Zach Hutton (John Ritter) is a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and an internationally acclaimed author who has been experiencing writer’s block. He’s a 42-year-old compulsive womanizer and alcoholic, who can’t help but chase after any attractive young woman he comes across. He claims he longs for a meaningful, monogamous relationship—and thought he had that with wife, Alex (Alyson Reed), a TV news anchorwoman. However, the fact that Alex came home one evening to find Zach’s mistress (Denise Crosby) pointing a gun at him for sleeping with her hairdresser (Heidi Paine), proved otherwise, and resulted in the end of his marriage.

In order to seek help for his relationship issues, Zach starts seeing a therapist (Michael Kidd), but in each session he seems to just recount his latest sexual encounter or relationship gone wrong. These include a female bodybuilder (Raye Hollitt), a young woman (Julianne Phillips) who burns down his mansion, and another woman (Chelsea Field) with a jealous rocker boyfriend. However, none of these women can compare to his ex, whom he still has feelings for. But is it even possible for Zach to change his ways and win back Alex, or as in the story of the Scorpion and the Frog, is it just not in his nature to be sober and monogamous?

Blake Edwards was huge in the 1970s-80s, with the Pink Panther films and hits like Victor/Victoria, Micki & Maude and 10, and sex comedies like S.O.B., A Fine Mess, and so on. I always found his films to be somewhat hit or miss, and unfortunately Skin Deep was definitely a miss for me. It is very much a product of its era, the wild excess of the 1980s. I found the film a bit difficult to follow at times as Zach makes his way through woman after woman, all of whom have similar big 80s haircuts. It was tough keeping track of who was who. The film felt more like a series of loosely-connected sketches of sexploits and awkward situations that Zach recounts to either his therapist or to bartender Barney (Vincent Gardenia). In-between these stories, Zach often ends up at dinner parties at his ex-wife’s house (it was never really explained why he was even invited to these if they were divorced). By the end of the film, things take an abrupt turn which seems sudden and not really earned. It felt more like they ran out of ideas and it was time to end the movie, and so the resolution didn’t really feel that earned.

While the film does have the occasional scene that had me laughing—such as one involving glow-in-the-dark condoms, or when Zach’s friend Jake (Joel Brooks) and his wife see him arrive at a magazine party dressed like Aladdin after he was accidentally informed that it was a costume party—but for a comedy the film often felt dramatic and devoid of humor, or at least my kind of humor. I generally do not find drunk people that funny (I still don’t get the love for Arthur.) Much of this film was John Ritter acting drunk or getting into awkward sexual situations, and while Ritter is great with the physical humor and pratfalls, there was only so much of this I could take. There was nothing really that redeemable or likeable about Zach that made me want to root for him, or for Alex to fall back in love with him. His life was a mess and in shambles, but that was all his own doing. I also didn’t feel like this character was really redeemed by the end of the film—there was all this build-up with his life falling apart and one failed relationship after another. But we just see Zach have some sort of realization, and then the film just jumps ahead and any transformation that he made occurs off-camera, and didn’t feel earned.

Skin Deep arrives on Blu-ray for the first time thanks to Mill Creek Entertainment. The release features a somewhat clean picture, though there are some specs of dirt that pop up here and there. The picture is pleasant, but comes off a bit hazy and flat, without a great deal of detail in faces, etc. However, the presentation of the blacks is quite solid, particularly in the aforementioned glow in the dark scene. While the previous DVD release included a Dolby Digital 5.1 track, this Blu-ray only contains a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. That said, the dialogue is clear, and the score sounds great, particularly Ivan Neville’s “Falling Out Of Love” that plays to open and close the film. The only bonus material included on the disc is the film’s trailer. The main menu just offers the option to enable subtitles, watch the film, or watch the trailer. The Blu-ray disc comes packed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase, without a slipcover or a digital copy.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:49:53)

• 1080p / Widescreen 2.35:1
• Audio: English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

• Trailer (2:32)

Final Thoughts:

I have always found Blake Edwards’ non-Pink Panther films to be a bit hit or miss, and Skin Deep was unfortunately a miss for me. While there was an occasional funny moment, and one iconic scene that had me laughing, I just had a hard time finding the main character likeable or getting invested in his problems and/or transformation. For a comedy, I just didn’t find it all that funny. That said, fans of the film should delight in finally getting a Blu-ray release for this movie as the disc features a pleasant picture that looks like a step up from DVD, but unfortunately only includes the film’s trailer for supplemental material (though the previous DVD release didn’t include any supplemental material either).