FilmStubs: Say Anything...(1989)
A noble underachiever and a beautiful valedictorian fall in love the summer before she goes off to college. (PG-13, 100 min.)
Showtimes
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
7:00 PM
The FilmStubs series is Free and made possible by a grant from Friends of the Library.
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John Cusack plays Lloyd Dobler--an average guy with a penchant for kickboxing. There is only one thing that all-around nice guy Lloyd wants for his high school graduation: a date with beautiful valedictorian Diane Court (Skye). Lloyd's dream comes true when Diane accepts his invitation to a graduation party. Diane falls for Lloyd, whose goal is to spend as much time with her as possible. Their budding romance is put to the test when Diane has to choose between pursuing her academic dreams and spending time with him. John Mahoney is first-rate as Diane's father, a single parent who wants only the best for his brilliant daughter but who harbors a serious secret that the IRS is investigating. [20th Century Fox]
Starring: John Cusack, Ione Skye, John Mahoney
Director: Cameron Crowe
Genre(s): Comedy, Drama, Romance
"A film of warmth, insight, humor and surprising originality."
— Sheila Benson, Los Angeles Times
"The cast is irresistibly charming, down to the bit parts by Lili Taylor and Amy Brooks as Lloyd's best friends."
— Hal Hinson, Washington Post
"Seldom have such complexity, emotional depth, honesty, and realism been invested in what is ostensibly a teen love story."
— Staff, TV Guide Magazine
"That such intelligence could be contained in a movie that is simultaneously so funny and so entertaining is some kind of a miracle."
— Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"To me, Say Anything is without a shadow of a doubt the most rewarding, funny, and likable romance of the last twenty years. It heralds the decency of romantic love against the gears of a cold, grinding mechanical world."
— Brad Laidman, Film Threat
"Cusack invests such sincerity in his portrayal of Lloyd that it's impossible not to root for him to get the girl. He's the classic underdog that we all think of ourselves as -- earnest, engaging, and impossible to resist because of his flaws, rather than in spite of them."
— James Berardinelli, ReelViews
"Avoiding the 80s staple of angsty adolescence, Crowe has constructed an intelligent, witty yet undeniably cute tale, showing the potential that would be realised in Singles and Jerry Maguire, and giving Cusack's warm-hearted Lloyd the perfect foil in Skye's prissy model of student perfection."
— Caroline Westbrook, Empire
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