skin-deep

Skin Deep
Directed by	Blake Edwards
Produced by	Tony Adams
Written by	Blake Edwards
Starring	John Ritter Alyson Reed
Music by	Don Grady Henry Mancini Ivan Neville
Cinematography	Isidore Mankofsky
Editing by	Robert Pergament
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	1989
Running time	97 min.

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Skin Deep is a 1989 film written and directed by Blake Edwards.

Plot

The movie concerns the romantic life of Zachary 'Zach' Hutton (John Ritter), a brilliant and successful author who has a severe weakness for drink and beautiful women. The opening scene depicts Zach's mistress walking in on him in the process of cheating on her, followed by his wife discovering him with both women. Following the breakup of the relationship with both his wife and mistress, Zach engages in a long period of binge-drinking and seeking solace with a string of women. Most of the comedy is generated by his sarcastic responses to almost everything said to him, and a degree of slapstick. Perhaps the most memorable scene is shot in total darkness, with Zach wearing a luminous condom as he prepares to have sex with another woman. When her boyfriend returns similarly equipped the two men engage in a frantic fight, their attire bouncing crazily across the room being the only visible element.

As his self-destructive behaviour reaches ever-greater heights, it begins to dawn on even Zach just how badly off he is, and he seeks to resolve his inner demons and rebuild his relationship with his wife.

Cast

• John Ritter as Zachary 'Zach' Hutton
• Vincent Gardenia as Barney the Barkeeper
• Alyson Reed as Alexandra 'Alex' Hutton
• Joel Brooks as Jake Fedderman
• Julianne Phillips as Molly
• Chelsea Field as Amy McKenna
• Peter Donat as Leon 'Sparky' Sparks
• Don Gordon as Curt Ames
• Nina Foch as Marge, Alex's Mother
• Denise Crosby as Angela 'Angie' Smith
• Michael Kidd as Dr. Westford
• Dee Dee Rescher as Bernice Fedderman
• Bryan Genesse as Rick Curry
• Bo Foxworth as Greg
• Raye Hollitt as Lonnie Jones

Quotes

• "I love everything about them, Barney. I love the way they feel, the way they smell, most of the time. I have to admit, I don't like women with long, round toenails. But that is the only abrogation so far. And so far has been quite a while and quite a few." - Zach on women.
• "You're scared like the rest of us. So you drink too much, you chase girls much too much, and you don't use your God-given talent anymore." - Barney to Zach
• "A scorpion who couldn't swim asked the frog to carry him across the river on his back. The frog said, "Do you think I'm crazy? Halfway across the river, you'll sting me and I'll drown." "That's not reasonable," said the scorpion. "If I sting you and you drown, I'll drown too." Frog thought about it, he said, "Climb on." Halfway across the river, the scorpion stung the frog, and as the frog was drowning, he said to the scorpion, "But now you'll drown too." The scorpion said, "Yes. I know." "That's not reasonable," said the frog, and the scorpion replied, "Reason has nothing to do with it. I'm a scorpion. It's my character." - Dr Westford to Zach.
• "What the fuck does that mean?" - Zach to Dr. Westford after the Scorpion story
• "I am the genie of the lamp, and my wish is to fuck you." -- Zach to a pretty girl at a party while rubbing a genie lamp.

External links

• Skin Deep (1989) at the Internet Movie Database