Line #54 Film/TheSureThing


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_sure_thing.jpeg]]
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3	A 1985 RomanticComedy directed by Creator/RobReiner, starring Creator/JohnCusack and Creator/DaphneZuniga.
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5	Walter "Gib" Gibson (Cusack) is just an 18-year-old at some snowy New England college, trying to get laid and trolling on Allison (Zuniga), the BrainyBrunette in his English class. It's not going well. Then Lance (Creator/AnthonyEdwards), his best friend from high school who's now going to college in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, sends him a picture of a hot blonde (Creator/NicolletteSheridan), with the assurance that she's [[ReallyGetsAround "a sure thing."]] If Gib can make it out to L.A. for winter break before [[NoNameGiven "the sure thing"]] goes off for a semester at sea, he can totally bag that. Gib goes along on a rideshare, only it turns out that Allison's going to L.A. to visit her boyfriend too...
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7	Creator/TimRobbins has a small part as a cheerful student who ultimately regrets sharing a ride with Allison and Gib.
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9	----
10	!!This film provides examples of:
11
12	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking:
13	-->'''Professor Taub:''' ''[reading Gib's paper]'' "To arrive at this moment, he had traveled vast distances, enduring many hardships. Abject poverty, starvation, show tunes, you name it."
14	* AttemptedRape: The cowboy in the pickup truck, who picks up Allison when she's trying to hitchhike away from Gib.
15	* BusesAreForFreaks: After Gib gets into the shared-ride car and finds Allison, she says "I knew I should have taken the bus", and he says "What, and get stuck sitting next to some sleaze bag?" Sure enough, when they do go to a bus station, there are dirty homeless people sleeping on the benches.
16	* BuxomBeautyStandard: After Gib finally sees The Sure Thing in person, and expresses reluctance, a nonplussed Lance says "The breasts are too small?"
17	* CantHoldHisLiquor: ZigZagged -- in the bar scene, a double bourbon and a beer is enough to get Gib [[ARoundOfDrinksForTheHouse buying his new-found friends troughs of spritzer]] and joining in impromptu Christmas caroling. At the frat party, however, he seems to deal with the heavily-spiked punch just fine.
18	* CharacterDevelopment: Happens to both Allison and Gib on their road trip together - she learns to be less uptight and more spontaneous (while realizing Jason, her boyfriend, is rather dull - see [[DisposableFiance Disposable Boyfriend]] below), while he learns he may just be looking for romance rather than just sex. They also start to realize they may be right for each other.
19	* CoolTeacher: Professor Taub: free spirited, funny, and perfectly capable of nailing the strengths and weaknesses of students as opposite as Gib and Alison and inspiring both to reach new heights.
20	* CreditCardPlot: Inverted, as Allison is excessively responsible. Gib and Allison have lost all their money and are stuck in a rainstorm, trying to break into a locked trailer for shelter, when she remembers a credit card her father had given her. But then she remembers something important:
21	-->'''Allison''': Oh. My dad told me ''specifically'' I can only use it in case of an emergency.\
22	'''Gib''': [[SarcasmMode Well, maybe one will come up.]]
23	* CueTheRain: Gib is engaging in a river of complaints when the two of them are stuck by the roadside without any money. An irritated Allison says "Can't you look on the bright side?" This is followed by a clap of thunder and a rainstorm of monsoon proportions.
24	* DesperatelyCravesAffection: Seemingly the case with "the sure thing", who asks Gib to say that he loves her.
25	* DidIMentionItsChristmas: Everyone is still at college partying on December 22 or so? And nobody's parents are demanding to see them for the holidays?
26	** [[JustifiedTrope Reasonable in-universe]]; in 2017, there were at least ten days between the end of finals at different US colleges, so Alison & Gib could've made it across the country in that time. Further, about 70% of UCLA students are from California, which means they wouldn't have as far to travel after exams -- not that [[{{Fratbro}} Lance and most of his friends]] care about exams anyway.
27	* DidTheyOrDidntThey: Gib and "the sure thing", revealed at the end when they're back at school. They didn't.
28	* Ride/DisneyThemeParks: At one point Allison wants to go to Disneyland, only to be brutally rebuffed with "Disneyland is for children."
