''No Small Affair'' is a 1984 American

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

directed by

Jerry Schatzberg Jerry Schatzberg (born June 26, 1927) is an American photographer and film director. Career Schatzberg was born to a Jewish family of furriers and grew up in the Bronx. He photographed for magazines such as '' Vogue'', ''Esquire'' and '' McCalls' ...

and starring

Jon Cryer Jonathan Niven Cryer (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor, writer, director and producer. Born into a show business family, he made his motion picture debut as a teenage photographer in the 1984 romantic comedy '' No Small Affair''; his br ...

and

Demi Moore Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After making her film debut in 1981, Moore appeared on the soap opera '' General Hospital'' (1982–1984) and subsequently gained recognition as a member of the B ...

. Cryer,

Jennifer Tilly Jennifer Tilly (born Jennifer Ellen Chan; September 16, 1958) is an American–Canadian actress and poker player. Known for her distinctive voice and comedic timing, she has been nominated for an Academy Award, two MTV Movie Awards and three Sat ...

Tim Robbins Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for portraying Andy Dufresne in the film '' The Shawshank Redemption ''(1994), and has won an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards for his role ...

and

Tate Donovan Tate Buckley Donovan (born September 25, 1963) is an American actor, comedian and television director. He is known for portraying Tom Shayes in ''Damages'', Jimmy Cooper in ''The O.C.'', and the voice of the title character in the 1997 Disney ...

make their film debuts.

Plot

The 16-year-old amateur photographer Charles (

) accidentally takes a photo of Laura (

) while shooting the pier and falls in love with her when he develops the picture. Enlarging the photo, Charles circulates the area, looking for her, even checks with local police with no luck. When his big brother Leonard and his fiancée come into town, they sneak him into a bar, where he sees her sing. Photographing her by the stage, the bouncer tries to drag him out and finally the cops do, but he finds out her name is Laura. The lead guitarist of Laura's band quits, so she is about to lose her job. Although rejected at first by the 22-year-old, Charles offers to photograph her. That night, he convinces his brother and friends to move the stag night to her bar. Even though Charles had increased the numbers that night, Laura's band was still cut, so she let him do a shoot. Afterwards, they dress up to sneak into a wedding reception. Caught by the father of the bride, Charles convinces him to let Laura literally sing for their supper. Using the publicity photos he took, and all of his savings, Charles attempts to boost her performing career by starting an ad campaign without her knowing on the city's taxis — with unexpected results. Added to the taxi ads was a short article that goes national, explaining the ad and their story. Laura has a huge gig, and a major record label picks her up. Before she moves to L.A., Charles stops by her place, spends the night and loses his virginity.

Cast

as Charles Cummings *

as Laura Victor *

George Wendt George Robert Wendt Jr. (born October 17, 1948) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing Norm Peterson on the television sitcom ''Cheers'' (1982–1993), which earned him six consecutive nominations for the Primetime Em ...

as Jake * Peter Frechette as Leonard Cummings * E.G. Daily as Susan * Ann Wedgeworth as Joan Cummings *

Jeffrey Tambor Jeffrey Michael Tambor (born July 8, 1944) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles such as Jeffrey Brookes, the uptight neighbor of Stanley and Helen Roper in the television sitcom '' The Ropers'' (1979–1980), as Hank Kings ...

as Ken *

as Nelson *

Hamilton Camp Hamilton Camp (Born Robin S. Camp, 30 October 1934 – 2 October 2005) was a London-born actor and singer, who relocated to the United States with his family when he was a young child. He became an American folk singer during he 1960s, and ev ...

as Gus Sosnowski * Scott Getlin as Scott * Judith Baldwin as Stephanie *

as Mona * Kene Holliday as Walt Cronin * Thomas Adams as The Waiter * Myles Berkowitz as John *

as Bob *

Arthur Taxier Arthur Taxier (born January 19, 1951) is an American character actor, best known for the role of Lieutenant Carl Zymak in the TV series '' Midnight Caller''.'Midnight Caller' Stylishly Dark Series, Deseret News - Oct 25, 1988, p. 4 Wallace, Amy. S ...

as The Bouncer

Production

''No Small Affair'' originally went into production in 1981, under director

Martin Ritt Martin Ritt (March 2, 1914 – December 8, 1990) was an American director and actor who worked in both film and theater, noted for his socially conscious films. Some of the films he directed include '' The Long, Hot Summer'' (1958), '' The Black ...

, and planned to star

Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), the voice of adult Simba in Disney's ''The Lion King'' (1994), ...

and

Sally Field Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946) is an American actress. She has received many awards and nominations, including two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film F ...

in the lead roles. Production was shut down two weeks in as Ritt suffered health problems.

Mark Rydell Mark Rydell (born Mortimer H. Rydell; March 23, 1929) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has directed several Academy Award-nominated films including '' The Fox'' (1967), ''The Reivers'' (1969), '' Cinderella Liberty'' (1973), ...

was considered as a possible replacement for Ritt, but the production was scrapped. Producer William Sackheim remained committed to the project and screenwriters Michael Leeson and Terence Mulcahy were brought on to do rewrites (with Mulcahy getting credit on the screenplay with Craig Bolotin). In 1984, the film was restarted with director

and the lead roles were re-cast with

and

Ellen Barkin Ellen Rona Barkin (born April 16, 1954) is an American actress and a producer. Her breakthrough role was in the 1982 film '' Diner'', and in the following years, she had starring roles in films such as ''Tender Mercies'' (1983), ''Eddie and the ...

. After a rehearsal, Barkin was replaced by

Box office

''No Small Affair'' grossed a little over $4.9 million against an $8.5 million budget, which made the film a box office failure.

Critical reception

''No Small Affair'' received a mixed critical response. The film holds a 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on seven reviews.

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...

's David Sterritt wrote "Jerry Schatzberg,...who worked with still pictures before moving to cinema, he cares more about capturing the visual charms of San Francisco than smoothly unfolding the happy-sad story. The result is friendly but bland".

References

External links

* * * * * * {{Jerry Schatzberg 1984 films 1984 comedy-drama films 1980s English-language films Films set in San Francisco Films shot in San Francisco American comedy-drama films Films directed by Jerry Schatzberg Columbia Pictures films Films about photographers 1980s American films