The Pick-Up Artist

PG-13

Released Sep 11, 1987

1 hr. 21 min.

Romance

Comedy

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List

58%

24 Reviews

Tomatometer

37%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Serial pick-up artist and commitment-phobe Jack Jericho (Robert Downey Jr.) takes lessons in the art of seduction from aging player Phil Harper (Danny Aiello). Jack finds a formidable opponent in Randy Jensen (Molly Ringwald), a fiery tour guide who has a retort for his every line. Though she initially spurns his advances, Jack finds a way in when Randy's alcoholic, compulsive gambler father, Flash (Dennis Hopper), ends up in serious debt and deep trouble with gangsters in Atlantic City.

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Slay Q

Enjoyable and eccentric, exactly what you would expect from a movie such as this. Great performances by RDJ and Molly Ringwald. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Randy as a character, I went into this movie thinking that she was going to be some cliche good girl workaholic, but she ended up being just as hedonistic and wild as Jack. However there are some weird stalker-ish themes in the movie, and you never really get a good reason as to why. For some reason, Jack just decides out of the blue that Randy is the one for him, and we never really find out why he feels this way.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

07/14/23

Full Review

Leo P

Wow... This movie is ass. I'm a big RDJ fan but damn I could barely get through this movie the acting is good but everything else is so boring. Its such a slow start and the first 48 minutes of the movie it just showing him being a creep, I mean there is literally a scene where he convinces her to get in the car with him and when she ask where we are going he says "There's a special place I'm gonna take you. It's very private, very hidden." like wtf that is creepy as ill get out! Over all I give the movie a 1.5/5 stars.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

Shannon

One of the best RDJ films

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/15/22

Full Review

david f

A solid Eighties romantic comedy. Robert Downey Jr and Molly Ringwald both playing promiscuous urbanites.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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scott m

Movie about a young guy who picks up a young girl on the streets on New York City. First leading role for Robert Downey Jr. and I think he's awesome myself. Carries the movie.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Spoiler alert: Also long rant I thought this would be a fun lighthearted romantic comedy but this movie annoyed the living crap out of me. I don't think a movie has activated my flight or fight response so much. Robert Downey Jr.'s character Jack is supposed to be charismatic and a ladies man and yet he spends almost the entirety of the movie stalking Molly Ringwald's character Randy. They sleep together once and she expresses zero interest in anything further yet he constantly pesters her and stalks her at her place of work and her home it was honestly terrible this is our protagonist? He's every womans worst nightmare I wanted Randy to punch him so bad. Also we're supposed to believe he's a better person at the end just because he's not a ladies man? At least in the beginning when women said no he backed off he turns into a straight up stalker after meeting Randy. This might have been saved for me if they didn't end up together but they do ugh. Sorry I just hated this movie so much. The whole time I was screaming internally " she said no bro move on"

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

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James Toback

Director

Molly Ringwald

Randy Jensen

Robert Downey Jr.

Jack Jericho

Dennis Hopper

Flash Jensen

Danny Aiello

Phil Harper

Mildred Dunnock

Nellie

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The Pick-Up Artist: Trailer 1

1:26

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Henry Sheehan

Chicago Reader

he Pick-Up Artist is not going to change anyone's life or deflect the course of film history, but it's an invigorating and enjoyable entertainment...

Rated: 3/4

May 10, 2022

Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

James Toback's long-gestating portrait of a one-track mind becomes bogged down in unconvincing plot mechanics.

Feb 27, 2008

Full Review

Janet Maslin

New York Times

The film roams from the Upper West Side to Coney Island to Atlantic City, maintaining a lighthearted style that doesn't quite match the hints of obsessiveness in Mr. Toback's screenplay.

Rated: 2.5/5

May 20, 2003

Full Review

Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

Instead of utilising these elements to create an engaging drama, Toback squanders them to make a actively unlikeable one.

Rated: 3/10

Mar 6, 2024

Full Review

Michael Sragow

NPR's Fresh Air

The Pick-Up Artist has wit, sweetness, and exuberance.

Feb 3, 2021

Full Review

Cathy Burke

United Press International

Molly Ringwald and Robert Downey Jr. head the unusually talented cast of characters assembled for this small but taut film.

Oct 9, 2016

Full Review

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Synopsis

Serial pick-up artist and commitment-phobe Jack Jericho (Robert Downey Jr.) takes lessons in the art of seduction from aging player Phil Harper (Danny Aiello). Jack finds a formidable opponent in Randy Jensen (Molly Ringwald), a fiery tour guide who has a retort for his every line. Though she initially spurns his advances, Jack finds a way in when Randy's alcoholic, compulsive gambler father, Flash (Dennis Hopper), ends up in serious debt and deep trouble with gangsters in Atlantic City.

Director: James Toback
Screenwriter: James Toback
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: American Entertainment, 20th Century Fox
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 11, 1987, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 27, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA): $11.6M
Sound Mix: Surround