{"id":4261,"date":"2024-09-30T22:03:10","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T22:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=4261"},"modified":"2024-10-13T18:31:42","modified_gmt":"2024-10-13T22:31:42","slug":"surrender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/09\/30\/surrender\/","title":{"rendered":"Surrender"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Surrender<\/strong> (1987)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros.\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 94 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (language, implied nudity)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Jerry Belson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Jerry Belson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Michael Colombier\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Juan Ruiz Anchia\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: October 9, 1987 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Sally Field, Michael Caine, Steve Guttenberg, Peter Boyle, Jackie Cooper, Julie Kavner, Iman, Louise Lasser, Michael A. Andrews, Jerry Lazarus.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $5.7M (US)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: **<\/p>\n

\u00a0I saw the rom-com Surrender<\/strong> when it came out on video in early \u201988. I didn\u2019t remember a thing about it when I watched it a second time this past weekend on Tubi. It turns out there\u2019s really nothing worth remembering about it. It\u2019s as mediocre as they come.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Sally Field shines in Surrender<\/strong>, a so-so rom-com that tries in vain to replicate the success of Murphy\u2019s Romance, a better film pairing Field with an older co-star James Garner. In this one, she co-stars with Michael Caine (Alfie) who probably made this movie for the same reason he did Jaws: The Revenge. I wonder what he spent this paycheck on. The love triangle is completed by Steve Guttenberg (Police Academy 1-4) as a whiny, selfish a**hole with an aversion to commitment.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Caine plays Sean Stein, a successful novelist who\u2019s not so lucky in love. He got taken to the cleaners by both his ex-wife (Lasser, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) and ex-girlfriend (Iman, No Way Out). He\u2019s all ready to pack it in and move to Kuwait when he has a meet-cute that changes his life. He\u2019s at a fundraiser that gets crashed by armed robbers who force the guests to completely disrobe before they tie everybody up. He\u2019s tied to Daisy Morgan (Field), a wannabe artist in attendance with her wealthy corporate lawyer boyfriend Marty (Guttenberg). Being naked and in such close proximity, some people tend to become aroused or at least intrigued.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Sean wants to get to know Daisy better, but he doesn\u2019t want to put himself in the same position as before. He wants a woman who will love him for who he is, not how much money he has. He shows up at her house and asks her out under the pretense he\u2019s broke and about to be homeless. For her part, Daisy wants out of her relationship with Marty. Simply put, he\u2019s a jerk. He\u2019s the kind of guy who snaps his fingers at Daisy when he wants something. Right now, he\u2019s out of the country on business so Daisy accepts Sean\u2019s invitation to dinner. She sees no reason to tell him about Marty.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It\u2019s obvious they\u2019re both attracted to each other. It isn\u2019t long before they get something going. They move in together and things seem to be going well. However, Sean is going to have to come clean with Daisy sooner or later about his financial status. How will that go over? She too will have to come clean with Sean about Marty. How will that go over? No one ever said the path to true love was easy, especially in rom-coms. It\u2019s always complicated.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Surrender<\/strong> is written and directed by Jerry Belson (1938-2006). It\u2019s one of two theatrical films he directed, the other one being the spoof Jekyll and Hyde… Together Again (1982). He also wrote the screenplays for Smile (1975), Fun with Dick and Jane (1977), The End (1978) and Smokey and the Bandit II (1980). Jerry is better known for his work on television. He wrote multiple episodes of The Odd Couple, Love, American Style and The Tracey Ullman Show. I wasn\u2019t surprised to learn his roots were in TV. Surrender<\/strong> has a very sitcom-ish feel to it. Not only that, Aaron Spelling is one of the producers. He\u2019s the guy behind many popular TV series including Charlie\u2019s Angels, The Love Boat, Dynasty and Beverly Hills 90210. What we have here is a film that isn\u2019t cinematic at all. It\u2019s not even worth the price of adult admission in \u201987 which was about $4.50 as I recall.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Would it surprise you to learn Surrender<\/strong> is a Golan-Globus production? Well then, SURPRISE! Although distributed by Warner, it\u2019s a Cannon production. It\u2019s from when they were trying to break away from B-movies. I didn\u2019t really work out for them as the Golan-Globus empire collapsed a couple of years later with expensive flops like Masters of the Universe and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, both 1987. Surrender<\/strong> somehow cost $15M to make and only made back $5.7M.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Field is the lone saving grace of Surrender<\/strong>. She\u2019s always good. It\u2019s nice to see her take a break from heavier fare like Norma Rae (1979), Absence of Malice (1981) and Places in the Heart (1984) to star in a light rom-com. I like her, I really like her. Caine doesn\u2019t exactly phone it in, but he doesn\u2019t put forth a lot of effort either. Their chemistry is okay, but I liked her better with Garner.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Surrender<\/strong> came out the same year as Guttenberg\u2019s last Police Academy movie. I usually like him; he has a likable quality to him. I couldn\u2019t stand him in this movie. His character is one of those people you\u2019d like to smack repeatedly on general principle. I cringed every time he showed his face.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The supporting cast includes Peter Boyle (Young Frankenstein) as Sean\u2019s lawyer and closest friend. He\u2019s the voice of reason character, I suppose. He\u2019s the one that suggests a pre-nup when Sean announces his intention to marry Daisy. Yeah, that turns into a situation. Julie Kavner (Rhoda, The Simpsons) shows up as Daisy\u2019s pregnant bff and voice of reason Ronnie. She\u2019s always fun. Jackie Cooper (of the Superman movies) appears in one scene as Daisy\u2019s rich, tennis bum father Ace. You can see where she gets her taste in men. My theory is Golan and\/or Globus asked Cooper to take a break from Superman IV for his single-scene cameo which would turn out to be his final film role. Lasser (as the ex-wife) has a brief scene in a courtroom and Iman (as the ex-girlfriend) doesn\u2019t even have any dialogue.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It\u2019s impossible to hate a movie like Surrender<\/strong>. It\u2019s harmless really. It just doesn\u2019t leave a lasting impression. It\u2019s the very definition of forgettable. I have a feeling I\u2019ll forget most of it by this weekend.\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Surrender (1987)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros.\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 94 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (language, implied nudity)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Jerry Belson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Jerry Belson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Michael Colombier\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Juan Ruiz Anchia\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: October 9, 1987 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Sally Field, Michael Caine, Steve Guttenberg, Peter Boyle, Jackie Cooper, Julie Kavner, Iman, Louise Lasser, Michael A. Andrews, Jerry Lazarus.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $5.7M […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comedies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Surrender-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4261"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5327,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4261\/revisions\/5327"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}