Un monde pour nous

That was one incredible line: "I gave her my heart and she gives me a pen." You could just feel the pain. I caught this tonight and was really surprised. Cusack was magnificent. Maybe I need to watch more of his movies to get some tips.

Ione Skye was so much more that "Girls in Prison." She really played a great part and was so sweet. She has that Drew Barrymore smile.

I really like Lili Taylor, too. She really played a great part. And, when he went to the guys, I swear I recognized one of them, but I can't place him.

All in all, I have to agree that this was one good movie.

A friend of mine who also likes John Cusack movies told me to check this one out, that I'd like it a lot. Maybe I tried too hard, because the movie fell short of capturing me. Granted, I'm bitter and cynical about love, but some movies can "break" me, as it were. It was almost as if the plot created a relationship that was improbable in its conception, but got a little too good. They had to slap together a way to make that mid-film falling out, and it didn't quite work. The controversy with her dad's business created more drama in Diane's life than perhaps it should have, and created an unwanted dragging effect 3/4 of the way through. Not as funny as Cusack's mid-80's outings, but has its moments. Still worth the 3 bucks I paid to rent it. 6/10

Very few films have even tried to be as smart and honest as Say Anything. The film, which is more then 10 years old, still remains to be one of the strongest pieces of romantic cinema. Not only do John Cusack and Ione Skye have perfect chemistry; not only is John Mahoney's character one of the most complicated father figures in the history of film; not only is the screen play delightfully honest; but everything just seems to fit right in this movie. A true treasure

In "Say Anything" Cameron Crowe has crafted a one-of-a-kind romantic comedy which avoids at least 90% of the pitfalls one would commonly associate with films within the genre. How does he do it? Simply by avoiding sappy moments, by creating a script that more or less mirrors the bittersweet experience of first love, and by simply, but tastefully guiding the film's visuals and outstanding acting.

"Say Anything" is not completely anti-conventions, and actually uses some wildly popular rom-com conventions to its advantage, but the role reversal (Dobbler being the 'lost' one), interjection of successfully genuine drama, and simple, understated romantic moments make this a wild success. That's not to say that Crowe isn't successful when he goes for the wildly over-the-top sap, because he knows it's sappy, but it does happen in real life. I mean, the over-the-top gestures like the stereo outside the window do occur in reality, and they guys who do them usually are just like Lloyd Dobbler.

Great characters, a great cast, really good writing, and simple but solid direction make this a real winner that is deservedly recognized as a romantic classic.

8.5/10

It's graduation day and while Lloyd Dobler has graduated he has yet to speak to the girl of his dreams Diane Court. Meanwhile Diane has a bright future in front of her but yet managed to go through school without really being friends with anyone but her father. When Lloyd finally gets the courage to ask her out she accepts and finds that she enjoys her company and that this is the world she has been missing out on. However will their growing friendship go anywhere with Diane destined for a scholarship in England?

Like many people I knew this film from the famous image of Lloyd holding a ghetto-blaster above his head, but I had never seen the film or known anything about it until recently. The film opens on fairly typical teen territory and I settled in for what I expected (knew?) would bring just what I expected from it. In a way this is what it did do because the basic narrative arch and characters are familiar and it is solid and enjoyable in this regard. However the film is better than the basics would suggest because it has a smart script in Crowe's impressive feature debut. The story has more to it than the romance and in this way it deepens the characters. Of course it is still a teen movie so it is not as deep as all that but it is refreshing different from the majority of the films where the action focuses entirely on the young couple.

With this approach Mahoney works well with a character that has real interest and complexity and his character is much better than I expected as a result. Cusack does equally as well with a gently quirky character with dignity and humour – he contrasts well with his peers, most of who are the clichés associated with the genre but are mocked a bit for it. Skye is good but takes a while to get to the good material – for the majority she does what the genre requires but is better with better material later on. The support cast features mostly solid performances from a cast of actors on their way to fame – Taylor, Piven, Hall and others are surprise finds.

Overall then this is a genre teen romance and is good on that level. However the writing and performances are better than the genre average and make for a much more interesting and engaging film that should be liked by the majority of viewers as long as you don't dislike the genre itself.