Gotcha! is a 1985 American movie that mixes spy action and comedy. The film stars Anthony Edwards and Linda Fiorentino. It was directed by Jeff Kanew, who also directed Edwards in another movie called Revenge of the Nerds in 1984.

The main character, Jonathan Moore, played by Anthony Edwards, is a shy student at UCLA studying to be a veterinarian. He is the top player in a campus paintball game called "Gotcha." During a vacation in Paris, Jonathan meets Sasha, a mysterious and attractive woman played by Linda Fiorentino. Soon, he gets involved in a secret international mission.

Plot

Jonathan Moore, an 18-year-old veterinary student at UCLA, is skilled at playing "Gotcha," a popular game similar to Assassin where students run after each other on campus using paintball guns. Jonathan and his roommate, Manolo, travel to Paris during spring break. While alone in a café, Jonathan meets Sasha Banicek, a 24-year-old woman from Czechoslovakia, and later has a first romantic experience with her.

Instead of joining Manolo in Spain, Jonathan travels with Sasha to West Berlin to spend more time with her. In their hotel room, Sasha explains that she must go to East Berlin to pick up a package because she works as a courier. One night, Sasha leaves the hotel while Jonathan sleeps and meets a German man who tells her where to find the package. Unbeknownst to Sasha, she is being watched by Vlad, a Soviet agent.

The next day, Sasha tells Jonathan that if she ever tells him to meet her at the Café Friedrichstrasse, he must leave East Berlin immediately. She gives him a package containing a strudel. Sasha notices Vlad following them and tells Jonathan to meet her at a butcher shop near their hotel in one hour. Vlad chases her but fails to catch her. The German man orders Sasha to use Jonathan to deliver the package to West Berlin. Sasha meets Jonathan at a subway station, places an object in his backpack, and says she will return to the hotel. Later, she calls Jonathan and tells him to meet her at the Café Friedrichstrasse.

That night, Jonathan hurries to Checkpoint Charlie to cross into West Berlin. Sasha is caught by Vlad and East German police, but no items are found on her during a search. Vlad arrives at the border but finds Jonathan has already crossed safely. In West Berlin, Jonathan discovers his hotel room has been broken into, and his traveler’s checks are missing. Vlad and his followers eventually find Jonathan at the Spandau Citadel, the location Sasha gave him. There, Jonathan meets a woman who asks for the object Sasha gave him. She is confused when Jonathan gives her the strudel, and Vlad shoots her. The agents chase Jonathan through the Citadel. Jonathan jumps into a water canal to escape and is found by a German punk rock band heading to Hamburg, who offer him a ride to the airport.

After returning to Los Angeles, Jonathan finds a film canister in his backpack, which Sasha had hidden. He tells his parents about his experience in Germany, but they do not believe him and accuse him of drug use. Jonathan contacts the CIA and shares details about Sasha and the film. He is temporarily arrested for hitting a car but returns to find his apartment broken into.

The CIA asks Jonathan to bring them the film canister. At the CIA’s Los Angeles office, Jonathan is surprised to see Sasha working there. He arranges a meeting with Sasha at UCLA and uses Manolo’s help to separate her from CIA agents. Sasha admits she is actually Cheryl Brewster, a CIA agent from Pittsburgh. Vlad and his men then chase them across the campus. During their escape, Jonathan takes a tranquilizer gun from the veterinary sciences building and uses it to stop their pursuers. The Soviets are arrested, and CIA agents thank Jonathan for helping recover the film. Cheryl/Sasha tells Jonathan she wants to continue their relationship, and they kiss.

After their meeting, Jonathan speaks with a student who had previously rejected him. She refuses him again. As she walks away, Jonathan uses the tranquilizer gun to shoot her in the back.

Production

The movie Gotcha! was filmed in October 1984. The main filming took place in Los Angeles, specifically around the UCLA campus, as well as in Paris and West Berlin.

Soundtrack

The original soundtrack album was released on vinyl records in 1985 by MCA Records. The main song is "Gotcha!" by British singer Thereza Bazar, which was recorded specifically for the film. The album also includes songs by Giuffria and Nik Kershaw. Songs from the movie that are not on the MCA soundtrack album include "Two Tribes" and "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

In 2020, Intrada Records released a limited edition album featuring Bill Conti's 28-minute musical score. Two of these tracks were on the 1985 soundtrack album. One piece was rearranged for the 1985 album. The pop songs could not be used for this release.

Reception

Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the film "a small but very detailed comedy-melodrama." He criticized the film for lacking style, saying it was "as uninteresting as a story movie can be." Leonard Maltin noted that Gotcha! "almost worked well, with strong dialogue at the start, but lost its appeal as the story became less believable." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two stars out of four. He described the European scenes as "a well-directed game of hide-and-seek" that failed in the final part when the story returned to the United States. He pointed out the film's main problem was focusing too much on Edwards' character, while Fiorentino's character was more interesting: "I think the people who made the movie assumed it had to be told from his perspective and never considered hers. That was a mistake."

On the review website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 31% approval rating based on 13 reviews, with an average score of 5 out of 10.

Some later reviews have noted that Gotcha! combines elements of youthful adventure and spy-like suspense.

Legacy

In November 1987, LJN released a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System called Gotcha! The Sport!. The game was created by Atlus for the Zapper light gun and is based on the capture-the-flag paintball tournament shown in the opening scene of a movie. It does not include the spy-comedy storyline from the film. LJN promoted the game as part of a marketing effort for its Entertech line of battery-operated water and paintball guns. This line also included physical toys with the Gotcha! brand, such as the Enforcer double pistol set and the Commando rifle. These items were sold with protective glasses and targets.