Rhinestone(1984)

Under Jake’s (Dolly Parton) guidance, Nick (Sylvester Stallone) becomes a competent country singer over the two weeks they spend together in her hometown of Liepers Fork, Tennessee, and on the night before their return to New York City, their mutual growing attraction results in them sleeping together.

After returning to New York, Nick’s parents decide to have a welcome home party for him at an Italian restaurant. Jake eventually makes a speech where she tells the guests that she hopes that she and Nick will do fine at the Rhinestone tomorrow, and if they do, then she will have back what she needs and Nick will have his new taxicab (one condition of the bet was that, if Jake won it, then Freddie would purchase a new taxi for him, since his previous one got wrecked earlier in the film). However, Nick tells her that he has no desire to go back to being a cab driver because he is a singer now. Jake asks him what makes him think that he is a singer after just two weeks of training, and she points out that there is no guarantee that he will earn a living as a singer because it is a tough profession. Nick asks her if that means that it will all be over for him after singing the one song he needs to sing, and she replies that she hopes that it isn’t, but that is up to him. Unwilling to accept Jake’s criticisms, Nick accuses her of being jealous of him, but she retorts that jealousy has nothing to do with it; he is just not a real singer yet. Nick yells that he doesn’t need this kind of public embarrassment here, and she retorts that she doesn’t need it, either, because ever since she hooked up with him, that’s all she has been getting. Then, as she walks away from Nick, she – without thinking – yells out that she might as well just forget about the bet she made with Freddie (Ron Liebman) and just sleep with him. Having never been made aware of this stipulation, Nick reacts with shock, and Jake admits to him that she did agree to have sex with Freddie if she lost the bet, but that is none of his concern. Nick vocally objects to this because he sees Freddie as nothing but a wart, and when she informs him that she hasn’t slept with the guy yet, he becomes even more shocked that she would actually go through with that if she lost, prompting her to tell him that, where she comes from, people honor their word, no matter what. She and Nick then decide to wash their hands clean of each other, and before she walks out the door, she tells him that the bet is off. Nick yells to her that it is not off as far as he is concerned; he is still going to perform at the Rhinestone as planned.

Jake is next seen back at the Rhinestone the following morning during closing hours singing a sad song, and when she finishes, she talks to her waitress friend, Billie Joe (Jesse Welles), and expresses regret over how she insulted Nick, embarrassed him in front of his family and friends, got him fired from his job as a taxi driver earlier in the film, made him give up his down-to-Earth goals and exposed him to Freddie. Billie Joe warns her that Nick won’t be getting past this crowd tonight; Freddie saw to it that the audience would consist of the worst hecklers in the city, in an effort to ensure that Nick’s performance will tank. Jake then laments about how, if Nick does manage to achieve success with his performance, he might get all cocksure of himself thinking that he is going to be some big singer, and if he can’t make it, he will probably end up penniless and homeless. She then tells Billie Joe that she isn’t going through with this; she is going to ask Freddie to call the whole thing off.

That night, Nick shows up at the Rhinestone ready to perform, but he hears how cruel the hecklers are being to the other country music acts from his dressing room and gets very nervous about how he will fare. Meanwhile, Jake visits Freddie at his apartment, and she finds him all ready to get intimate with her despite the fact that he hasn’t officially won their bet yet. As Nick paces around the backstage area, one of the waitresses takes notice of this and walks up to him and tells him that, if he is expecting Jake to show up, he can forget it; she is probably at Freddie’s right now. He initially pretends to not care about this, but moments later, he runs out of the Rhinestone to try to get a taxi to Freddie’s apartment building. After failing to get one, he ends up taking the horse of the Rhinestone Cowboy mascot who works outside the club and rides over there. As this happens, Jake tells Freddie that the bet is off, but he refuses this, and then he starts trying to set a sexual atmosphere for them with the aid of a remote controller. When Jake tries to leave, Freddie – determined to bed Jake and completely unwilling to take “no” for an answer – pushes a button on the remote that locks his front doors. Nick soon shows up outside the doors, and after hearing Freddie chasing Jake around the apartment, he charges at the doors a few times until they break open. However, a second later, Freddie comes stumbling out of the apartment and into the elevator, having just been punched in the face by Jake. Nick approaches Jake and asks her why she decided to forfeit the bet, and when Jake replies that she feels that they don’t have a chance, Nick disagrees with her. He then adds that, his whole life, he has never finished anything, but now a chance has come for him to change that, and he is going to go through with this bet tonight no matter what. Freddie tells Nick that he has a bet going on here that he has no intention of losing and orders him to leave, and when Jake tells Nick that they need to get back to the Rhinestone, Freddie yells that that is not happening because (in his mind) she has lost. However, Jake enlightens him to the fact that the midnight deadline is still 35 minutes away, so the bet is still in force, and then she and Nick go down to the lobby, get on the horse, and return to the Rhinestone. Reggie follows after them just after he changes into some regular clothes. However, when Jake and Nick arrive back at the club, Nick – having been operating under the belief that he will be singing a duet with Jake – finds out from her that he will be performing solo, much to his distress (the terms of the bet stated that he had to sing alone and win over the crowd by himself first).

Freddie joins Jake on the side of the stage just as Nick starts his performance, but the audience jeers him unceasingly. Nick thus decides to pick up the beat of the song and turn it into a mix of both rock-n-roll and country music, and both he and the song become a hit with the crowd. When Nick performs long enough for her to consider herself the winner of the bet, Jake comes out onto the stage and sings along with him, and when the song is over, they share a kiss. Nick then walks over to Freddie and makes him hand over the contract that Jake was supposed to sign to work at the Rhinestone for another five years if she lost, and he tells Freddie that he will send him the bill for his new taxi. Nick then returns to the stage and does an encore duet with Jake, and after they finish, he tells Jake that he loves her and kisses her again.