Review of Say Anything... (1989) by Sergio E — 22 Jan 2010

The movie really looks and feels real but the only thing wich guy really has a couple of female friends that talk about him all the time?? and then act as his personal counselor!! really!! But it has all the great moments of the *0s era !!

John Cusack plays Lloyd and it is the fact that Lloyd dares to be normal that explains why the film works. Lloyd is just a regular guy who dares to just call the beautiful class brain Diane (Ione Skye) after they graduate. It is the genuine "niceness" and persistence of Lloyd's phone call, that is responsible for her caving and saying yes. And it goes from there. What is a friendship, a respect for each other, grows into "friends with potential", and then goes even farther. Writer-director Cameron Crowe is famous for not pushing it and he perfected that style here. He doesn't try to make John and Ione look and feel "hot", he lets them continue to play young adults, who would by all rights still be awkward, nervous, testing the waters of life, love, and trust.

In a brilliant parallel, we learn of Diane's relationship with her father Jim (John Mahoney) which she has always been sure of, even when she needed to chose between her parents after their divorce. The subtle and detailed scenes between Diane and Jim are important to the twists in the story when Diane grows to trust someone other than her father and finds deceit with something she had faith in. Jim, is not your typical teen movie father. He's real and normal as well. His car is not backed into a house, he is not thrown into a great body of water, and he is not a typical ogre. He is allowed to be a three dimensional character, a driving force and an obstacle in the teen romance. Jim runs a nursing home and wants the best for Diane. He holds their relationship very dear, as it is all a part of Diane being the best she can be. That desire will end up being a double edged sword as Diane's growing pre-occupation with Lloyd the summer before she is set to go to England, threatens his plans for her. And although Jim seems to respect how Lloyd treats his daughter and him, he is bothered by Lloyd's lack of drive, that the only thing that drives Lloyd is the then almost unheard of sport of kick-boxing and Diane.

When the story comes to important moments that changes Jim, Diane, and Lloyd's world, this is when the story shines. This is when Lloyd's rambling and desperation to re-define his life due to his despair is a welcome change from the overbearing or over brooding of most teen flick "heroes". This is when Diane's confusion and discovery is so wonderfully done with little dialogue. This is when Jim, feeling his world is spiraling out of his control, grows quiet, and the power of un-showy direction from Crowe says all we need to see.

The supporting characters as well are gems, who are true supporting characters. Joan Cusack appeared uncredited as Lloyd's single mother sister who, once a blast is now uptight, but is still a supportive guardian for Lloyd. Lloyd's girl friends D.C. and Corey are like salt and pepper for Lloyd. Corey (played by Lili Taylor) is terminally depressed. She previously had attempted suicide due to fellow classmate, Joe, playing with her heart like a yo-yo and is always being the voice of negativity for Lloyd, always telling him what will go wrong, what can't happen, what should happen, and how he is different from Joe. D.C. is practically dwarfed by Corey, never being allowed to talk and never being able to steer Lloyd in a much more sane direction which Lloyd usually discovers on his own anyhow. All of the supporting characters of friends, former classmates, and residents at Jim's nursing home, are important, none are cardboard cut-out cliches. They all have dimension, depth, feeling, and we can understand their motivation, what drives them with carefully crafted scenes and dialogue.

Lloyd Dobler isn't just a shiftless man with no future. He's an eternal optimist who lives in the present and recognizes, admires, and compliments the qualities in Diane that go beyond her amazing intellect. She becomes his dare-to-be-great situation and his absolute love and devotion to her is anything but unmanly. The force of it is palatable and immensely erotic without being reduced to cheap teenage lust. The sight of Lloyd in the shadows defiantly blasting out the truth of their love through the boombox is a scene which would have seemed awkward and goofy in any other movie but this one. It's easy to understand why even the critics of the time gave Say Anything two enthusiastic thumbs up. This is one of the few films that really captures the feeling of love.

Surprisingly refreshing, unconventional story with a complicated and well-developed emotional depth flawlessly captured by the actors and Cameron Crowe.

