Man(n) hat's nicht leicht (1988)

Man(n) hat’s nicht leicht: Directed by Richard Martini. With David Leisure, Scott McGinnis, Anthony Geary, Bridget Fonda. A comedy of a guy who is told the only way to be successful in LA is by “pretending to be someone else.” Through a series of dates at a video dating service, he learns that isn’t the case, and that it’s better to be yourself, rather than what you think others want you to be. Based on the comedy short film “Video Valentino.”

“Fans of the obscure 80s comedy, u0026#39;Odd Jobsu0026#39; (in which Scott McGinnis, who plays Skip here, also co-stars) might want to try out this rather silly romantic comedy, although it lacks much of the stupid humor of the former (but still contains some wry humor). This is the story of a well-meaning, somewhat naive guy named Eddie (David Packer) from Akron, Ohio who goes to live with his suave cousin, Skip (McGinnis) in Los Angeles where he finds out that success comes from pretending to be successful. Itu0026#39;s advice that Eddie is at least willing to try, having no luck in his advertising pursuits (heu0026#39;s a handbill solicitor on the beach for a rental shack) and romance. Most of the movie focuses on Eddieu0026#39;s romantic pursuits as he enlists in a video dating service and, with one false persona after the next, he meets girls with all sorts of bizarre hangups that seem to get him no where. So Eddie thinks that maybe Los Angeles has him beat. (Think of it as like the West Coast version of Michael J. Foxu0026#39;s character in u0026quot;Secret to my Successu0026quot;).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMost of the humor comes from the odd situations Eddie finds himself in with all of the strange people he meets in L.A. Look for Diz McNally in a bit part as a cab driver. For those who grew up in the 80s, you may remember her from the old Nickelodeon show, u0026#39;Out of Control,u0026#39; which starred David Coulier. And, aside from my usual favorite, Scott Miginnis in his trademark role of the wealthy stud, I thought David Leisure as Eddieu0026#39;s boss, Lu Leonard as the dating service manager, and Frank Bonner and Luanna Anders who play Eddieu0026#39;s parents, were terrific and hilarious supporting characters. The lead, David Packer, has always done well with this sort of naive, well-meaning character. Those who enjoyed The Running Kind might want to give this one a try (and vice versa).”