29	* [[DisposableFiance Disposable Boyfriend]]: Jason, Type 1/2: He's an achiever, studying to be a lawyer, wants to find and restore an old farmhouse with Alison, and [[HeroesLoveDogs even shares her love of basset hounds.]] On the other hand, he is so prematurely stuffy he's incapable of enjoying any fun... except maybe [[CardGames gin rummy]]. His last line implies they end on an IJustWantMyBelovedToBeHappy note.
30	* DontTryThisAtHome: Said almost verbatim by Gib to the imaginary audience in a motel TV set when he is teaching Alison to shotgun a beer.
31	* DrowningOurRomanticSorrows: Gib, thinking he and Alison are establishing a relationship, walks out of the bathroom to find Alison on the phone to her long-distance relationship, again. So Gib heads to the nearest bar. Gib and two newfound friends rapidly descend to the point that they're singing an [[DrunkenSong inebriated version]] of [[ChristmasSongs "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire"]].
32	* ExactEavesdropping: Alison overhears part -- the worst part, of course -- of Gib and the trucker who picks them up, while they think she's asleep in the truck cab's bunk.
33	* FatComicRelief: one of Gib's drinking buddies in the bar scene is extremely obese, but with a personality roughly equal parts WarmHeartedWalrus and CaptainObvious.
34	* FlyoverCountry: Director Rob Reiner went to UCLA; writers Steven Bloom and Jonathan Roberts went to Brown. The scenes in the unnamed New England Ivy League-type college and at UCLA are very sharply detailed. The 3000 miles between, in contrast, are in good old generic America.
35	* HypocriticalHumor: After Gib tells Allison he thinks the {{Mooning}} they just saw (see below) was hilarious because it was spontaneous, she replies, "Spontaneity has it's time and place."
36	* ImagineSpot: A couple where Gib fantasizes about the Sure Thing in a luxurious California beach condo; later, same setting, [[spoiler: but with Alison taking her place]].
37	* {{Improv}}: John Cusack did a lot of this in the movie, according to the commentary/trivia tracks. Especially any scene involving beer.
38	* {{Incoming}}: How Lance alerts Gib to the beer he, Lance, has just tossed to him. He's also fond of referring to Gib as "Private Gibson."
39	* KavorkaMan: Gil's roommate Jimbo is very skilled at getting the ladies, despite being heavyset and rather unkempt.
40	* LastMinuteBabyNaming: Played with in the PillowPregnancy sequence; when asked what they'll name the baby, obviously neither Alison nor Gib has given it an instant's thought. Alison is thinking Cynthia or Elliot. Gib seems OK with the former, but vehemently disagrees with the latter, believing "Elliot is a fat kid with glasses who eats paste." Gib much prefers Nick, who, after all, is "the kind of guy who doesn't mind if you puke in his car." This leads to the ''Not In Front of the Lady'' moment below.
41	* LectureAsExposition: Professor Taub's writing seminar and its in-class critiques introduces Gib to Alison, underscores their primary virtues and flaws to each other (and their classmates), exacerbates the conflict between them and ultimately resolves that conflict at the very end of the film.
42	* LeftYourLifesaverBehind: When Gib and Allison leave the hotel room, Allison accidentally leaves her all-important planner (which contains all her money) behind.
43	* LoveBeforeFirstSight: Gib having the hots for (if not being in love with) "the sure thing" just from her photo. Also GirlOfMyDreams, though for the realistic reason of him having seen her photo first. [[spoiler: And in the end he doesn't end up with her.]]
44	* MeaningfulEcho: After Gib rescues Allison from an AttemptedRape (see above), she asks him what made him get on the back of the truck, to which he replies, "I'm the type of guy who likes to live on the edge." Later, when they're at the bus station (see BusesAreForFreaks above), when Allison decides not to take the bus after all and hitches with Gib instead (he couldn't afford a ticket), he asks her why she didn't get on the bus, and she replies, "I'm the type of gal who likes to live on the edge."
45	* MistakenForCheating: Allison, who didn't, but you could reasonably deduce by what she says about Gib's sleeping habits that she did.
46	* MistakenForGay: Gib, since Lance told "the sure thing" he was a virgin and probably this too.
