Synopsis
An early Rob Reiner film, The Sure Thing features a young John Cusack as a collegefreshman. Tired of having no luck with the ladies at his East Coast college, Cusack is lured onwest by the promise of hooking up with the titular sure thing (Nicolette Sheridan). Hiscomplicated road trip is further complicated by his having to share the journey with DaphneZuniga, a classmate who wants nothing to do with him. You can probably guess where this isgoing to go, but it gets t…ere with sharp performances and great writing.
Audio
The soundtrack is in both the original mono and an enhanced 5.1 remix. The sound is cleanenough, though the dialogue sounds a bit thinner than would be the case on a contemporaryrelease. The music is well served. The surround sound effects, though, are minimal, and there isvirtually no sense of environment, even when obvious opportunities arise (such as splashing at aswimming pool).
Video
Both fullscreen and 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen formats are available. The flesh tones,colours, blacks and print are all very good. There is no edge enhancement haloing to speak of,nor any grain or pixellation. Though again, the sharpness of a 1985 film shouldn’t be expected tostack up to a 2003 release, the picture is still very solid.
Special Features
Why the features are split over two sides of the disc is beyond me, and flipping the disc toaccess four featurettes and some brief cast interviews (which are, Easter Egg-style, accessed byselecting Polaroid pictures) is pretty annoying. The featurettes are interesting looks back at themaking of the film, and can be viewed individually or as one longer documentary (they are, inorder, “The Road to The Sure Thing,” “Dressing The Sure Thing,” “Casting The Sure Thing,”and “Reading The Sure Thing”). The features on side A are a smart and funny commentary byRob Reiner and a pop-up video trivia track (both can be played at the same time). The menu’smain page, intro and transitions are animated and scored.
Closing Thoughts
A standout in its field, The Sure Thing is given a good package, particularly when itcomes to the commentary and trivia.
Special Features List
- Director’s Commentary
- Trivia Video Track
- Theatrical Trailer
- 4 Featurettes
- Interviews
