Skin Deep (1989)

A womanizing alcoholic writer, whose life seems to be falling apart at the seams, repeatedly finds himself in trouble of one sort or another with the law, ex-girlfriends, and jealous boyfriends.

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
DeeDee Rescher	...	Bernice (as Dee Dee Rescher)
Bryan Genesse	...	Rick
Bo Foxworth	...	Greg
Raye Hollitt	...	Lonnie

Storyline

Zach Hutton is a womanizing, drunken 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:

female nudity | womanizer | female bodybuilder | slapstick comedy | condom | 

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Taglines:

There's a fine line between falling in love, and falling on your face.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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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 USA:

$19,674,852

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beco Films,Morgan Creek Entertainment Group

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

Alex: Nobody's perfect.
Zach: Right. I'm glad you feel that way because I was just about to suggest that we give it another try.
Alex: We?
[Zach nods his head happily]
Alex: Are you completely off your nut?
Zach: [sarcastically] Don't beg, Alex. It doesn't suit you.
Alex: Oh, Zach.
Zach: Oh, what?
Alex: There are a lot of things about you that I would highly recommend. But you're never gonna last with anyone. You may settle down for a while, but then something will happen. You'll get scared and start to look for some... thing, some... place. ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Screaming in High Heels: The Rise & Fall of the Scream Queen Era (2011)

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Soundtracks

Songbird
Written and Performed by Kenny G

User Reviews

Falling out of love...

Skin Deep starts off to a soulful, bluesy song called "falling out of love" (lyrically quite fitting for the main character), and we see a woman walking into a house. The house belongs to Zach Hutton, and the woman, we assume, is Zach's wife. She catches him fooling around with a young blonde and grabs Zach's revolver. The scene that follows is hilarious; the music has stopped and we're thrust into a tense but funny moment. As it turns out, this woman is not Zach's wife, but his mistress, and she is ready to kill him until his wife walks in. They introduce themselves and share their disappointment in Zach. At this point, I needed to take a very deep breath to brace myself, because it was very obvious that this guy has issues and this movie was going to be full of hilariously painful situations for our hero. It was no big surprise that within the next few scenes he's sobbing in a psychiatrist's office.

This is a comedy that has an exaggerated sense of being true to life. It is somewhat serious, Zach is a tortured soul, but he's mostly casually tortured and takes his abuse with humour, which makes it okay for us to laugh. He's a washed up writer, his wife has left him with a settlement that was not exactly fair to his side, and he can't get over his obsession with picking up women. He's addicted. This is one pathetic man. He endures some of the most hilarious situations ever committed to film (I won't even bother mentioning the glow-in-the-ark condom sequence, but yes, it is hysterical). He also endures genuine sadness in his life, and that makes him more human than just a simple comic sketch, and makes this such a great movie.

The ending wraps things up a little too easily, but what the hell? Comedies usually have happy endings. The ending was satisfactory, but the movie in general was above average. John Ritter was a master at perfecting both drama and comedy, which is what was needed for this role. He did an amazing job, and I feel it's his finest performance, displaying his genuine charm as a comedic actor, as well as the possibly even more intriguing serious side of a conflicted, lost man. I love this movie.

My rating: 10/10