No Small Affair
No Small Affair is a 1984 American comedy-drama film directed by Jerry Schatzberg and starring Jon Cryer and Demi Moore. Cryer, Jennifer Tilly, Tim Robbins and Tate Donovan make their film debuts.
Plot
The 16-year-old amateur photographer Charles accidentally takes a photo of Laura while shooting at a pier and falls in love with her when he develops the photo.He loiters around the area, looking for her, even checks with local police with no luck. When his big brother Leonard comes to town with his fiancée, they sneak Charles into a bar where Laura is singing. The bouncer tries to drag him out, then the cops finish the job, but our hero hardly cares, as he has learned the name of his beloved.
When the lead guitarist of Laura's band quits, her job is imperiled. Although rejected at first by the 22-year-old, Charles offers to photograph her. That night, he convinces his brother and friends to move the stag night to her bar.
Even though Charles had increased the numbers that night, Laura's band was still cut, so she let him do a shoot. Afterwards, they dress up to sneak into a wedding reception. Caught by the father of the bride, Charles convinces him to let Laura literally sing for their supper.
Using the publicity photos he took, and all of his savings, Charles attempts to boost her performing career by starting an ad campaign without her knowing on the city's taxis — with unexpected results.
Added to the taxi ads was a short article that goes national, explaining the ad and their story. Laura has a huge gig, and a major record label picks her up. Before she moves to L.A., Charles stops by her place, spends the night and loses his virginity.
Cast
Production
No Small Affair originally went into production in 1981, under director Martin Ritt, and planned to star Matthew Broderick and Sally Field in the lead roles. Production was shut down two weeks in as Ritt suffered health problems. Mark Rydell was considered as a possible replacement for Ritt, but the production was scrapped. Producer William Sackheim remained committed to the project and screenwriters Michael Leeson and Terence Mulcahy were brought on to do rewrites.In 1984, the film was restarted with director Jerry Schatzberg and the lead roles were re-cast with Jon Cryer and Ellen Barkin. After a rehearsal, Barkin was replaced by Demi Moore.