Watch Losin' It For Free

Wonderful character development!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Losin' ItGiving away your virginity in some sex-pact is ludicrous - especially since you can sell it on the Internet.Unfortunately, the digital era is decades away in this 1960s set teen sex-comedy.Hell-bent on popping their cherries, three seniors, Woody (Tom Cruise), Dave (Jackie Earle Haley) and Spider (John Stockwell), head from L.A. to Tijuana in a 1957 Chevy intent on losing their virginity in a Mexican brothel. However, losing it is harder than it seems as the boys are tested at every turn by the corrupt local sheriff, a desperate housewife (Shelley Long) and a bad case of limp dick.Teeming with tons of testosterone-tinged hijinks involving cross-border prostitutes, fireworks and fabled aphrodisiacs this 1983 romp is a forgotten gem of the juvenile genre that features an exceptionally embarrassing performance from a young Tom Cruise. Moreover, for a man to lose his virginity, technically, he needs to be penetrated. Yellow Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

Considering how endless the supply of horny teenager movies was in the '80s, it's not surprising when actors who would become big stars turn up in them. Consider Johnny Depp in Private Resort and Tom Hanks in Bachelor Party. Oh, and Tim Robbins in Fraternity Vacation and Kevin Bacon in Animal House. Rarer is a director who would go onto bigger and better things, which is what we have here. Curtis Hanson won hearts and minds over ten years after this film about teenagers trying to lose their virginity when he made LA Confidential, and later, 8 Mile. Losin' It is a lot better made than the majority of teen sex movies, but that is not saying a whole lot. Most of them were clearly turned out as quickly and cheaply as possible; it was not uncommon for the boom mic to make several uncredited appearances in these movies, and the lack of budget showed in other ways, like very few inner location shots: the characters may be in high school or college, but we'd rarely see the inside of a classroom. So while Losin' It has a much better director, better actors and a better budget... it really doesn't have that much going for it. There's the usual fast talking, utterly sex (and Frank Sinatra) obsessed teen, played by Jackie Earle Haley, and the also usual shy, more sensitive teen, played by Tom Cruise. There's also the sullen and aggressive Spider, played by John Stockwell, and Haley's mercenary younger brother, who joins them on their trip to Tijuana to buy illegal firecrackers he can sell across the border.They get into the usual hijinks involving hookers, cops, and trying to hit on the wrong girls. There's also an older woman who comes along for the ride to get divorced - can you guess which of the guys mentioned above she falls for?I wasn't that interested in the exploits of these characters, clichéd and simplistic as they were, past the halfway mark, but at least they spent time on the inside of buildings other than the director's house, and the boom mic didn't keep mugging for attention.

I thought that this movie was very funny the first time I saw it ten years ago, and I still do today. This is a movie that is in the same genre as Porky's or Revenge of the Nerds. True fact, Tom Cruise said in a Playboy interview that he did this movie because of Jackie Earle Haley. Since Haley had been in Breaking Away, Cruise figured that this movie would be just as good. It didn't quite work out the way he expected, at least not right away. Cruise fan or not, it's worth a look. For me, Jackie pretty much steals every scene he's in. Anytime I watch this movie, I have to laugh at Tom Cruise because he ended up becoming one of the biggest stars in the movie world, and he started out in this. If you REALLY want to see Cruise in another light, check out Endless Love, with Brooke Shields. It's his first movie, and though he's in it for less than a minute, it's worth a look, just like Losin' It. Check it out!

Don't let the cast and director fool you. This is a teen sex comedy that's just as bad as any of the dozens (hundreds?) that Hollywood churned out back in the 1980s. Bad enough that this turkey wastes the talents of future stars Tom Cruise and Shelley Long. What's worse is that this was directed by Curtis Hanson (you know, of "L.A. Confidential" and "Wonder Boys" fame -- THAT Curtis Hanson.) I realize he was just an up-and-coming director at the time, but surely he must have taken one look at the script and realized it didn't have a chance. (Maybe he was gambling this film would be another "Porky's" and skyrocket him to fame. He gambled wrong.)Even if you're a die-hard Cruise fan, you're advised to stay away. Cruise, at this time, had yet to hone the persona upon which he would build his career. In other words, he isn't his usually funny, cocky self this time around, but instead comes across as bland, dull, and surprisingly lifeless. Shelley Long, on the other hand, is quite good in her thankless role as a runaway bride headed to Tijuana for a quickie divorce. Too bad the script doesn't give her anything funny to do.Also, since this is a teen sex comedy, I should mention that there's almost no raunch and nudity at all. Basically, this film is ninety minutes of three teen-aged jerks raising havoc in T.J., getting into lots of dumb bar fights and a few car chases with the usual Hollywood Mexican stereotypes.Bottom line: compared to this film, "Top Gun" (which also starred Cruise and John Stockwell) is deserving of ten Academy awards.)