The Sure Thing

Ebert review

The cited three-and-a-half-star review praises the film for treating its love story with thought, respect, and love.

Dive bar scene

The dive-bar interlude is the final preferred scene. Other favorites include the opening credits, quad football, the pool encounter, the Tim Robbins car ride, the accidental cuddle, the Hawaiian party, and the professor reading the final essay.

Letters and cordless phones

Long mailed letters to friends are selected as a defining 1985 detail. The cordless-phone phrase, letters to an adult magazine, Culture Club poster, and physical ride bulletin board are additional 1985 candidates.

Soundtrack and college life

The soundtrack is praised as having aged well, with several featured songs named. The film's vision of 1980s college life, including classes, parties, schedules, and Southern California campuses, is praised. Young Cusack and the prospect of spending the next 40 years watching him are offered as having aged well.

Malibu dream house

The three-story Malibu beach house from Gibb's fantasies is the real-estate choice.

Wallet reveal

The reveal of the wallet left in the bed is praised as especially well staged. The dolly shot following Gibb beside the pool is another candidate.

Penny Lover

‘Penny Lover’ during the slow dance is preferred, with ‘Infatuation’ and ‘You Might Think’ also considered.

Grambling exchange

The exchange about Gibb playing football for Grambling is the quote choice.

Thinly drawn romantic alternatives

The Sure Thing and Allison's boyfriend are criticized as caricatures who function mainly as plot props.

Hitchhiking and dated conventions

The dated comic accent and using stars and outer space to humanize boys are criticized. Walter Gibson's name, creative-writing workshops, and hitchhiking are raised as dated elements. Traveling cross-country solely to pursue sex is considered obsolete in the era of dating apps.

John Cusack

John Cusack's heightened hitchhiker performance is the choice and is considered necessary to the scene.

Gibb and Allison's future; 1980s teen-movie ranking; Daphne Zuniga's unrealized career path

The couple are predicted to have met too early for a permanent relationship because freshman-year changes and academic uncertainty would strain them. One forecast has the relationship end after he drunkenly kisses someone else and she never forgives him; it may not survive the first summer. A conflicting forecast says they make it through most of college before he wants to be himself and do something else. Risky Business and The Sure Thing are ranked first and second among 1980s teen movies, followed initially by The Breakfast Club, The Karate Kid, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The Karate Kid is then removed from the teen-movie ranking because it is considered more a sports movie, leaving The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off on the four-film list. Daphne Zuniga is argued to have deserved Brat Pack membership and to have been preferable to Ally Sheedy in St. Elmo's Fire, The Breakfast Club, and Bad Boys. One Crazy Summer is used to compare Demi Moore's role with the kind of part Daphne Zuniga played, prompting speculation that Zuniga might have had a career resembling Moore's.

Casting alternatives

Anthony Edwards was considered for Gibb, Robin Wright for the title role, and mayor winning him for Allison; the discussion prefers Daphne Zuniga to those alternatives.

Larry Hankin and Carmen Filpi

The trucker played by Larry Hankin is the leading choice; Carmen Flippy's bus-station character is also identified.

Vivica Lindfors

Vivica Lindfors as the professor is selected over Tim Robbins, Anthony Edwards, and the teacher character.

No cast change

The cast is kept intact; the only proposed alteration is making the college's identity more specific.

Shared role and shotgun-beer anecdote

Robert Bauer is said to have played a character named Moek here and in This Is Spinal Tap. The shotgun-beer scene is reported as an addition based on John Cusack telling Rob Reiner that it was one of his talents. Gibb's jersey is identified as a Kangaroos rugby-league shirt chosen for its appearance.

Shotgunning beers

Shotgunning beers is the affirmative Apex choice because it becomes a recurring story device. John Cusack, Daphne Zuniga, Anthony Edwards, road-trip movies, hitchhiking, and the roommate's contorted position are discussed without an affirmative consensus.

Hanks and Spielberg

The choice is Hanks and Spielberg, while Tom Cruise is imagined in Anthony Edwards's role.

Lance

Philip Seymour Hoffman is assigned the role of Lance.

Logistics and ending

Questions include how Gibb entered the truck unseen, why the Sure Thing was eager to meet him, whether Gibb was a virgin, and why the ending cuts away so abruptly. Gibb's pajamas, the implausible amount and condition of his packed clothing, and the short time at the Hawaiian party are also criticized.

Relationship and travel questions

The discussion asks whether Gibb lied about his sexual history and is actually a virgin. The discussion asks what credit-card bill Allison's father would receive after the trip.

Prestige television or all-Black remake

A prestige television version and an all-Black remake are both entertained; the road-trip structure is seen as difficult to sustain across a series.

Rob Reiner

The single Oscar is awarded to Rob Reiner.

Final essay

The desired memorabilia is the essay read at the end, including the stained draft as an alternative.

Take the bus

The proposed lesson is to take the bus for the entire trip; the return journey and funding remain open practical questions.

Stand by Me and One Crazy Summer

Stand by Me and One Crazy Summer are the two distinct double-feature selections.

Rob Reiner

John Cusack is acknowledged as the likely conventional winner, but Rob Reiner receives the episode's final choice.