The Movie:

Are there many directors like Rob Reiner in film history who produced a string of classics during the first half of his career, only to spend the second half pumping out one disaster after the other? I think something snapped in his head after he helmed the atrocious North (Famous today for inspiring Roger Ebert's "I hated, hated, hated, hated this movie" rant), so he spent the last twenty years creating one forgettable flop after the other. Can anyone really tell me the name of a film he directed since the mid-90s that can at least considered to be halfway decent?

The 80s, on the other hand, that's a completely different story. Rob Reiner dominated that decade with a string of timeless classics like This is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally. This versatile list is full of movies that are still considered to be near or at the top of their corresponding genres. The film that's the least famous out of his 80s outings is perhaps The Sure Thing, a gentle and old-fashioned take on the teenage sex comedy genre, which was all the rage when it came out in 1985. Even though it's not as widely regarded as a classic, it still has its many fans, and it's not hard to see why.

Even though the story structure basically presents a loose remake of It Happened One Night and the characters mostly stick to their two-dimensional archetypes, the writing is clever and devoid of cynicism, the leads have a heartwarming chemistry, and Reiner infuses his take on the genre with an undeniable magnetism. If I hadn't seen it for the first time in my mid-30s on this Blu-Ray and actually watched it for the first time while I was in high school or even collage, I'd probably have a fonder reaction to it. So if you were a big fan in your youth, I have feeling it's going to age well.

John Cusack and his trademark obnoxious yet charismatic 80s persona plays Gib, a college freshmen going crazy in his Northwestern ivy league college due to a lack of women who are willing to, for lack of a better word, put out. When he finds out that his best friend (Anthony Edwards) going to college in California has a girl in mind for him, a hottie who's also "the sure thing", Gib decides to go on a cross-country road trip. The uptight but undeniably adorable Alison (Daphne Zuniga) gets stuck on the trip with Gib while on her way to visit her equally uptight boyfriend.

Of course we know the specific arcs of these characters as soon as they meet in the first act. The road trip that works like a beta version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles will give these characters, who conveniently hate each other at first, ample opportunities to become romantically involved. The predictability of the script is not helped by the fact that the two characters don't really veer away from their stereotypical, Odd Couple-style differences. Gib is the prototypical slob, who eats nothing but junk food and drinks enough beer to be categorized as an alcoholic if the film was made today. Alison, on the other hand, is a boring control freak with borderline OCD. During their eventful trip, will Alison learn to loosen up while Gib gets his act together and learns to treat women as more than pieces of meat for him to conquer as the two gradually fall for each other? What do you think?

However, the chemistry between the characters is undeniable, and Reiner was a master of naturally flowing dialogue during this period. It's hard not to look at The Sure Thing as a practice run for When Harry Met Sally, where Reiner was able to inject more three-dimensional characters to a similar approach that blended the classic Hollywood romantic comedy with its raunchier and more frank 80s counterpart.

The Blu-Ray:

Video:

The Sure Thing comes to Blu-Ray with a 1080p transfer that's very loyal to the film source. Perhaps it's a bit too loyal. While it contains a healthy amount of grain as well as a film look devoid of obvious DNR, there are too many scratches and dirt to ignore. However, I'm fairly certain that this will be the best The Sure Thing will look on home video for a long time. So if you're a fan, grab it right away.

Audio:

There are two audio options here, a DTS-HD 5.1 Surround track, as well as a DTS-HD mono offering. If you want to have a nostalgic outlook, you can easily stick with the mono presentation, since a sampling of it showed a clean and vibrant transfer. The surround track offers a bit more depth but is understandably lacking in much of a surround or subwoofer presence.

Extras:

All of the extras seem to have been ported from an older DVD release, since they're in standard definition, in 4:3 aspect ratio, and the interviewees look like they're at least a decade younger.

Road to The Sure Thing: A half hour documentary full of interviews from the cast and crew that covers the making of the film, from screenwriting to release. If you're going to watch one special feature, this one is the most comprehensive.

Casting the Sure Thing: The casting directors talk about finding the cast.

Reading the Sure Thing: One of the screenwriters reads a segment of his original story treatment. This one is kind of a waste of time, even though it's a bizarre choice to include it in the special features.

Dressing the Sure Thing: The costume designer talks about the clothing in the film. This is a weird addition, since featurettes like this one are usually found in historical dramas or sci-fi/fantasy epics.

Commentary by Rob Reiner: Reiner's levelheaded and informative commentaries are always fun to listen to, since he finds something interesting to say about almost every shot in his films. His commentary on The Sure Thing is not an exception.

We also get a Trailer.

Final Thoughts:

The Sure Thing tried to do something different with a genre that relied too heavily on single-dimensional caricatures, crass humor and gratuitous nudity at the time. It's not groundbreaking or even subversive enough to be memorable today, but it's still a competent and appealing film from a filmmaker who was at the top of his game.

Oktay Ege Kozak is a film critic and screenwriter based in Portland, Oregon. He also writes for The Playlist, The Oregon Herald, and Beyazperde.com