Gotcha!

source: Gotcha!

This movie was soo sweet, funny and gripping. I really loved Anthony in this one, and thought he was adorable. The story was simple but interesting and I thought the movie carried itself well. A must-see for any Anthony Edwards lover...like me!!

Anthony Edwards played an 18 year old college student from Los Angeles, California where he goes to Paris, France on vacation. He meets Sasha, a Czech woman played well by Linda Fiorentino. The film begins with a silly game called Gotcha! I thought the film would be more funny than expected. It has some serious moments. Linda Fiorentino and Anthony Edwards' characters have chemistry onscreen. The adventure abroad in Europe during the last days of the cold war in the eighties were interesting. Alex Rocca and Marla Adams were cast as Jonathan's parents. The film is enjoyable and entertaining. I didn't think it was such as serious film with the title so I was pleasantly surprised. Both stars were getting their career started with films like these. The plot and mystery isn't as predictable to the audience.

A very hairy Anthony Edwards stars as a teenager caught up in Cold War espionage in GOTCHA. He meets and falls hard for a femme fatale (Linda F.) on a European vacation and ends up following her into Russian-held East Berlin (this was 1985, remember). She slips an item in his backpack and he's off and running, and returning to the western world does nothing to stop KGB thugs from coming after him. Edwards is in almost every scene and does a fine job portraying a naive nebbish. Linda F. is her usually sexy self, and in th end has a couple of surprises for our very young and very stupid hero. But the movie is at best a throwaway, and probably was from the day it first appeared. The music is typical awful '80s era schlock. You may safely skip this one.

After an opening gag that tries way too hard and doesn't surprise the audience one bit, this proceeds to remind us of all the things we desperately want to forget about the 80's, starting with the title song that literally fits with the name of the flick, and which is invariably a lousy pop. This is an entirely run-of-the-mill quirky teen comedy... and I use that term loosely, as an extensive search revealed no more than maybe two genuine jokes(and they didn't actually make me laugh). Starring Doc Greene before he put on glasses, a serious face and letters after his surname as an incredibly moronic dude(and honestly, was anyone *that* ignorant during the Cold War?), the primary focus here really appears to be to make fun of all the stupid foreigners that too much of the country thinks the rest of the world is made up of. The material includes lame puns, awful stereotypes and a really poor routine on bureaucracy. It isn't the worst piece of propaganda that this period in history has produced in the form of mainstream entertainment, but it can still be quite sickening. Isn't it ironic how the entry into East Berlin, as shown in this, mirrors getting into the US today, except for the guns? The acting is decent. There is some tension and excitement to be found in this. And hey, the voice of Roger Myers(the guy who runs the fictional animation department that produces Itchy & Scratchy in The Simpsons) is in it. And there's a little hot content, including seconds of nipple-less Fiorentino side-boob. There's a tad of sexuality, and occasional strong language in this. I recommend it purely to those who can't get enough of movies from the decade that have "love" as the subject. 6/10

"Gotcha!" begins with a fairly obvious inspiration, takes it to some interesting places, and then misplaces it toward the end of the film. It also selects the wrong character to be the center of the story. Other than that, it's a fairly good movie - good enough to make us wish it had tried a little harder. The movie begins with a student game called Gotcha, which involves undergraduates who stalk each other across a college campus and "kill" each other with globs of paint. A player of the game (Anthony Edwards) talks his parents into letting him go to Paris on vacation, and he's hardly off the plane before he meets a beautiful, young Czech woman named Sasha, who is played by Linda Fiorentino. They have a sudden, passionate romance, and when she asks him to go along with her on a trip to East Germany, he accepts. Well, of course it turns out that she's a spy, and the two of them run into trouble from the East German police and Russian spymasters. Real life turns into a deadly game of Gotcha (which is the movie's fairly obvious inspiration), and the chase turns into a well-directed cat-and-mouse game. By now we enjoy the chemistry between the callow undergraduate and the slick European spy, and the movie has gotten to be fairly exciting. Then it loses track of itself. The student returns to America, gets involved in further intrigues, and becomes convinced the Czech woman was only using him. For reasons only the screenplay writer knows for sure, there are no less than two excruciating scenes in which the student tries to explain the entire story, which is a waste of time, since we already know the entire story and would rather get on with it. The basic mistake in the movie, however, isn't in the pacing, but in the storytelling. They've made the movie about its less interesting major character. The woman is infinitely more intriguing; she's bright, exotic, resourceful and mysterious, and yet we get the story told from the point of view of the campus nerd. Instead of Plot A (simple-minded undergraduate meets beautiful spy, then blunders through strange situation), why not Plot B (fascinating woman is forced to use dense undergraduate as an accomplice to pull off spy caper)? That's an especially appealing idea with Fiorentino available as the spy. She's one of those movie talents who seem to materialize out of thin air, a genuine original. This is her second movie; her first was "Vision Quest," where she played the drifter who wandered into Matthew Modine's life and encouraged his quest for a state wrestling championship (I don't write the plots, I only report them). Fiorentino has quick, dark eyes and a deep voice and an aura of being smart and sensible; how many actresses in their early 20s can play a spy and be convincing and never seem ridiculous? Anthony Edwards, who plays the undergraduate, is fine for his role - likable and slightly goofy, and able to pull himself together in an emergency. But the very nature of this screenplay means that when he's onscreen, the most interesting things will be happening offscreen, including Fiorentino's adventures in the clutches of the police. I'll bet the men who made this movie just assumed it had to be told from his point of view, and never considered hers. Too bad. I think they missed their best chance.

