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IMDbPro

The Sure Thing

  • 19851985
  • PG-13PG-13
  • 1h 35m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
21K
YOUR RATING
John Cusack, Nicollette Sheridan, and Daphne Zuniga in The Sure Thing (1985)
Walter Gibson is a university freshman going through a dry spell. His old buddy arranges a "sure thing" for him in California. Gibson and his classmate Allison then take a long road trip out to Cali, and both foil each other's plans.
Play trailer2:50
1 Video
82 Photos
ComedyDramaRomance
Walter Gibson is a university freshman going through a dry spell. His old buddy arranges a "sure thing" for him in California. Gibson and his classmate Allison then take a long road trip out... Read allWalter Gibson is a university freshman going through a dry spell. His old buddy arranges a "sure thing" for him in California. Gibson and his classmate Allison then take a long road trip out to Cali, and both foil each other's plans.Walter Gibson is a university freshman going through a dry spell. His old buddy arranges a "sure thing" for him in California. Gibson and his classmate Allison then take a long road trip out to Cali, and both foil each other's plans.
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
21K
YOUR RATING
    • Rob Reiner
    • Steve Bloom
    • Jonathan Roberts
  • Stars
    • John Cusack
    • Daphne Zuniga
    • Anthony Edwards
    • Rob Reiner
    • Steve Bloom
    • Jonathan Roberts
  • Stars
    • John Cusack
    • Daphne Zuniga
    • Anthony Edwards
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 83User reviews
    • 56Critic reviews
    • 76Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:50
    Watch Official Trailer

    Photos82

    John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga in The Sure Thing (1985)
    John Cusack and Nicollette Sheridan in The Sure Thing (1985)
    Nicollette Sheridan in The Sure Thing (1985)
    John Cusack in The Sure Thing (1985)
    Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft at an event for The Sure Thing (1985)
    John Cusack, Nicollette Sheridan, and Daphne Zuniga in The Sure Thing (1985)
    John Cusack, Nicollette Sheridan, and Daphne Zuniga in The Sure Thing (1985)
    Nicollette Sheridan in The Sure Thing (1985)
    Nicollette Sheridan in The Sure Thing (1985)
    John Cusack and Nicollette Sheridan in The Sure Thing (1985)
    Nicollette Sheridan in The Sure Thing (1985)
    Nicolas Cage, Nicollette Sheridan, and Deborah Foreman in Valley Girl (1983)

    Top cast

    Edit
    John Cusack
    John Cusack
    • Walter 'Gib' Gibson
    Daphne Zuniga
    Daphne Zuniga
    • Alison Bradbury
    Anthony Edwards
    Anthony Edwards
    • Lance
    Boyd Gaines
    Boyd Gaines
    • Jason
    Tim Robbins
    Tim Robbins
    • Gary Cooper
    Lisa Jane Persky
    Lisa Jane Persky
    • Mary Ann Webster
    Viveca Lindfors
    Viveca Lindfors
    • Professor Taub
    Nicollette Sheridan
    Nicollette Sheridan
    • The Sure Thing
    Marcia Christie
    • Julie
    Robert Anthony Marcucci
    • Bobby
    Sarah Buxton
    Sarah Buxton
    • Sharon
    Lorrie Lightle
    • Lucy
    Joshua Cadman
    Joshua Cadman
    • Jimbo
    Krystal Richards
    • Girl in Photo
    John Putch
    John Putch
    • Mastin
    Steve Pink
    Steve Pink
    • Football Player
    Tracy Reiner
    Tracy Reiner
    • Alison's Friend
    Martin J. Layton
    • Frat Guy
    • (as Marty Layton)
      • Rob Reiner
      • Steve Bloom
      • Jonathan Roberts
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Actress Daphne Zuniga once said: "It's hard to admit, but I really was a lot like this character."
    • Goofs
      When Gib teaches Alison to shotgun a beer his pants become soaked with beer but when he leaves the room they are completely dry.
    • Quotes

      Gib: [encounter a padlocked trailer while attempting to get out of the rain] It's locked! Good! This is very good! It's important that this place should have an air-tight security system... in the middle of nowhere!

      Alison: [digs through her bag] I might have a nail file... I have a credit card. I have a credit card!

      Gib: Credit cards work on a completely different kind of lock.

      Alison: No, you don't seem to understand. I have a credit card!

      Gib: You have a credit card?

      Alison: I have a credit card!

      Gib: [relieved] You have a credit card.

      Alison: [suddenly crestfallen] Oh. My dad told me *specifically* I can only use it in case of an emergency.

      Gib: [sarcastically] Well, maybe one will come up.

    • 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.
    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: The Beach Boys: An American Band/Maria's Lover/The Purple Rose of Cairo/The Sure Thing (1985)
    • Soundtracks
      Infatuation
      (Main Title Song)

      Written by Rod Stewart (as R. Stewart), Duane Hitchings (as D. Hitchings) and Roland Robinson (as R. Robinson)

      Performed by Rod Stewart

      Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records, Inc.

      By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

      Published by Rod Stewart/Hitchings Music/Rowland Robinson Music

    User reviews83

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    One of the best romantic comedies ever made....
    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."
    helpful•22
    1
    • eve6kicksass
    • Dec 26, 2000

    Details

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    • Release date
      • March 1, 1985 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Knotty Pine Motel - 2160 North Wilson Way, Stockton, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Embassy Pictures
      • Monument Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 35 minutes
      • Color
      • Mono

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