And now we’re back to one of those who on earth thought up these topics moments, because today’s meme is: “Movie Seen More Than Ten Times.” I can safely say that I’ve seen about two-thirds of the movies I’ve discussed in the last month more than ten times each. It’s something I do, watch a movie I like so much again and again, usually something like every day for a week or two until I’m finished with it. Now, usually it’s mainly the highlights; there may be some awesome action scene, an incredible dramatic moment, or a brilliantly funny comedy sequence that I just have to dissect and absorb until I’ve had my fill. You can mock me if you feel it’s necessary, but then we probably won’t be friends.

Thus, picking a movie to talk about here isn’t a slam-dunk. I decided instead to highlight the two most favored of my favorites (that is, after His Girl Friday), to which I return year after year, and the first is the movie which has probably been a favorite for the longest, The Sure Thing. It’s been said that John Cusack is underrated, but this movie is too, relegated to the status of other 80’s teen-romp comedies. To be fair, Cusack did in fact make a few of those, and they’re definitely varying degrees of lame, but The Sure Thing is far out of that league, as well as out of the confines of the decade that spawned it. I’m not saying there aren’t some cringe-worthy fashions in it, along with the requisite pop music from the time, but it’s as timeless as any of those movies can get, and it’s mainly because the story itself is. This is likely because it is in fact a remake-slash-homage to the other film that rounds out my top three favorites, It Happened One Night.

It actually took me years of loving both films to notice the connection, because it really is subtle. It Happened One Night was a pioneer in the realm of the Romantic Comedy and is one of the greats to which hundreds of movies that followed have aspired. Panned by critics at its release but driven to box office success by the star-power of Gable and Colbert, it was the first film to sweep the top five categories at the Academy Awards. Reportedly, many of those same critics took a second look once they saw how it was resonating with the public, and to their credit, most changed their tune. It was the little movie that could, and the masses knew something good when they saw it. Many people now claim it’s one of the early Screwball Comedies, but regardless, it spawned imitators for decades to come.

The Sure Thing hearkens back to the time when two strong characters could drive a story and come together in the end without losing parts of themselves. Both are road pictures, and both deal with what happens when the world-wise meets the educated and refined, but they’re great love stories too, demonstrating the learning experience that is every relationship. The message of both is that a fulfilling relationship is one where each challenges the other and neither stops growing. In both, the two have to rely on each other to get through the obstacle course that leads back to where they were going, separately, at the beginning of the story. But somewhere along the way what they want changes, and they begin to love the journey for the company they’re keeping.

Both films have fantastically episodic structures that can be broken down into a series of “bits.” There’s the Show Tunes Scene and the Bar Scene in The Sure Thing; likewise, there’s the “Walls of Jericho Scene” and the Piggy-back Ride Scene in It Happened One Night. In the latter, Peter instructs Ellie on the correct method of dunking a doughnut, while in the former, Gib teaches Allison how to shotgun a beer. Both pairs hitchhike hilariously, get disastrously caught out in the elements with no shelter, and each of the men saves their companion from the lecherous attentions of a fellow traveler. Both Allison and Ellie loosen up in the process, but Peter and Gib refine and soften their hard edges too.

But neither film is presented in a romantic comedy vacuum. It Happened One Night is not just set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, but informed by it. We don’t forget that the disparity between the backgrounds of our hero and heroine mimics the very real class warfare and struggle to survive that was going on outside the movie theater. The Sure Thing is not so serious in contrast, but book-ended by the creative writing course they share in college, it’s a compelling look at how life experiences inform one’s art, and an argument that one of the basic functions of school is to find just who we really are. Gib finds out what kind of girl is really his type, and Allison chooses adventure over the five-year-plan.

Believe me when I say that these two make the best double-feature ever. I highly recommend you try them together with the yummiest of munchies close by. You’ll probably find yourself returning to them, as I do, again and again.