It is graduation day, 1988, for a Seattle high school. Lloyd Dobler tells his girl friends Corey and DC that he is going to ask out class valedictorian Diane Court. They tell him he is crazy, because she is a "brain" and he is not.

As Diane Court is getting driven to graduation by her father, she is practicing her speech. Her father is extremely supportive, telling her that it is funny and everyone is bound to love it.

At graduation, Diane's speech is a bit of a bomb. Nobody laughs and the only people in the audience who appear to be interested in it are Lloyd Dobler and Diane's father James. Lloyd keeps telling his friends about how much he loves Diane's eyes. In the speech, she talks about how she is fearful of the future.

In the aftermath of the graduation, we see Diane receive a new car from her father as a graduation present. Meanwhile, Lloyd gets his friends to take a photograph of him as he walks behind Diane.

Later that day, Lloyd gets the courage to call Diane. He invites her to come to a graduation party, and much to his surprise she agrees, even though it is unclear if she even remembers who he is. After the phone call, she is shown looking into her yearbook, and expressing surprise when she sees Lloyd's picture.

Shortly afterwards, Diane's father gets a letter in the mail explaining that Diane has won a fellowship, which will allow her to go to University in England. She will, therefore be leaving in 16 weeks. Apparently this fellowship is only given to one student in America, so this is a huge honor.

Lloyd picks her up for the party wearing a khaki trench coat. She is wearing a white skirt and matching blazer with a purple flower in her hair. Lloyd meets Diane's father and is very gentlemanly and polite when he picks her up.

Upon arrival at the party, people are generally intrigued by the fact that Lloyd has shown up with Diane Court. It appears as if this is the first time that Diane has ever socialized with anyone. People are happy that she showed up. It seems that while people generally admired her, very few people know her on a personal level at all. Lloyd is given the task of "keymaster", which means he has to spend the entire party holding a bag of car keys; he can only give them back to the driver, if the driver is not drunk.

Diane and Lloyd do not spend the party next to each other, but at various points, Lloyd does check up on Diane, which she seems somewhat pleased by. When the party ends, there is one kid who is too drunk to drive. Diane and Lloyd drive him home, but it takes them 3 hours to find the guy's house. Lloyd doesn't end up delivering Diane home until dawn. The two do not kiss on this first "date", and her father is not upset by the late return, because she had called him while at the party to let him know where she was.

It is clear by this point, that Diane likes Lloyd more than anyone might have expected. They set up a second date: a dinner party with Diane's father and some of his colleagues, from a senior citizen home, which he runs.

Lloyd's friend Corey tells him to keep his mouth shut during dinner, which he mostly seems to do. At one point, Diane and her father tell a story about when Diane tried to go on a plane once, but got so scared that her father had to tell the pilot to turn the plane around before it took off. Lloyd remarks that he is amazed by the closeness of Diane and her father: that he has nothing like that in his life. When asked what his dreams are for the future, however, he disappoints the adults by not having any ambitious dreams. He tells them that he just wants to spend as much time as possible with Diane and also he is interested in kickboxing.

Midway through the dinner, two men come to the door to inform Mr. Court that he is under investigation from the IRS. He gets agitated and tells them to visit him at his office.

The film progresses with scenes showing us that Lloyd and Diane are gradually getting more and more friendly with each other. At the same time, it is clear that there is a considerable stress surrounding the IRS investigation.

Diane tells Lloyd that she is just too stressed out to get into anything deep with Lloyd. They agree to be "friends with potential.".

This status changes, while Lloyd is teaching Diane how to drive stick shift. She is barely catching on, but enjoying the process. At one point, the two get quite close and Lloyd plants a kiss on her, which she accepts. They kiss a few more times and then decide to drive off somewhere more private.

Eventually, we see Diane and Lloyd parked in Lloyd's car by the sea. The two appear to have had sex underneath some blankets in the back seat. Diane remarks how Lloyd is shaking. She thinks it is because he is cold, but he explains it is because he is so happy. On the radio is Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes". She tells him to listen to the song, because it is so nice.

