings for each other really is fun to watch, and you really do feel a sense of satisfaction as their kiss at the end of the movie signifies that they've arrived at the destination fate intended for them.

This is a fun movie to spend some time with. 6/10