Reteaming with director Jeff Kanew one year after "Revenge of the Nerds", the amiable Anthony Edwards plays another socially awkward college student. Jonathan Moore (Edwards), master of a campus paintball game called "Gotcha!", travels to Europe with his friend / roommate Manolo (Jsu Garcia). In Paris he meets an alluring Czech woman named Sasha (Linda Fiorentino) who ends his days as a virgin. But she also draws him into danger by involving him in espionage; they are soon pursued by a ferocious-looking Russian goon (played by German actor Klaus Lowitsch).
Although interest did wane for this viewer at times, he found this to be a fairly engaging Cold War era movie overall. Kanew manages a fairly light tone at first, and prevents the movie from ever getting *too* grim by coming up with some funny comic bits of business. (Such as Jonathan disguising himself as a punk rocker to avoid detection by the bad guys.). The pacing and the action scenes are reasonably well handled, but what really perks up a lot of scenes are the international locales used.
The tantalizingly sexy Fiorentino is effective as the stranger whom we automatically suspect isn't playing it completely straight with Jonathan. She and the boyish Edwards do have good chemistry, and he also seems to get on well with Garcia (whom you'll recognize as Rod Lane from the previous years' horror classic "A Nightmare on Elm Street"). Alex Rocco and Marla Adams do fine as the well-off parents who refuse to believe their sons' outlandish story, and assume that he's on drugs. Lowitsch is a decent if underdeveloped villain.
The story isn't fleshed out all that much; for one thing, we never do find out the full importance of the object of everyones' interest. Still, the movie does build towards a pretty bright finish, and is basically slick, decent entertainment for fans of the two stars.
Seven out of 10.
Although interest did wane for this viewer at times, he found this to be a fairly engaging Cold War era movie overall. Kanew manages a fairly light tone at first, and prevents the movie from ever getting *too* grim by coming up with some funny comic bits of business. (Such as Jonathan disguising himself as a punk rocker to avoid detection by the bad guys.). The pacing and the action scenes are reasonably well handled, but what really perks up a lot of scenes are the international locales used.
The tantalizingly sexy Fiorentino is effective as the stranger whom we automatically suspect isn't playing it completely straight with Jonathan. She and the boyish Edwards do have good chemistry, and he also seems to get on well with Garcia (whom you'll recognize as Rod Lane from the previous years' horror classic "A Nightmare on Elm Street"). Alex Rocco and Marla Adams do fine as the well-off parents who refuse to believe their sons' outlandish story, and assume that he's on drugs. Lowitsch is a decent if underdeveloped villain.
The story isn't fleshed out all that much; for one thing, we never do find out the full importance of the object of everyones' interest. Still, the movie does build towards a pretty bright finish, and is basically slick, decent entertainment for fans of the two stars.
Seven out of 10.