This cute, and very watchable, little film is distinctive for one main reason: it's one of the few flicks in which John Cusack didn't drag his sister Joan to appear alongside him. Otherwise, it's fairly predictable, falling into both the "classic teen love story" and the "stock John Cusack" categories.
Like two other Cusack films, "Sixteen Candles" and "Say Anything", "The Real Thing" features a well-meaning youth besotten with a girl who's way out of his league. As with most teen films, she's blonde, gorgeous, and entirely undeserving of such a lovable fellow. And as might be expected, the presence of the former two qualities overrides the latter, and Cusack treks halfway across America to sow his wild oats.
Along the way, he meets up with a kindhearted brunette (she's not blonde, but she has Daddy's Amex card, and that's gotta count for something) who helps him out of various jams. Of course, at this point, the story spirals downward into stereotype: Cusack suddenly realizes that the girl for him isn't the one he's been pursuing, but the one who's been at his side all along.
This "grass isn't always greener" is of course a stock formula in Hollywood: Reese Witherspoon helped Paul Rudd in his quest for Christine Taylor in "Overnight Delivery", only to win him herself. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Will Friedle's best pal in "Trojan War", wins out over blonde vixen Marley Shelton, (though it's hard to understand why the ultrabusty Hewitt wouldn't be every guy's first choice). And in another best friend turned best girl scenario,"Some Kind of Wonderful", Mary Stuart Masterson displaces Lea Thompson in Eric Stoltz's heart.
Shot as a public-service film for brunettes with self-esteem problems, "The Sure Thing" is decidedly middle of the pack as teen love stories go. Cusack is always convincing as an earnest young teen, though his female co-stars can't quite achieve the desperate-to-be-loved aura that Masterson perfected. Cusack fans should be sure to check this one out, but only after priming themselves with some better examples of the genre.
Like two other Cusack films, "Sixteen Candles" and "Say Anything", "The Real Thing" features a well-meaning youth besotten with a girl who's way out of his league. As with most teen films, she's blonde, gorgeous, and entirely undeserving of such a lovable fellow. And as might be expected, the presence of the former two qualities overrides the latter, and Cusack treks halfway across America to sow his wild oats.
Along the way, he meets up with a kindhearted brunette (she's not blonde, but she has Daddy's Amex card, and that's gotta count for something) who helps him out of various jams. Of course, at this point, the story spirals downward into stereotype: Cusack suddenly realizes that the girl for him isn't the one he's been pursuing, but the one who's been at his side all along.
This "grass isn't always greener" is of course a stock formula in Hollywood: Reese Witherspoon helped Paul Rudd in his quest for Christine Taylor in "Overnight Delivery", only to win him herself. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Will Friedle's best pal in "Trojan War", wins out over blonde vixen Marley Shelton, (though it's hard to understand why the ultrabusty Hewitt wouldn't be every guy's first choice). And in another best friend turned best girl scenario,"Some Kind of Wonderful", Mary Stuart Masterson displaces Lea Thompson in Eric Stoltz's heart.
Shot as a public-service film for brunettes with self-esteem problems, "The Sure Thing" is decidedly middle of the pack as teen love stories go. Cusack is always convincing as an earnest young teen, though his female co-stars can't quite achieve the desperate-to-be-loved aura that Masterson perfected. Cusack fans should be sure to check this one out, but only after priming themselves with some better examples of the genre.