Here's a kind of too blander film with not much ingredients, yet is steered by Downey's likable winning performance. He has such a charming magical persona, and it comes over so well here. If only he did a better film. I have a few qualms about the movie, but I don't hate it. I just don't think it was utilized property, just running at 78 minutes, with some stuff that seems to be desperately crammed into it. Downey plays a womanizer/kid's school teacher with a regular pick up line, which is the one memorable line of the film. Most of the good dialogue is given to Downey here. Then suddenly he spots her, Randy (Ringwald, not bad here, quite a maturing professional actress). She's a museum tour guide, who's washed up boozer of a father, with a heart, Flash (Hopper, the film's other top performance) is indebted to a mafia guy (Keitel, Ringwald's older boyfriend), that has her doing some implied whoring. Downey must come up with a heavy sum, to become her prince and save her, but also, manning up too. Really, so much more could of gone into the characters, especially Ringwald's, where I just thought the mafia tie felt wrong, where again, the film's story wasn't utilized properly, in it's attempt to take it's subject, seriously, where the whole thing seemed like a half ingredient film, despite it's great and good performances, some actors painfully wasted. But like I said, it Downey's charm and splendid performance that carries a kind of dull running comedy with edges of drama. It's his soliloquy scenes that are the best, one hot beauty in blue, he chats up, I'll never forget, pre Vanessa Williams.
Review of The Pick-up Artist
