The Pick-up Artist

    The Pick-up Artist
    1987

    Synopsis

    A womanizer meets his match when he falls for the daughter of a gambling addict who is in debt to the mob.

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    Cast

    • Molly RingwaldRandy Jensen
    • Robert Downey Jr.Jack Jericho
    • Dennis HopperFlash Jensen
    • Danny AielloPhil Harper
    • Harvey KeitelAlonzo Scolara
    • Vanessa WilliamsRae, Girl with Dog
    • Mildred DunnockNellie
    • Brian HamillMike
    • Tamara BrunoKaren
    • Angie KempfJack's Student

    Recommendations

    • 75

      Chicago Tribune

      The charm of the film (and it does have an effective degree) ultimately seems as synthetic as Jack's. Perhaps the real pickup artist of the title is Toback himself, hiding behind a winning smile as he attempts, for the first time in his career, to hustle the audience.
    • 63

      Miami Herald

      The movie is 75 minutes of easy entertainment, important mainly as the launching pad for Downey, whose glibness, good looks and quickness of spirit mark him as a man who may pick up as many accolades as ladies in a promising future career. [19 Sept 1987, p.B5]
    • 60

      Washington Post

      Anyone want to watch some guy pick up women? Especially a fat-lipped, insincere kid who says "Did anyone ever tell you you have the body of a Botticelli and the face of a Dégas?" Me neither. But luckily, there's a little more than that to James Toback's The Pickup Artist.
    • 60

      Chicago Reader

      A light and fairly innocuous youth picture.
    • 50

      Washington Post

      The movie's ending is overly sentimental -- something I never thought I'd see in a Toback movie. What it delivers is a message about commitment -- and it's pretty much of a crock. You don't feel that Toback's heart is in it either, especially as an explanation for Jack's behavior. It's too pat a resolution.
    • 50

      TV Guide Magazine

      The film is carried by Downey, appearing in his first starring role. Ringwald, while performing adequately, just doesn't seem right for the part. Toback has devised an interesting premise that draws parallels between risking one's heart and one's wallet, but the picture itself risks little.
    • 50

      Variety

      As long as this film sticks to what its title suggests, The Pick-Up Artist is a tolerably amusing comedy. But as soon as the compulsive skirt-chaser gets hooked on one girl, James Toback's long-gestating portrait of a one-track mind becomes bogged down in unconvincing plot mechanics.
    • 50

      Los Angeles Times

      It's too thin to be satisfying. It consistently sparkles and moves along gracefully, but at a mere 81 minutes it leaves you unsatisfied. Although trimmed from an R to a PG-13, reportedly in light of the AIDS scare, you're nevertheless left with the feeling that more than sex ended up on the cutting-room floor. [19 Sept 1987, p.9]

    Seen by

    • yuko
    • effy
    • mmassage