47	* {{Mooning}}: A car of fratboys drives by Gary Cooper and Mary Ann while Gib and Allison are still with them, and they moon the car. Gary and Mary Ann are shocked, and Allison is disgusted, but Gib thinks it's hilarious.
48	* MostWritersAreWriters: Gib and Allison meet in a creative writing class; their work in and out of class establishes their relationship before they hit the road; and their conflict is resolved in the final scene with any dialogue, the first class after Christmas break.
49	* TheMovieBuff: A variation - Gary and Mary Ann are into showtunes, singing "[[Theatre/{{Hair}} The Age of Aquarius]]" and "Button Up Your Overcoat" when they first pick up Gib and Allison, at least until Gary becomes grumpy because Allison and Gib refuse to join in singing.
50	* MsFanservice: The opening credits with a bikini clad Nicolette Sheridan will leave you in no doubt of who or what the Sure Thing is.
51	* NoNameGiven: The "sure thing", played by Creator/NicolletteSheridan.
52	* NonSequitur:
53	-->'''Professor Taub:''' (''reading Gib's paper'') "Thoughts raced through his mind. Did she really want him? What had he done to deserve this bounty? Does God exist? Who invented liquid soap and why?"
54	* NotInFrontOfTheKid: Gib has a moment of this when he says "puke" to the kind, motherly woman who's giving them a ride, quickly correcting himself with "Oh, vomit. I'm sorry. Vomit." The nice lady responds with a tolerant nod.
55	* NutritionalNightmare: Gib occasionally breakfasts off of [[DeepFriedWhatever pork rinds]] and beer. He also begins to expound a theory of junk food that borders on InsaneTrollLogic before Alison cuts him off.
56	* OfficialKiss: At the very end of the movie, atop the same roof Gib took Allison when he was first trying to get with her, confirming that they are a couple.
57	* PillowPregnancy: Allison fakes one to get a ride.
58	* QuestForSex: Gib travels all the way across the country to get with this girl.
59	* ReallyGetsAround: The Sure Thing. Her promiscuity doesn't come from an EthicalSlut standpoint but from an apparent mixture of ExtremeDoormat and extreme emotional neediness. When Gib asks her to sit down she says "Do you want me to?", and as his composition for English class reveals, she needs him to say that he loves her before they can have sex.
60	* RoadTripRomance: The plot is based off of the TropeMaker; ''Film/ItHappenedOneNight''.
61	* RuleOfPool: While Allison is swimming laps, Gib comes in, asking her to tutor him in English. As she ignores him, Gib's pleading becomes increasingly frenzied, until he finally falls into the pool. Allison looks at him briefly, and then swims around him.
62	* SevenMinuteLull: one happens at the big party.
63	-->'''The Sure Thing:''' And he said he thinks you might be gay.\
64	'''Gib:''' {{Beat}} [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Will you excuse me just one minute? I have to kick the shit out of someone.]]
65	* SexAsRiteOfPassage: Gib isn't a virgin, but his goal in life is to get laid some more.
66	* {{Sexiled}}: Jimbo does this regularly to Gib, though in his letters to Lance, Gib claims, "[[BlatantLies My roommate and I have an understanding]]."
67	* ShoutOut: Gary’s bumper sticker proclaims his love for Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial.
68	* ThemeNaming: Gib and Allison are named after famous writers - Walter "Gib" Gibson is named after Walter B. Gibson (creator of ''Literature/TheShadow''), while Allison Bradbury is named after Creator/RayBradbury.
69	* ThisIsMySide: played straight at first and then later relaxed quite a bit.
70	* ThunderEqualsDownpour: See CueTheRain, above.
71	* ToxicFriendInfluence: Comedic, but neither Gib's high-school best bud Lance nor his college roommate Jimbo are anything but this.
72	* UptightLovesWild: Straight-laced Allison falling for madcap Gib.
73	* WholePlotReference: Suspiciously similar to ''Film/ItHappenedOneNight''. It's a RoadTripPlot, in TheEighties, [[RecycledPremise WITH TEENAGERS!]]
74	* WildTeenParty: The shindig that Lance is hosting in California, where Gib finally meets The Sure Thing.

Context Film / TheSureThing