Say Anything...

For other uses, see Say Anything (disambiguation).

Say Anything...
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Cameron Crowe
Written by	Cameron Crowe
Produced by	Polly Platt
Starring	John Cusack Ione Skye John Mahoney Lili Taylor Joan Cusack
Cinematography	László Kovács
Edited by	Richard Marks
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	April 14, 1989
Running time	100 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$16 million
Box office	$20,781,385 (USA)

Say Anything... is a 1989 romance film written and directed by Cameron Crowe. It was Crowe's directorial debut. In 2002, Entertainment Weekly ranked Say Anything... as the greatest modern movie romance, and it was ranked number 11 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 best high-school movies.

Plot summary

Set in Seattle, Washington, the film features Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack), a mediocre student and aspiring kickboxer, who attempts a relationship with the lovely valedictorian Diane Court (Ione Skye) immediately after their graduation from the same high school. Diane has just won a major fellowship to study in England, and will be going there at the end of the summer. Highly intelligent yet socially inexperienced, Diane is intrigued by Lloyd's endearing manner and willingness to take a chance on someone like her. She agrees to Lloyd's request for a date, and the two of them begin seeing each other regularly.

Lloyd seeks advice and counsel from his sister and several close female friends who are genuinely looking out for Lloyd's best interests as he embarks on his first serious romantic relationship. Diane's father, Jim (John Mahoney), is under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service for alleged tax violations committed at the nursing home he owns; and, as her relationship with Lloyd deepens, Diane worries that she should be spending more time with her father, rather than with Lloyd. Also, Jim does not approve of his daughter's dating an underachiever, and pressures her to break up with him.

Lloyd ultimately wins Diane's heart before the summer's end, and helps support her emotionally after her father's conviction and incarceration. The film ends with Lloyd escorting airplane-phobic Diane on her flight to England.

Characters

• John Cusack as Lloyd Dobler
• Ione Skye as Diane Court
• John Mahoney as Jim Court
• Joan Cusack as Constance Dobler (uncredited)
• Lili Taylor as Corey Flood
• Dan Castellaneta as Diane's Teacher (uncredited)
• Philip Baker Hall as IRS Boss
• Don 'The Dragon' Wilson as Sparring Partner

Soundtrack

Allmusic said the soundtrack, like the film, is "much smarter than the standard teen fare of the era." The soundtrack included 11 songs:

• "All for Love" - Nancy Wilson [4:37]
• "Cult Of Personality" - Living Colour [5:07]
• "One Big Rush" - Joe Satriani [3:25] (also on Satriani's Flying in a Blue Dream)
• "You Want It" - Cheap Trick [3:43] (also on the band's compilation album Sex, America, Cheap Trick)
• "Taste the Pain" - Red Hot Chili Peppers [5:04]
• "In Your Eyes" - Peter Gabriel [5:23]
• "Stripped" - Depeche Mode [6:41]
• "Skankin' To The Beat" - Fishbone [2:49]
• "Within Your Reach" - The Replacements [4:26]
• "Keeping The Dream Alive" - Freiheit [4:14]
• "Lloyd Dobler Rap" [0:33]

Critical reception

Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert called it "one of the best films of the year — a film that is really about something, that cares deeply about the issues it contains — and yet it also works wonderfully as a funny, warmhearted romantic comedy." Ebert later included it on his 2002 Great Movie list, writing, "Say Anything exists entirely in a real world, is not a fantasy or a pious parable, has characters who we sort of recognize, and is directed with care for the human feelings involved." It has also received a "100% Fresh" rating at RottenTomatoes.com.

The film was not without detractors, however. Caryn James of The New York Times said the film "resembles a first-rate production of a children's story. Its sense of parents and the summer after high school is myopic, presented totally from the teen-agers' point of view. Yet its melodrama — Will Dad go to prison? Will Diane go to England? — distorts that perspective, so the film doesn't have much to offer an actual adult, not even a sense of what it's truly like to be just out of high school these days. The film is all charming performances and grace notes, but there are plenty of worse things to be." Variety called it a "half-baked love story, full of good intentions but uneven in the telling."

References in modern culture

• The most iconic scene in the film takes place near the end, when Lloyd stands outside Diane's bedroom window holding over his head a boombox playing Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes". The scene has been repeatedly referenced in popular culture.

• Pencey Prep released a song titled "Lloyd Dobler" on their album Heartbreak in Stereo.

• In the final episode of the British sitcom Spaced, Simon Pegg's character Tim Bisley uses the same technique as Lloyd to dissuade his landlady from selling the house, although the song he plays is Take That's "Back for Good".

• On Relient K's 2009 album Forget and Not Slow Down, the song "Part of It" contains the line "It's been forever since I've gone, but I'm the Cusack on the lawn of your heart."

• In the episode "Raisins" on television's South Park, Stan is told to get Wendy back he must "stand outside her window, and play Peter Gabriel". He does it exactly the same way as in Say Anything... except that he plays Gabriel's song "Shock the Monkey".

• In the sixth episode of Jamie Kennedy's Blowin' Up, Jamie Kennedy holds a flatscreen TV that is blasting 80's music over his head to win back his friend Stu.

• Saturday Night Live did a spoof of the famous boombox scene in its November 21, 2009 episode, with host, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, taking on the role of Lloyd Dobler, and cast member Jason Sudeikis as a neighbor who asks him why he's doing what he's doing.

• In the episode "Two for the Road" on Lost, Hurley planned to impress Libby with a "Say Anything moment" using a radio transceiver

• In the episode "Moon Landing" on "Modern Family" TV show, Dylan tries to get back his girl-friend Hayley by holding his iPhone up in front of her window. When Phil, Hayley's father, sees him and mentions the name of the movie Say Anything, Dylan does not get it, and responds by saying any random phrase like "good morning," "newspaper," and "clutch movie."

• In the episode "The Tyrant" of House (TV Series), Foreman tells Thirteen "I'd stand outside your apartment all night holding up a boom box except you told me you hate 80s music".

• In the 2007 video for "Built To last" from the band Mêlée (band), a series of scenes from romantic films are recreated including the holding up of a boom box outside a girl's bedroom window.

• In the episode of Grey's Anatomy called "Bring The Pain", Meredith tells Derek that she loves him "in a really, really big, pretend to like your taste in music, let you eat the last piece of cheesecake, hold a radio over my head outside your window, unfortunate way that makes me hate you, love you." In a later episode called "I Will Follow You Into The Dark", Callie tells Mark that she "went all 'Say Anything' on the peds surgeon in front of the peds surgeon's date."

• In an episode of Greek, Rusty holds a boom box outside a Dana's window asking what to do next, when Ashley replies "Oops, I forgot the Peter Gabriel." Ironically when Dana sees him outside her window while she is walking back to her place she asks "Who are you Lloyd Dobler-ing?"

• The Simpsons used a play on the movie title to name one of their episodes (see Pray Anything). Aside from the Simpsons, Gossip Girl has an episode named Seder Anything.

• In Easy A, Olive says, "Whatever happened to chivalry? Does it only exist in 80's movies? I want John Cusack holding a boombox outside my window."

• In an episode of the Cartoon Network series MAD, a man says "Then in 1989, I held a boombox over my head".

External links

• Say Anything... at IMDb
• Say Anything... at AllMovie
• Say Anything... at Rotten Tomatoes
• Los Angeles Times retrospective