Movie review: ‘Gotcha!’

FloridaGator80

I reviewed a film called “TAG: The Assassination Game” (click here for my review) and it’s a movie about an odd craze on some college campuses that bloomed briefly in the late ’70s and early ’80s in which people stalked each other and “killed” with a squirt gun or some similar toy device. I can only think of two films about what has to be Hollywood’s smallest genre: “TAG” from 1982 and then “Gotcha!” from three years later. Both films are interesting in their own right, but “Gotcha!” is a superior film (you can actually call it a motion picture and not a movie) with a not-too-deep but better cast. While “TAG” is completely about the game, “Gotcha!” is more of the game framing a story. I had to break down and buy this one from amazon.com, but it was worth every penny of the $15.

‘Gotcha!’
(1985; 101 minutes; rated PG-13; directed by Jeff Kanew and starring Anthony Edwards, Linda Fiorentino and Alex Rocco)

FROM A COLLEGE CAMPUS TO LeCARRE-LIKE INTRIGUE

(NOTE: I expanded this review with additional opinion and trivia and the updating of links on Aug. 19, 2018. I again expanded the review on Feb. 27, 2021.)

Despite what you might think by its DVD cover or plot blurb you might read on IMDb.com, “Gotcha!” is actually an interesting film. It has a focus on a former campus game that cannot be played at today’s colleges, but it isn’t about that; it has the geek-finds-himself component, but it isn’t really about that; it’s actually at its best when it becomes an espionage film … which, in the final analysis, it is.

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The beginning and ending are totally contrived and completely stereotyped, but once the action moves to Europe it becomes a really interesting film. You’ll totally be skeptical at first, but wait! It does manage to reveal its inherent intelligence. Another film about the game, “TAG: The Assassination Game,” isn’t as good and never reaches the heights of “Gotcha!”

The movie’s title is about an amusing game played (as I recall) on campuses in the late 1970s and 1980s (students “hunted” each other and eliminated them from the game with a toy gun – imagine running around any college campus and pretend killing with toy guns today; it was sometimes called “Assassin” or “Killer”), but the movie actually uses this premise to develop into a somewhat solid spy story.

In “Gotcha!,” Anthony Edwards plays “Jonathan Moore.” He’s a freshman in college who’s majoring in playing a game where opponents stalk each other on campus and shoot each other with a paintball gun. A victorious player then tells the fallen opponent, “Gotcha!” Edwards isn’t so successful with girls, but he plans on changing that when he and his roommate travel to Paris for spring break.

The two college buddies get to Paris where Edwards meets Linda Fiorentino, who plays “Alexis ‘Sasha’ Banicek,” and the two begin a torrid affair. Edwards splits from his roommate, who’s busy pretending to be a terrorist to find female companionship.

Soon, “Sasha” convinces Edwards to go with her to Berlin and then on to East Berlin (remember, this is pre-fall of Communism in Germany). Soon he’s embroiled in a case of espionage and ultimately makes his way to the U.S. zone of West Berlin, has a deadly encounter at a castle and finally makes his way back home to L.A.

The best thing about all this is how the film segues between two guys on spring break to a truly good espionage film worthy of any effort based on a John LeCarre novel. The tradecraft by the spies is top-notch and the action is pure drama that leads to tension and not just made up with special effects. It also is bolstered by a nice pairing of Edwards and Fiorentino, who actually have some on-camera chemistry in a way that moves the plot forward. It could all too easily have been an awkward pairing.

Even Edwards’ homecoming with his parents, who are convinced after his telling of his story that he’s hooked on drugs, is nicely executed as is him being reunited with Fiorentino. Of course, the final chase around campus with real spies is set up with the opening sequence of the movie and it dissolves into a bit of cheesiness and that error is compounded with the stereotypical ending.

I won’t do a spoiler alert about a nice little twist about Fiorentino, but this one helps the film not dissolve into total mediocrity at the end.

