Losin' It

Losin' It is the film that Tom Cruise got first billing in. On the strength of being more than noticed in Endless Love, Taps, and The Outsiders, Cruise got the lead in this minor teen comedy that made quite a bit of money back in the day.

Cruise, Jackie Earle Haley, and John Stockwell are three high school kids from the Eisenhower years who are looking to have a good time in Tijuana. Unfortunately they can't make the trip without John P. Navin who is Stockwell's brother because Stockwell came up short of cash.

Along the way the three of them pick up Shelley Long who is a young married who runs a convenient store on the way with her husband. Our three heroes just happen on her store when she's having a knockdown drag-out with her husband, culminating in Long walking out on her husband to hitching a ride to Tijuana to get a quickie Mexican divorce.

The rest of the film is about their adventures in Tijuana and their escape from there. I do say escape because Stockwell and Haley get into some serious trouble down there in separate incidents. They manage to get some marines on liberty down there mad at them and they fall into the hands of a crooked Tijuana cop played by Henry Darrow who really likes jamming up young Yanqui snot nose kids.

Cruise has an adventure of a different sort with Shelley Long in her pre-Cheers days. He's the only one who gets some enjoyment from Tijuana.

If there's a moral here, there's two of them. First there's no such thing as Spanish fly and second Tijuana is not a good place if you don't know the ropes.

After this Tom Cruise did Risky Business which cemented him as a teen idol and after that All the Right Moves which proved he was not only a box office draw, but a very capable actor.

As for Losin' It, it's an average teen sex comedy without the presence of Tom Cruise would barely be remembered.