What can I say, but this is one of those "eighties movies" featuring Anthony Edwards before he was "Goose" and Linda Fiorentino before she was that chick in M.I.B. Plot Summary: A paintball enthusiast utilizes his finely tuned skill at hiding behind things when he gets involved with a CIA courier working behind the Iron Curtain. East Germany meets West L.A. with some really funny stereo-types that weren't all that tired when this movie came out in '85. This film is primarily aimed at entertaining young men with a 007 lust. Still, there are so many one-liners and funny bits that my sister and I still make references to this movie when joking around, e.g. "I thought he was KGB from Russia." ~ "He's a CPA from Encino! Are you outta your mind?" The utilization of various on-location landmarks make it fun and almost like a travelogue movie. There's a German fortress, the Louvre (pre-pyramid entrance), the eiffel tower, the UCLA campus, Olvera Street in Downtown L.A., and the Bonnaventure Hotel. I also love this movie for introducing me to Pernod, and the scene in which it is introduced is so funny I can still remember it line for line!! I love this movie!!

Before Anthony Edwards became one of the highest-paid actors on television, he played a milquetoast college student to perfection in this not-perfect, but still worthwhile comedy. The title refers to a stealthy dart game that he and his friends play around campus (USC?), although it ironically plays little part in the plot once he and a friend fly off to Paris for spring break to search for culture and young women. Edwards' awkward efforts at romance with a much more sophisticated European lady (the always-terrific Linda Fiorentino) hit just the right note, and the dialogue is full of sharp lines. Just as ironic as the "Gotcha" game becoming a minor plot point is that the Cold War spy subplot became hopelessly outdated when the Wall came down; but the awkward love story set in that now-bygone era will still be relevant as long as there are 18 year-olds like Edwards who look like Bambi but still yearn for love.

This is superb. There is nothing else to say about it. You know the premise and I'm not about to reveal anymore. Is it somewhat silly? Yes - but aren't they all in this genre? But does it have a good story line and good characters? Does it ever. I don't think Linda Fiorentino ever looked (or acted) better. This is a romp - and it's filmed across half the world, and it isn't only the second unit that gets to travel, unless there's been some very clever scheduling going on. This one is a total keeper. Edwards is simply good, Fiorentino is convincing - just don't expect a Picasso. This isn't big like that - but it's bound to cheer you up on an otherwise easy afternoon. Oh - Alex Rocco and Marla Adams are great as the parents. This is not supposed to be a belly laugh movie, but that just shows what depth and breadth it has. You may not like it - we sure did.

This movie is a real 80,s movie but in a positive way. It also brings back those memories of the cold war that used to be. Especially in East-Berlin the movie becomes tense. Besides tense the movie is also quite funny.Anthony Edwards is well-cast as the young man being whirled into the wicked world of espionage behind the Iron Curtain, and I can´t help falling in love with Linda Fiorentino..That woman is so seductive and sexy in a strange mysterious way. She, and the border-tension of East Berlin, is my main reason for really liking this movie...They don´t make´em like this any more....Its Spy Game of the 80,s...