In the morning, Diane arrives home to a dad who is quite upset with her. Unlike the previous all-nighter, she failed to call him this time around. At this point she mentions how she feels free to "say anything" to her dad, and so tells her dad everything about her and Lloyd's relationship. She explains that she first wanted to avoid doing anything serious like sex with him, but in the end, she decided to go for it. While her father isn't upset at her, he clearly isn't thrilled to be hearing this from his daughter.

This extra strain that develops between Diane and her father seems too much for her to handle. Her father suggests that she should break up with Lloyd, to help make her life simpler. He suggests that she could give him something for him to remember her by, such as a pen, which he gives her.

Next time we see Diane and Lloyd driving around, she breaks up with him. She is clearly upset about doing this, but goes through with it, and does give him the pen before leaving his car.

Lloyd is quite upset. He leaves 7 messages on her answering machine and in what is the iconic scene from the movie stands outside her bedroom window playing Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" from a boom box which he holds above his head. Diane hears this, but only lies in her bed.

Lloyd calls her one more time. We watch as Diane and her father listen to Lloyd's message. From Diane's reaction, it is clear that she still very much is attracted to Lloyd. Her father tells her to just pick up the phone, but she replies that if she did, she would just get back together with Lloyd. Eventually, she can't resist and picks up the phone, but it is just at the point when Lloyd himself hangs up.

By now the IRS investigation is heating up. Diane goes to the investigator's offices and demands that someone tells her what is going on. The man tells her that they believe that Mr. Court has been stealing money from the old people at the senior home, when they die. He then hides the money in the form of cash and collectibles in the house. Diane is shocked, but does not believe it.

She goes home and starts searching the house for the supposed cash. Meanwhile, we the audience are able to see that the house is filled with the kinds of collectibles that the investigator tells her about. Prominently displayed is a Wurlitzer Juke Box, which we previously learned cost Mr. Court $9,000. There is a Persian carpet, and Diane stops to notice the fancy ring that her dad gave her as a graduation present. Eventually she opens up an antique box that her dad kept in his office, and discovers a stash of thousands of dollars.

She confronts her dad, and he tries to deny it. She is angry that, while she always told her father "anything" he is unwilling to come clean. He breaks down and admits that he was taking their money. He tries to justify it by saying that it was all done for the sake of Diane.

While Lloyd is engaged in a kickboxing training match at the gym, Diane comes by to ask for forgiveness. She tells him that she loves him.

Meanwhile, we see two lawyers negotiate a deal. Mr. Court will be fined some money and be forced to serve about a year of prison time, starting immediately.

We next see Lloyd meeting Mr. Court at a prison visiting paddock. Diane is in the car, while Lloyd hands over a letter. It appears as if Diane is about to go to England. Surprisingly, we also learn that Lloyd is going to go to England with her.

Eventually, Diane comes out of the car and does finally give her father a hug goodbye. Before leaving, she tells him to write her, and leaves the pen she had previously given Lloyd in her father's hands.

The film ends with Diane and Lloyd sitting in a plane together. A previous scene in the film indicated that Diane has never flown, and is very fearful of the experience. Lloyd tries to calm her down by telling her that most accidents happen in the first minutes of a flight. As soon as the "fasten your seatbelts" sign goes off and a "ding" sounds, though, he tells her that everything is OK. The two are shown holding hands anxiously awaiting that ding to go off. At the point that we hear the "ding", the screen goes black and the credits roll.

High school senior Lloyd Dobler wants nothing more than to go out with beautiful and intelligent Diane Court. Lloyd attempts to win her heart over the objections of her over-protective father before Diane leaves for a scholarship in England.

An improbable couple meets after high school graduation and must deal with their friends, family, and other pressures just to stay together. Lloyd Dobler is an average kickboxer with a good heart but limited ambition. Diane Court is an aloof genius who is very closely protected by her father. When Diane gets a scholarship to study in England, she has a weighty decision to make.