'Gotcha!': Who Knew Paintball Creates Spies?

Hello, and welcome back to Second Chances, where I shine the spotlight on things worthy of another look, and it's time to look at one of the movies that convinced me to start this column in the first place.

I absolutely love spy films. The best ones provide the perfect mix of action, suspense, exotic locations, and gorgeous women. Like for most people, my love of the genre started with James Bond. However, UNLIKE most people, my love of the genre didn't end with James Bond, as well. I adore other spy films like the excellent North By Northwest. However, my favorite film that doesn't feature 007 is the mostly ignored 1985 movie, Gotcha!

Gotcha! reunites Anthony Edwards, whom most people know as Dr. Green from the TV show E.R., with director Jeff Kanew, who made one of my favorite comedies of all time: Revenge of the Nerds. In fact, there are plenty of recognizable people involved with this one. Edwards' co-star is a very young Linda Fiorentino who became famous later for movies like Men In Black and Dogma. People who saw the original Nightmare on Elm Street would recognize Nick Corri, who played Rod in that classic. The score is provided by the incredible Bill Conti, the guy who did the music for the Rocky and Karate Kid films. Yet, despite all that talent, the movie got mixed reviews, and failed to break even at the box office. I saw it myself on Showtime two years after it left the theaters and loved it. Seeing it again thirty years later, I still get a kick out of it.

Anthony Edwards plays Jonathan Moore, an 18-year-old veterinary student at UCLA. Even though he is a legend at the paintball-based assassination game Gotcha, he is a hopeless loser with the ladies. He and his best friend Manolo (Nick Corri) decide to trek through Europe for Spring Break. While he assures his parents that the trip is meant to be educational, Jonathan is actually going there to troll for some exotic booty. At a Parisian pub, he locks eyes with a sultry Czech (because a sultry dame is required for a spy film) named Sasha (Linda Fiorentino). It takes no time for them to end up in bed; hey, it was the 80s, after all. After a week of experiencing Paris broken up by lots of sex, Sasha reveals that she has to go to Berlin for business and asks Jonathan to join her. It's not long before they're on the east side of the Berlin Wall and being pursued by the KGB.

The story is excellent. It's perfectly paced to provide plenty of adrenaline-charged chases while also giving plenty of room to soak up the atmosphere. Everything fits into place and serves the story. It even comes full circle beautifully with one of the best uses of Chekov's Gun I'd seen in a film. One of the first scenes has Jonathan and Manolo sitting in their veterinary sciences class for a lecture on tranquilizer darts; those tranquilizers become Jonathan's weapon when the KGB chases him back to the UCLA campus. Unlike a lot of spy films that are very serious, Gotcha! infuses a lot of humor into it. The scene when Jonathan gets testy with a stuck-up French waiter gets me chuckling every time. What holds this movie together is the amazing chemistry between Anthony Edwards and Linda Fiorentino. Look at that picture up there. You can totally buy them as a couple.

Now, no movie is perfect, and Gotcha! is no exception. The running gag involving Jonathan trying to call his parents and having miscommunications with their housekeeper Rosario does get old quickly. The movie does hit viewers pretty hard with the "Jonathan sucks with women" point. After the first couple of times, people would be thinking, Alright, we get it! He's a pathetic virgin! Move on! While the score is fantastic all around, the pop songs thrown in are more hit-or-miss. The songs from Frankie Goes To Hollywood are great, but the ballads are very weak. Perhaps the biggest weakness is the lack of a strong villain. The main KGB agent, Vlad, played by Klaus Löwitsch, has a great look, but is one-dimensional. The most we get for his character is that he doesn't trust the East German military; that's it. A Bond villain, he is not. Finally, I do have to warn that, even though it's rated PG-13, the movie does push it a bit. There are multiple f-bombs and plenty of suggestive content, including a topless scene. Then again, a year later, a movie with boobs on a duck would be rated PG; so I guess it should be fine.

I absolutely love Gotcha! It's a fun mix of action, suspense, and comedy. It is a bit obsolete, however, as the Berlin Wall came down four years after this movie came out. Kids who grew up in the 90s or later may not be able to relate to it. However, it is a fun little slice of the 80s for those who can remember the time. If you've gotten tired of watching all the Bond movies for the hundredth time, give Gotcha! a shot.

What do you think? Do you have any suggestions for another movie that deserves a second chance? Let me know, and bon voyage!