Forgettable plots.

Tom Cruise made a lot of throwaway movies.

Quick in and out, with some snickering jokes along the way. Then he made Interview with the Vampire and became "the acting talent that is Tom Cruise."

Mission Impossible. Rainman. A Few Good Men. Let's get this out of the way, he's a very good actor, always will be.

Getting back to the 'throwaway' era. When I was plotting out Mayfield Eight I had my guy Calvin Ryder agree to a somewhat shady way of getting some good times on his birthday by going South of the Border. By that I mean they don't care if you're underage. Booze, women, drugs, the whole nine yards.

It was by way of this plot device that I recalled a silly movie Tom Cruise made (with Shelly Long [Cheers!] as the love interest no less) called 'Losing It.'

The Sleaze Era.

Losing It came at the same time as Animal House, then Porky's, then Caddy Shack, and so on. The late '70s early '80s made it obligatory for comedy to be about extremely illicit and perverse behavior. Stuff you had to watch with the sound down if Mom came in the room.

Losing It was about a kid who is going to get a super cheap but quality upholstery job done on his classic car in Mexico while two of his friends tag along. Shelly Long is a divorcee with nothing to lose. They make it as far as Tijuana and all hell breaks loose.

Enter 'Juanita's Cocktail Lounge

Losing It of course plays up every stereotype about Mexico, full of poverty, dangerous people, shady behavior. A lesson in cultural sensitivity it is not. But the main idea I was fixed on when (in my comic) Lenny propositions Calvin to celebrate his birthday in Las Palomas Mex was the obscure bar the kids go into in Losing It:

"High School Punks from across the border, their wallets get thinner and their dicks get shorter"

Sings the sleazy piano player. Two cute girls sit at their table. They ask them if they want to go upstairs... of course they do! The boys reach the stairs. They look behind them, but the girls didn't follow them. A big scary guy blocks their way, telling them 'More women upstairs. You go. Good women.' The only way is up the stairs...

I won't tell you the rest. It was a pretty dumb movie, but it goes to show sometimes when you're working on a story line things from your memory, from a book or movie, will pop into your head. Losing It was one of them.

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