Say Anything

John Cusack plays Lloyd Dobler, a high school student about to graduate with no clear idea of what the future holds for him. He’s sweet on good-looking, class valedictorian, Diane Court (Ione Skye) who has been groomed by her father (John Mahoney) for success but who, to Lloyd's surprise, agrees to go to a post-graduation party with him. From there their unlikely relationship blossoms.

Writer-director Cameron Crowe’s directorial debut is a late entry in the 1980s teen movie stakes. It is stylistically of a piece with its predecessors including the big hair, big coats, 7/11s, cassette players, Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel music (despite the fact that Lloyd wears a Clash T-shirt for most of the film) and so on, making it a sure-fire winner with anyone of the same generation but it is distinguished from its peers by its credible characterisation and a well-drawn relationship between the two leads.

Crowe, who hit the big time as the writer of another Zeitgeist movie, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, is no doubt drawing on his own experiences, for the charm of Say Anything is the poignancy of Lloyd and Diane and their budding romance – it’s awkward, tentative yet serious minded enough to feel real and both characters are engaging. Skye (daughter of Donovan Leitch) could probably have been replaced by any number of pretty teen actresses with no ill results but she is suitably earnest whilst Cusack is particularly good as Lloyd, a classic all-round nice guy (no doubt Crowe’s alter ego) who, hey-ho, gets the girl. Lili Taylor and John’s sister, Joan Cusack, both appear in small roles. There's a sub-plot involving Diane's father which is rather tokenistic but for all its conventionality, Say Anything possesses a winning measure of genuine feeling in its depiction of the trials and tribulations of first love.

 

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