If you grew up in the 80s you probably saw your fair share of John Hughes films and thought of Molly Ringwald as a big star. When this film was about to come out the big deal about it was: Ringwald was treated as a woman, not a girl. It even said "woman" in any studio media leading up to the release. People weren't so much interested in this movie because of the story, but because everybody knew Ringwald was moving on from her John Hughes treatment into adulthood - like much of Ringwald's audience.
The year after this movie (1988) Ringwald went on to "Fresh Horses" in an even more adult role, but it was also not a big hit. By then the "Brat Pack" magic was effectively over and all those young celebs were moving in their own directions. Ringwald didn't experience much success until "Townies" in 1996, and by then the movies that painted her fans' image of her were well in the rearview. People might feel nostalgia for those John Hughes roles, but they weren't trying to relate to them anymore. Unfortunately Ringwald either didn't have a sense for what people wanted, or, more likely, she just had her own ideas about what she wanted to do. But despite working more or less continuously since the 1980s she never attained the kind of fanbase she had in those days.
So "The Pick-up Artist", while not a great film, still had a position of some importance for people who grew up watching Ringwald's earlier films. It was more of a event than a movie, an event which ultimately was disappointing but served a purpose in that people who wanted a glimpse of the future learned that not everything goes the way you might like, even for our idols. There's really no way anyone who didn't grow up during the era can understand how this movie drew a line dividing childhood and young adulthood. That was really the appeal of this film.
The year after this movie (1988) Ringwald went on to "Fresh Horses" in an even more adult role, but it was also not a big hit. By then the "Brat Pack" magic was effectively over and all those young celebs were moving in their own directions. Ringwald didn't experience much success until "Townies" in 1996, and by then the movies that painted her fans' image of her were well in the rearview. People might feel nostalgia for those John Hughes roles, but they weren't trying to relate to them anymore. Unfortunately Ringwald either didn't have a sense for what people wanted, or, more likely, she just had her own ideas about what she wanted to do. But despite working more or less continuously since the 1980s she never attained the kind of fanbase she had in those days.
So "The Pick-up Artist", while not a great film, still had a position of some importance for people who grew up watching Ringwald's earlier films. It was more of a event than a movie, an event which ultimately was disappointing but served a purpose in that people who wanted a glimpse of the future learned that not everything goes the way you might like, even for our idols. There's really no way anyone who didn't grow up during the era can understand how this movie drew a line dividing childhood and young adulthood. That was really the appeal of this film.