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Stars:
John Cusack, Daphne Zuniga, Viveca Lindfors, Nicollette Sheridan, Tim Robbins,
and Anthony Edwards
Writers:
Steven L. Bloom and Jonathan Roberts
Director:
Rob Reiner
Feature
length: 95 minutes
Extras:
Director’s Commentary, “The Road To The Sure Thing” Documentary, Trivia
Track, Trailers
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and English and French Language
Monaural Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and French and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 32
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Monaural Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1985/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Embassy Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: PG-13
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
John
Cusack made his first leading actor role in a theatrical feature debut in what
would be the second feature film directed by Rob Reiner and this film would be
the first of a series of successful romantic comedies that Reiner would direct,
which have included the romantic fantasy comedy “The Princess Bride” and
“When Harry Met Sally.” Henry Winkler served as executive producer on “The
Sure Thing,” which also stars Daphne Zuniga, Nicollette Sheridan, Anthony
Edwards, and Tim Robbins among others.
The
story is pretty simple. Freewheeling Walter Gibson (Cusack) goes on a
cross-country trek during the holiday break with an uptight student from his
writing class (Zuniga). She has a boyfriend waiting for her out west while
Gibson has got a “sure thing” set up with blonde bombshell (Sheridan). Along
the way they go through various trials and misadventures to eventually fall in
love. This is another 80s movie I never saw before. I think the first Rob Reiner
film I saw was his adaptation of the Stephen King novella “The Body”
entitled “Stand By Me.” I suppose if I had seen this film back in 1985 I
might have liked it better, but now I look it, as more of an early resume entry
for a number of actors and precursor to the more popular romantic comedy
melodramas Reiner would direct.
MGM
has released “The Sure Thing” on DVD with an anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1)
and a pan and scan (1.33:1) aspect ratio presentation on the same dual layered
DVD side of the DVD-14. The transfer has a steady grain throughout, but the
colors do not bleed and the textures seem sharp enough. I actually think viewers
will appreciate the transfer more once they get a look at the picture quality on
the theatrical trailer (2:57) on the single layered side of the DVD. The English
soundtrack remix in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound is actually pretty good all
things considered. Not as aggressive as one might find on a new film’s
soundtrack, but the music and dialogue are clearly distributed with great
clarity and a nice ambient feel. An English and French Language Monaural
Soundtrack are also included along with English Captions and Closed Captions for
the hearing impaired and French and Spanish Language Subtitles encoded as
options.
Director
Rob Reiner gives a feature length screen specific audio commentary, but he
sounds like he is either just getting over a bad cold or just woke up so the
lethargic tone doesn’t offer much of a punch to the feature as it should. A
pop up trivia track is also included, but the anecdotes are not really that
interesting. The single layered side includes the documentary “The Road To The
Sure Thing” (47:20), which features select new videotaped retrospective
interviews with Rob Reiner, screenwriters Steven L. Bloom and Jonathan Roberts,
and the stars of the film among others. The documentary is broken up into four
parts that cover the development, wardrobe, casting, and even a reading of the
original treatment. The documentary can also be viewed as one complete reel.
There are four short Easter egg interview clips that can be viewed by
highlighting the photos above the menu entries on the single layered side. These
clips run between 18 seconds and a bit over 2-minutes each. There is also a
brief silent videotaped casting tape with Sheridan posing sexy for a few
seconds. Bonus DVD trailers for “The Princess Bride: Special Edition”
(1:25), “Spinal Tap: Special Edition,” an “MGM Means Great Movies” Promo
(1:13) and an “MGM Best Of The 80s Films On DVD” Promo (1:23) wrap up the
extra features on this DVD.
“The
Sure Thing: Special Edition” is available on DVD-Video now from
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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