This movie keeps you watching, it's definitely not Oscar or Golden Globe material - it is simply a light hearted film meant to entertain you.The plot could have been sewn together a little more tightly as there are a few holes but nothing beyond the viewers understanding. However, it is a lighthearted, romantic comedy. The dialogue is fresh and new for the time it was made, and I would go as far to say even now. The wit and banter is commendable and during serious moments it is soul baring and honest.Acting of course, Robert Downey has never given a bad performance, he always own the characters and leaves you in awe. Dennis Hopper- same for him, he's a great actor for a reason. Molly Ringwald .. never been a fan.. she's very one dimensional as an actress, always seems to have one expression for anger and pain.Overall I say it's worth watching just for RDJ. It was his first lead role.

A young Robert Downey Jr. thinks that he is a man about down as he goes around in his never ending attempt to pick up women. He is eventually smitten by Molly Ringwald, who is way out of her league in this film. A mobster's daughter, she really has the gambling habit.The other actors are typically stereotyped in their usual roles. Harvey Keitel as the mobster and the late Dennis Hopper as the boozed up and probably drug taking person are naturals for their respective parts.Watch out for a very young Christine Baranski in a one scene stealer and of all people, an elderly Mildred Dunnock plays Downey's diabetic grandmother, who apparently even has a guy at the end.Of all things, Downey is an elementary school gym teacher in the film and fortunately this is downplayed. Let's not further upset our educational system.

It really is a mystery for me, why I like this film. I guess that, before going on, I must introduce myself - usually I'm considered quite a film buff, and my favorite film decade actually is the 1930's. Why, then, would I even bother to watch a Molly Ringwald - Robert Downey, Jr. film from the 80's which has a terrible reputation? Good question. I caught it on TV the other day by accident. It tells a dull story (a girl must get 25 thousand dollars to pay off her alcoholic father's gambling debts and finds a womanizing teacher who eventually helps her out of it, if it makes any sense) with a lot of implausible moments - the scene of the robber singing Elvis, for instance, like another comment mentioned - but it does have a lot of familiar faces and I found all performances likable, particularly that of Downey Jr - but then again, his talent should never be in question, in spite of all his drug problems. Ringwald and Downey have great chemistry and pull of what could've become quite unwatchable. In the end of the day, I liked it and didn't think it was a time waster. If you watch it, maybe you'll be able to tell me why. It's been bothering me.

The good things first (sing this): Summer in the city!, and the city, New York, the one star in this movie that looks good 'til the very end, is just beautiful. And because it is summer, and because the city looks as good as the women that populate it, we do not ask that whatever Robert Downey is up to in the beginning is in any way "realistic", as long as it is carefree, funny, and playfully energetic. But from then on...I do not ask of a movie that it be literally truthful, however, there should be some inner truth, a veracity in the characters or a thoughtful comment on life or something--and this movie does not have any of it. It seems that most of the characters are caricatures, such as the alcoholic gambling father, the mafia bad guy and his entourage (a whole armada with Italian accents), the corrupt policeman, and the Columbian rich man; nobody is in any way real, not even three-dimensional. (I did like the bad guy's girlfriend though, probably also a caricature, but at least flirty, lively, and refreshing.) On top of that, our romantic couple has no chemistry (at least not any I can detect), always deadly for a romantic comedy. The philosophic sentences about life and relationships that come out of our protagonists' mouths are, well let's say, completely beside the point. They are probably supposed to show that our characters are "serious", and maybe if I was 16 again, I would find these parts of the movie "deep", but at my age, I just find them false and somewhat annoying.So, if you have seen this movie already, I hope you enjoyed the city, the summer, Robert Downey... and maybe some thing or other that I have missed.