''Skin Deep'' is a 1989 American romantic

sex comedy Sex comedy, erotic comedy or more broadly sexual comedy is a genre in which comedy is motivated by sexual situations and love affairs. Although "sex comedy" is primarily a description of dramatic forms such as theatre and film, literary works such ...

film written and directed by

Blake Edwards Blake Edwards (born William Blake Crump; July 26, 1922 – December 15, 2010) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Edwards began his career in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon began writing screenplays and radio s ...

and starring

John Ritter Johnathan Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American actor. Ritter was a son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason and Tyler Ritter. He is known for playing Jack Tripper on the ...

Plot

Zachary "Zach" Hutton is a successful author who has a weakness for alcohol and beautiful women. Zach's mistress walks in on him in the process of cheating on her with her attractive

hairdresser A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A Hairdresser may also be re ...

, followed by his estranged wife Alex discovering his mistress about to shoot him with his revolver. Following the breakup of those relationships, Zach engages in a long period of binge-drinking and solace-seeking with a string of women. He avoids work, continues to strain relations with his ex-wife and drunkenly attends a formal party dressed in a genie's costume. Zach's affairs include one with a volatile woman named Molly who deliberately leaves him hooked up too long to a skin-treatment electro-therapy machine that gives his body quivering spasms from head to toe. He also has a one-night stand with a remarkably muscular female bodybuilder named Lonnie, telling her before sex that he feels "like Mrs. Arnold Schwarzenegger." One gag scene is portrayed in total darkness, with Zach wearing a luminous condom as he prepares to have sex with yet another woman he has just met, Amy. When her boyfriend returns to the hotel room similarly equipped, the two men engage in a frantic fight, their glow-in-the-dark attire bouncing crazily across the darkened room. After disrupting his ex-wife's wedding day, it finally dawns on Zach just how out of control his lifestyle has become. He sobers up, abstains from womanizing, and begins to write again. Achieving the trifecta of recovery that Alex predicted he couldn't achieve, he wins back her love.

Cast

as Zachary "Zach" Hutton * Vincent Gardenia as Barney the Barkeeper *

Alyson Reed Alyson Reed is an American dancer and actress. Life and career Alyson Reed was born in Fullerton and grew up in Anaheim, California. She began ballet at age 4, started performing in musicals at age 7, and was working professionally by age 12. R ...

as Alexandra "Alex" Hutton * Joel Brooks as Jake Fedderman *

Julianne Phillips Julianne Phillips (born May 6, 1960Dave Marsh, ''Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s'', Pantheon Books, 1987; . pp. 303, 316-18.) is an American model and actress. She began her career as a model in the early 1980s before moving on to act ...

as Molly *

Chelsea Field Chelsea Field is an American actress. Career Field started her career as a Solid Gold Dancer, and one of her first television roles was on ''Airwolf''. She also played Teela in the 1987 film adaptation of ''Masters of the Universe''. She b ...

as Amy McKenna *

Peter Donat Peter Donat (born Pierre Collingwood Donat; January 20, 1928 – September 10, 2018) was a Canadian-American actor. Early life Pierre Collingwood Donat was born in Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada, the son of Marie (née Bardet) and Philip Ernst ...

as Leon "Sparky" Sparks * Don Gordon as Curt Ames *

Nina Foch Nina Foch ( ; born Nina Consuelo Maud Fock; April 20, 1924 – December 5, 2008) was a Dutch-born American actress who later became an instructor. Her career spanned six decades, consisting of over 50 feature films and over 100 television appea ...

as Marge, Alex's Mother *

Denise Crosby Denise Michelle Crosby is an American actress and model known for portraying Security Chief Tasha Yar mainly in season one of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', and Yar's daughter, the half-Romulan Commander Sela, in subsequent seasons. She ...

as Angela "Angie" Smith *

Michael Kidd Michael Kidd (August 12, 1915 – December 23, 2007) was an American film and stage choreographer, dancer and actor, whose career spanned five decades, and staged some of the leading Broadway and film musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. Kidd, stron ...

as Dr. Westford * Dee Dee Rescher as Bernice Fedderman *Bryan Genesse as Rick Curry *Bo Foxworth as Greg *

Raye Hollitt Raye Hollitt (born April 17, 1964) is an American actress and bodybuilder, also known by her stage name Zap, one of the original cast members of '' American Gladiators''. Biography Hollitt graduated from Lake-Lehman High School in 1982, then ...

as Lonnie Jones *Brenda Swanson as Emily *Jean Marie McKee as Rebecca "Becky"

Reception

Critical reception

The film received mixed to negative reviews. The film earned a 32% "Rotten" rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, based on 28 critics, with an average rating of 5.10/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 43 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". However, many critics praised John Ritter's performance in the film. One of the few positive reviews was by

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

, who wrote, "The daring thing Edwards does in ''Skin Deep'' is to try to combine two entirely different tones within the same film. This is a smart, sensitive film that knows a lot about human nature."

Box office

Despite negative reviews, the film was a financial success grossing $20 million in the United States and Canada and $25 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $45 million.

Soundtrack

*"Falling Out of Love" performed by

Ivan Neville Ivan Neville (born August 19, 1959) is an American multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, and songwriter. He is the son of Aaron Neville and nephew to members of The Neville Brothers. Career He has released four solo albums and had a Top 30 ...

*"Just to Keep You Satisfied" performed by

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

*"I Can't Go Home" performed by

The Robert Cray Band Robert William Cray (born August 1, 1953) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He has led his own band and won five Grammy Awards. Early life Robert Cray was born on August 1, 1953, in Columbus, Georgia, while his father was statione ...

*"It's Just a Matter of Time" performed by

Brook Benton Benjamin Franklin Peay (September 19, 1931 – April 9, 1988), better known as Brook Benton, was an American singer and songwriter who was popular with rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music audiences during the late 1950s and early 1960 ...

*"Skin Deep" performed by Debra Holland *"Songbird" performed by

Kenny G Kenneth Bruce Gorelick (born June 5, 1956), known professionally as Kenny G, is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, and producer. His 1986 album ''Duotones'' brought him commercial success. Kenny G is one of the best-selling artis ...

*"Dreamin'" performed by

Vanessa Williams Vanessa Lynn Williams (born March 18, 1963) is an American singer, actress, and fashion designer. She gained recognition as the first African-American woman to receive the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984. She resign ...

*" Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" performed by

The Falla Trio ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

*" Have You Met Miss Jones?" written by

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American ...

and

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include "Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", " Bewitched, B ...

(not credited in the film) *" My Romance" written by

and

(not credited in the film) *Film score and additional incidental music by

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini, ; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flautist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Award ...

(not credited in the film) *Additional incidental music by

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

(not credited in the film) The song "Killer Love" by

Al Jarreau Alwin Lopez Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and musician. His 1981 album '' Breakin' Away'' spent two years on the ''Billboard'' 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and R ...

was intended to be used in the film, but was omitted at the last minute. The song was released on Jarreau's 1988 album '' Heart's Horizon''.

References

External links

* {{Blake Edwards 1989 films 1980s sex comedy films 1989 romantic comedy films Films about alcoholism Films directed by Blake Edwards Films with screenplays by Blake Edwards American sex comedy films American romantic comedy films Films about writers Films shot in Los Angeles Films set in Los Angeles American independent films Morgan Creek Productions films 20th Century Fox films 1980s English-language films Films scored by Henry Mancini 1980s American films