Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		2.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

The Sure Thing Blu-ray Movie Review

"I hope you appreciate the magnitude of your impending good fortune."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown February 1, 2024

It's easy to think of John Cusack as Say Anything's daring, stereo-hoisting Lloyd Dobler. Or Grosse Pointe Blank's dead-eye assassin in love, Martin Q Blank. Wait... maybe he's more High Fidelity's perpetually heartbroken, borderline unlikable Rob Gordon. Or Being John Malkovich's introverted Craig Schwartz, or 1408's grieving supernatural journalist Mike Enslin. Or, wow, it's all coming to me now... The Ice Harvest's Charlie, Runaway Jury's Nick, Bullets Over Broadway's Davey, Tapeheads' Ivan, The Grifters' Roy... goodness, how many iconic roles can one actor have in his filmography? Modern-day Cusack, though less prolific than in his twenties and thirties heyday, continues to quietly work harder than most, churning out role after role in a career he seems as if he was made for. But it would be easy to forget his humble beginnings; the bit parts as a teen and arguably his first big breakout as a leading man (um, teenager): The Sure Thing, a 1985 wannabe-John-Hughes, would-be-teen-classic from director Rob Reiner that almost, almost, made Cusack a star. (Even if Better Off Dead and, four years later, Say Anything would actually seal the deal.)

College kid "Gib" Gibson (John Cusack) can’t quite seem to find the appropriate angle to convince brainy Alison Bradbury (Daphne Zuniga) to give him a second (perhaps even a first) glance. So begins a nicely measured portrayal of a young will-they-or-won't-they couple trying to figure out adulthood, love, infatuation and other mysteries of our twenties, all without the usual glut of garbage humor that passes for college comedies.

Click here to read Jeffrey Kauffman's 2015 review of The Sure Thing, which he scores a 3.5 out of 5, crediting a "wise and winning screenplay by Steven L. Bloom and Jonathan Roberts that manages to convey both realism and whimsy," adding that director Rob Reiner arrives "at a destination that’s completely expected but perhaps unexpectedly fun along the way."

The Sure Thing Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Sure Thing returns to Blu-ray with a weary, poorly contrasted 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer that begs for a do-over. With a proper restoration, the film appears to have all the traits of what might be a rejuvenated '80s teen comedy. As is, though, colors are decent, delineation solid, and detail merely okay, but everything else struggles. Contrast is dull, vibrancy is diluted, black levels never quite dip as low as they should, and the image lacks real pop. Worse, fine textures are lost beneath a muddy application of grain reduction, halos appear throughout (the result of too much last-gen artificial sharpening), and instances of minor artifacting creep in from time to time. Any single issue might not be that dramatic a problem, but taken together, the unsightliness compounds and makes for a messy presentation. Add to that print specks, marks and other blemishes and you have a transfer in need of a remastering; perhaps one created utilizing better preserved elements.

The Sure Thing Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sandpiper's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is... fine. And that's about as good as it gets. Dialogue is intelligible and reasonably well prioritized, despite the fact that some exchanges are a bit thin, several instances of ADR are terribly obvious, and music sometimes overpowers secondary lines and/or supporting voices. Sound effects are a touch tinny as well. Rear speaker activity is decent but largely subdued, making for a rather front-dominated experience. And LFE output is solid, when that is it's called upon. Mostly, though, The Sure Thing sounds fares about as well as you'd expect from a mid-80s teen comedy.

The Sure Thing Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Sandpiper's Blu-ray release of The Sure Thing arrives with the same supplemental package in tow as its previously released 2015 predecessor. Kudos to Sandpiper for actually including extras with this one -- which isn't their usual M.O. -- but unfortunately it doesn't amount to much. A director's commentary is the highlight of the package, while all the video content has a distinctly promotional feel and is presented in lowly standard definition. More to the point, while any special features are appreciated, it would be nice if the distributor invested a bit of capital into producing new extras, even a film historian commentary or interview with critics (in the event the original cast and/or crew members were too expensive, unavailable, or uninterested in participating). It can't be that hard to get an author or two to chat at length about a film's influence, can it?
 

• Audio Commentary - Things kick off with director Rob Reiner himself, who delivers a solid, if subdued, commentary track full of anecdotes and production stories that covers everything from casting actors of appropriate ages, developing the script, responding to his young cast's talents without allowing the film to grow unwieldy, and more. I suspect you'll find yourself laughing several times, despite the fact that Reiner doesn't always sound as excited as you think he would.

• The Road to The Sure Thing (SD, 26 minutes) - A DVD-era behind-the-scenes featurette that tracks the development of the film from inception to release. It isn't the most revealing mini-doc, but it at least offers a decently informative overview of the elements that went into what made it to the screen.

• Casting The Sure Thing (SD, 7 minutes) - The hunt for the right young actors, chief among them John Cusack. He may be a household name today, but the casting director at the time had no way of knowing that, other than spotting the charm, charisma and spark of snark that would grow into Cusack's calling card for much of the '80s and '90s.

• Reading The Sure Thing (SD, 5 minutes) - Screenwriter Steven Bloom reads his original treatment, which is brisk and suitably short. It would have been an added bonus to hear more of his thoughts on the final outcome, but it's interesting hearing the earliest form of the film in its writer's own voice.

• Dressing The Sure Thing (SD, 9 minutes) - Costumes move center stage, which any fan of 1980s teen/college comedies will tell you is a huge part of the tone of the decade's films. Costumes often make the character, and good God is The Sure Things' costumes patently, wonderfully '80s.

• Theatrical Trailer (SD, 3 minutes) - An original trailer for The Sure Thing.

The Sure Thing Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Sure Thing isn't as sharp or snarky as the comedies that would soon come to Cusack in the '80s and '90s, but it remains a funny, smartly penned road trip movie that isn't afraid of letting its leads tear each other apart. (Until they finally fall head over heels, of course.) Sandpiper's Blu-ray, though, is unfortunately a problematic release, with a middling video transfer, a decent but rather ordinary lossless audio track, and a merely decent selection of extras.