Say Anything

One you haven’t seen

Lovers: Taken from IMDB
“I rented this movie solely based on the excellent reviews that it has gotten everywhere. I missed it during its theatrical release (as so many others did) and had the hardest time finding a copy of it at our local video rental stores. Not because it wasn't popular but b/c, according to the clerks, people kept stealing or "losing" their copies...especially around Valentines Day. When I finally got my hands on a copy I was blown away. I had thought this was going to be just another in a long link of Pretty in Pinkish movies with predictable characters and a bad case of puppy love, but what I got was a surprisingly refreshing, unconventional story with a complicated and well-developed emotional depth flawlessly captured by the actors and Cameron Crowe.”

Say Anything is even today quite unconventional so yeh good points made I think.

Haters: Taken from IMDB
“I barely made it through this film. After reading such a great review of it, I was expecting something decent if not great. Instead I found it to be one of those films that feels like it goes on forever. I didn't feel anything for the characters, good or bad, there was no chemistry between the love interests. There is only a very general plot, but you sit there asking yourself "what on earth has happened in the last 2 hours? Nothing." It simply misses the mark at every opportunity. Save yourself from two hours of monotony and misery and pick something else to watch.”

Well a fairly scathing review with no points what so ever, that’s helpful.

What I thought:
Well firstly it was impossible for me not to like this film as I’m a big fan of John Cusack ever since Grosse Pointe Blanke. Say Anything shows you the early signs of a very talented actor, not a conventional character actor and plays his characters very similar to the last but its works. With charm and comic timing it’s entertaining to watch him do his thing.

This film is still a very original film today, it throws away conventions and gives you a character that is very sure of himself, very much in love the whole way through and always knows what to say. The confusion in a round about way comes from the female lead and who can blame her with a corrupt father! That’s the other surprise, I mean how many teen movies have you seen where the father gets sent down for fraud!

In a time when the teen movie genre has become about getting laid or getting the girl it’s nice to watch earlier ones like this or the Breakfast club, where the point was just growing up.