The Sure Thing is a part of the late, great Rob Reiner’s incredible seven-picture run from Spinal Tap to A Few Good Men, but it doesn’t get as much love as the other six. Reiner recently passed away at age 78, and we lost a passionate activist, a sitcom legend, a warm human being, and one of the true greats of cinema all in one.

After playing Mike “Meathead” Stivic on All in the Family, Reiner set his sights on becoming a filmmaker, and he broke out with one of the greatest winning streaks in movie history. Right out of the gate, he came out with This is Spinal Tap, The Sure Thing, Stand by Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, and A Few Good Men, all back-to-back.

That’s seven movies in seven very different genres, and they’re all near-flawless masterpieces that epitomize their entire genre (and, in some cases, even define it): a mockumentary, a screwball comedy, a coming-of-age film, a fantasy adventure, a romcom, a psychological thriller, and a courtroom drama. But out of those seven films, one doesn’t quite get the love it deserves.

While Spinal Tap, Stand by Me, and When Harry Met Sally are still enduring classics that get plenty of praise and plaudits, The Sure Thing remains an underrated gem. But, despite what its premise sounds like, The Sure Thing still holds up to this day. It’s just as timeless as The Princess Bride or Misery.

The Sure Thing Is Much Sweeter Than Its Premise Makes It Sound

From its premise alone, The Sure Thing sounds like the kind of ‘80s sex comedy that has aged horribly in a post-#MeToo era. Porky’s depicts voyeurism as a wacky comic misadventure. Revenge of the Nerds depicts a heinous sexual assault as its hero’s greatest triumph. On paper, The Sure Thing sounds like it belongs in that dreaded pantheon.

The “sure thing” of the title is a woman. John Cusack’s Gib (short for Walter Gibson) is struggling to get laid at his unspecified New England Ivy League college, so his friend Lance — played by ‘80s icon Anthony Edwards — arranges for him to have sex with a woman at UCLA, almost like a pimp. All Gib has to do is get to California in time for Christmas break.

That setup makes it sound like the movie is solely focused on this sexual conquest, objectifying the titular “sure thing” as a prize to be won. But the movie is a lot sweeter than that elevator pitch makes it sound.

It’s a bait-and-switch. Reiner uses this seemingly typical ‘80s sex romp as a springboard to set up a modern-day screwball comedy, the kind that Frank Capra or Howard Hawks would direct. Once Cusack’s Gib hits the road, The Sure Thing stops being a story about a young man who wants to have sex and becomes a story about that same young man finding true love.

The Sure Thing Is A Modern-Day Screwball Comedy

When Gib first gets to college, he attempts to romance a bookish fellow student named Alison, played by Spaceballs’ Daphne Zuniga, but gets roundly rebuffed. Then, when Gib hitches a ride to California with a snooty, stuck-up classmate played by Tim Robbins, he’s dismayed to find that they’re also taking Alison with them — she’s going to UCLA to visit her boyfriend, Jason.

After Gib makes one crass comment too many, Robbins kicks the passengers out of his car and leaves Gib and Alison stranded at the side of the road, somewhere between New England and California, and they reluctantly agree to travel together. On their wild Planes, Trains, and Automobiles-esque trek to California, Gib and Alison get on each other’s nerves, get to know each other better, and eventually fall in love.

It’s a modern-day screwball comedy. It takes the same basic premise of It Happened One Night — two reluctant travel companions fall in love on the way to their common goal — and updates it for the Porky’s era.

The success of any romcom hinges on the chemistry between the two leads. A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is gorgeously shot and lovingly crafted, but Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie don’t have an ounce of on-screen chemistry. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, on the other hand, is a ridiculous, contrived movie, but it works because Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson share spectacular chemistry.

In The Sure Thing, Cusack and Zuniga prove to be a perfectly matched romcom couple. Even at the beginning of the movie, when they despise each other, there’s an undeniable romantic tension between them. Their comic timing is perfectly synced, and you really believe that they’re falling for each other.

The Sure Thing Was A Precursor To Rob Reiner’s Other Great Romcom

The romantic comedy that Reiner is best known for is, of course, When Harry Met Sally. But The Sure Thing is essentially a precursor to When Harry Met Sally. It was Reiner’s first attempt at directing a romcom, and it touched on a lot of the themes that he would expand on in When Harry Met Sally.

Much like When Harry Met Sally, The Sure Thing is a frenemies-to-lovers story. It follows two people who couldn’t have less in common, who get off on the wrong foot when they first meet, but who eventually turn out to be soulmates.