Say Anything…
Composite Score: 82.63
Starring: John Cusack, Ione Skye, John Mahoney, Lili Taylor, Amy Brooks, Pamela Adlon, Loren Dean, Glenn Walker Harris Jr., and Joan Cusack
Director: Cameron Crowe
Writer: Cameron Crowe
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, High School
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Box Office: $21.52 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Say Anything… is a 1980s high school romantic comedy, featuring John Cusack and Ione Skye, about a romance between a lovable underachiever and the class valedictorian during the summer after their graduation. Cameron Crowe’s first feature film highlights some of the things that make his films so memorable – nice guys, toxic men, and achieving women who could use a break. The film has become a classic of the romantic comedy and high school genres, coming toward the end of the “Brat Pack” era. The film also contains one of the most-referenced romantic moments in film with John Cusack’s Lloyd standing outside Ione Skye’s Diane’s house, solemnly holding a blaring boombox over his head to remind her of his love. I honestly don’t know if I could name a more universally recognized reference in romantic comedies than that one, if we’re being honest.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
There are some pieces of Say Anything… that just don’t quite hold up for me. For one, the romance feels a little forced, until it doesn’t. On the one hand, this seems to have been Crowe’s intention, making Lloyd into a naturally likable person who Diane just happens not to know super well, which also probably made more narrative sense in the 1980s than it does now. I feel like calling up someone who you graduated high school with and asking them to come to a graduation party with you as a first date when you’ve never really interacted before doesn’t work most of the time these days, but I could be wrong. Also, a lot the early moments of their relationship serve more as a way to establish the “nice guy” qualities of Lloyd on his own, rather than building a relationship based on interaction between the two characters. Even when their relationship is at its most complicated, I never fully felt bought in to the pain of the two characters because their relationship felt fairly surface-level until really the third act.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
For me, the film’s strongest trait is its willingness to explore that in-between space that is the summer after high school graduation. Say Anything… focuses its entire plot in those two or three months where young adults have probably more freedom and more choices to make than any other point in their lives. It allows the film’s story to touch on so many different relatable topics all at once – family vs. relationship, divorced parents, providing for your children, choosing a job, what your priorities are in life, all of it. In that way, the film really brings the audience into its story, reminding them of their own looming decisions and crises, while reminding them to keep their priorities straight in the process (family and/or loved ones, that is).
Also, Say Anything… is funny in a way that is outside of the typical box of high school movie humor. It highlights the ridiculousness of the choices that teens and young adults are forced to make with a knowing sense of humor. It manages to poke fun at codependent relationships without belittling them to a point that they no longer seem real. Perhaps its funniest moment comes when it showcases a meeting of the minds, of sorts, that takes place outside of a convenience store where a bunch of guys with no girlfriends are talking about how to get a girl. Moments like that one are sprinkled throughout the film, making its humor easily one of its high points.
Legitimately funny comedic moments and a well-designed, relatable story setting are the pieces that have turned Say Anything… into a classic, solidifying its place among the Greatest Films of All Time. Its slow-start romance can be a bit difficult to embrace, but by the end of the film, it’ll have most audience members rooting for the characters’ success, both in life and in romance, which is a success in my book. This film is currently available to stream on HBO Max. Check it out if you are interested.