Here’s a rundown of some of the principal cast:

  • A Golden Globe winner (not for this one), Edwards is pretty much himself here (similar to other characters he’s played in film including “Goose” the next year in “Top Gun”) and is energetic and nicely vulnerable in his scenes with Fiorentino. Edwards, who turned 23 the year of the film’s release, is in his first movie after 1984’s blockbuster comedy “Revenge of the Nerds” (click here for my review) and is little-remembered as “Stoner Bud” in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” He earned his Globe for his work on TV’s “ER.”
  • Fiorentino’s first three acting credits coming in films was from 1985 and “Gotcha!” is the second. She is completely smooth and appears quite the veteran despite it only being her second role on the big screen. She handles the part of “Sasha” well and easily changes emotional gears – especially at the end with Edwards. Fiorentino is best remembered as the medical examiner in “Men in Black” and I like her effort in “Dogma” (click here for my review) as the best in her career, but her first film, “Vision Quest,” was nearly as good. Fiorentino isn’t a prolific actor, with only 30 credits since 1985 and she’s only had two films since 2002, and is considered difficult to work with according to interviews with co-stars and directors. Sad. She’s an outstanding actor and I’d never hesitate watching any film in which she works (check out updated notes about her since 2009 at the end of this review).
  • Alex Rocco shines as “Al Moore,” who is the constantly frustrated father having to deal with (and pay for) Edwards’ escapades. Rocco, who was wonderful as “Moe Greene” in “The Godfather,” dispatches this role with aplomb and casual confusion and the aforementioned frustration. He’s also been in comedy such as “Cannonball Run II” (click here for my review) and even did me a favor (not personally, you understand, but just by being in it) by being on two episodes of “The Love Boat” (click here for my review of the series).
  • Nick Corri (who has since gone back to his real name of Jsu Garcia) plays “Manolo,” who is Edwards’ college friend and companion on the spring break trip to Paris. Corri doesn’t do much of anything with the part, but in fairness it’s almost a throwaway role that in a sports analogy would be him being the tee so the golfer could hit the ball. Corri has a decent exchange with Fiorentino at the end, but not much else. He was in “A Nightmare on Elm Street” before reverting to his real name and “We Were Soldiers” after.

The only other supporting actors who do a notable job are:

  • David Wohl, who is another “Revenge of the Nerds” alumnus, plays the veterinary college professor at the beginning of the film. It’s a short time on screen but he is delightfully droll and mocks Clint Eastwood’s “Dirty Harry” character by saying, “Go ahead, make my day” while shooting a tiger with a tranquilizer gun. Wohl was in “Saving Private Ryan” (click here for my look at D-Day movies) and a couple of crappy emotional snifflebags (thanks Ray Romano for the term for this kind of cinematic saccharine garbage) called “Terms of Endearment” and “Sophie’s Choice.”
  • Klaus Löewitsch (he now spells it Löwitsch) plays “Vlad,” who is the Russian KGB agent trying to thwart Fiorentino’s plot and chases Edwards to the United States. Löewitsch is really good here as the brutal Russian and hs just the right sneer and has perfected the Communist glare. He was even better in “Firefox” with Clint Eastwood and as a German soldier in Sam Peckinpah’s only World War II effort, “Cross of Iron” (click here for my review).

Oh, and here’s an excerpt from my review of “TAG:” “The other film about this fad, “Gotcha!,” has its main character shooting a paintball onto a girl’s backside to end it. I wonder if they took inspiration from “TAG: The Assassination Game’s” poster?” Well, who knows?”

Finally, I’m not sure if the game that inspired both films is very active today, but you can click here to see a website that has rules for the game.

“Gotcha!” was the 76th ranked film in 1985 with $10.8 million in ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo. The film wasn’t popular with the public, nor did it make investors happy, either. “Gotcha!” was made on a $12.5 million budget, according to Wiki. The No. 1 film was “Back to the Future” with $210.6 million. One of the neatest and little-remembered movies of the year was “Turk 182!” (No. 125 with $3.5 million – click here for my review). The year’s worst film – and one of the worst 25 ever made by Hollywood – was “O.C. and Stiggs” (click here for my review). Other films from that year that I’ve reviewed include:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

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