Today’s generation may know Mark Harmon best for spending several years on the small screen playing seasoned Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs on NCIS. But decades before he was rolling in the bank with the popular CBS procedural, Harmon was named the Sexiest Man Alive by People Magazine in 1986. That title had a double-edged sword effect in his film career, especially with the 1989 romantic comedy, Worth Winning.
The Will Mackenzie film was one of many attempts to make Harmon the next major matinée idol following his departure from the NBC hospital drama St. Elsewhere in 1986. After trying his hand at substitute teaching in Summer School and solving a murder alongside Sean Connery in The Presidio, Harmon tried to play into his good looks and natural comedic charm as a womanizing weatherman who takes extreme measures to win a bet against his friends. Despite Harmon’s likable presence on screen, Worth Winning suffers from cringe-worthy hijinks that make it very uncomfortable to watch today.
What Is ‘Worth Winning’ About?

Based on the novel by Dan Lewandowski, Worth Winning follows handsome Philadelphia weatherman Taylor Worth (Harmon) who has no trouble getting women but cannot seem to develop a deeper relationship with any of them. His friend Ned (Mark Blum) wagers that Taylor, for all his charm, won’t be able to make even one of three randomly chosen women fall for him — and pop the question. Putting up his cabin against an expensive Picasso painting owned by Ned’s wife, Taylor begins dating the women of his choosing: concert pianist Veronica (Madeleine Stowe), frustrated housewife Eleanor (Lesley Ann Warren), and incredibly attractive Philadelphia Eagles receptionist Erin (Maria Holvöe).
Each relationship comes with its own set of complications. Erin is fiercely protected by a hot-headed Eagles player. Eleanor enjoys pushing boundaries — including having sex in a movie theater playing Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a recurring gag in the film. And then there’s Veronica, who isn’t so easily swayed by the weatherman’s usual charm. As Taylor makes progress on Ned’s bet, he begins to develop real feelings for one of the women and regret for the others.

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Image via 20th Century Fox

Though it’s made to be harmless in the context of a comedy released in 1989, Worth Winning is a troubling, misogynistic picture in ways that would not make it in today’s marketplace. The biggest issue with the film involves a subplot in which Taylor has to prove to Ned the legitimacy of the sexual escapades and marriage proposals… by filming them with a hidden video camera and bragging about his activities to the lens. Ironically, this was the same year that Rob Lowe’s controversial sex tape scandal made headlines. While it’s likely the movie was in production before the Lowe story broke out, it had to make an uncomfortable impression on audiences.
Other troubling aspects of Worth Winning revolve around the subplot of Taylor’s attempt at seduction with Erin. The film attempts to deliver laughs through the sight gags of Erin’s football obsession, leading her to tackle Taylor aggressively and the weatherman getting turned on by the young blonde lighting up a big cigar. But when Taylor learns of Erin’s virginity status and avoids going all the way, he still manages to lie about it on camera to win the bet. Then he proceeds to break up the relationship by revealing his impotence. For the usually likable Harmon, Worth Winning does not give the audience any reason to root for his success at love.
Though it tries to have the same kind of high jinks and slapstick sight humor akin to a Blake Edwards comedy, Worth Winning never catches on because Harmon is too nice of a guy to put himself in such creepy situations. Additionally, the entire premise has no redeeming value for his character. For all the trouble Taylor causes in playing with the hearts of the three women, it becomes increasingly inevitable that the women would come together to give him his comeuppance. Rather than punish Taylor for his sleazy misdeeds, the film tries to overlook it all when he ultimately declares his love for the woman he connects the most with. It’s as if Worth Winning wants to make light of entanglements by casting someone so hard to dislike in a person like Harmon. He’s better suited to a comedy like Summer School where playing a straight man to a group of misfit students brings out more comedy gold than a tone-deaf comedy about wealthy men who cheat.

Worth Winning

Release Date

October 27, 1989

Runtime

103 minutes

Director

Will Mackenzie

Writers

Josann McGibbon

Cast

Madeleine Stowe

Veronica Briskow

Lesley Ann Warren

Eleanor Larimore