Say Anything (film)

Say Anything is a 1989 High School romance starring John Cusack and Ione Skye. Cusack plays Lloyd Dobler, an unambitious C student who pursues valedictorian Diane Court after graduation. They fall in love, but unfortunately, Mr. Court (played by John Mahoney) doesn't approve of this slacker in his perfect daughter's life.

AFI named this one of the Top 100 romantic movies of the last hundred years, and Roger Ebert considers it the greatest romantic movie made since 1980. There's an iconic scene from this film where Dobler holds a boombox playing Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" over his head. Contrary to what you may have heard, this does not win her back, but that scene has become almost iconic. Also, there's some stuff about the IRS investigating Mr. Court for embezzlement.

Not to be confused with the indie band of the same name.

This film provides examples of: "Mr. Court: "I'M INCARCERATED LLOYD!""
 * Auto Erotica: Lloyd and Diane finally consumate their relationship in the backseat of Lloyd's car. Lloyd is more nervous than Diane is.
 * Brick Joke: Diane's fear of flying comes back in the end of the film.
 * Broken Pedestal: Diane learns some unpleasant truths about her father.
 * Call Back: The pen.
 * Celebrity Paradox: Averted. Kickboxing star Don "The Dragon" Wilson is an idol of Lloyd, yet he plays Lloyd's sparring partner at the karate gym. Possibly justified to the low status of kickboxing then.
 * Establishing Character Moment: "I don't want to buy anything, sell anything, or process anything as a career."
 * Fake American: John Mahoney. Who knew?

"Corey: I wrote 63 songs this year; they're all about Joe, and I'm going to play every single one of them tonight."
 * Hey It's That Guy: Phillip Baker Hall of Paul Thomas Anderson fame is the investigating agent who tells Diane the truth.
 * Jeremy Piven is among the "Gas n' Sip" guys.
 * If a movie stars John Cusack 9 times out of 10 it will usually have Jeremy Piven, sometimes even in a supporting role.
 * Heather Chandler and Heather McNamara are at the party, thrown by Eric Stoltz, and Russ Brennan is Joe.
 * Chynna Phillips (of Wilson Phillips fame) is Mimi, Joe's current girlfriend.
 * And Lilith is the school guidance counselor.
 * Meaningful Name: The film's called Say Anything because Diane's dad insists that she tell him everything. It adds to the Dramatic Irony when you realize at the film's end
 * Memetic Mutation: "Are you more romantic than Lloyd Dobbler?"
 * Military Brat: Lloyd
 * Missing Mom/Disappeared Dad: Lloyd's parents are spending time in Germany, and are only mentioned in passing.
 * Nice Guy: Lloyd.
 * Nobody Thinks It Will Work: Trope Namer.
 * Obsession Song: Corey's songs about Joe. The content of the songs is not quite evidence that they're obsessive, but the fact that she wrote more than four dozen of them is hard to get around.


 * Opposites Attract: Golden girl Diane and slacker Lloyd? It'll never work!
 * Overprotective Dad: And how.
 * Peter Gabriel: "Love/I get so lost/Sometimes..."
 * Prison
 * Real Life Relative: John Cusack's sister Joan plays...his sister.
 * Redemption in The Rain
 * Serenade Your Lover: THE scene.
 * Stalking Is Love: Lloyd's pursuit of Diane, and specifically the boombox scene, can be seen as this. On the other hand, Lloyd DOES finally accept the end of the relationship after the boombox tactic fails.
 * Stealing From the Till:
 * Suspicious Spending: The IRS agent gives a very useful primer on how to spot it.
 * Title Drop: "You know you can say anything to me."-Mr. Court.
 * Those Two Guys: Corey, D.C. and Rebecca, Lloyd's three female friends.
 * Uptown Girl
 * Virgin Vision: Lloyd's friends can tell instantly after Lloyd and Diane do the deed. Lloyd will only say "I admit nothing."
 * What Could Have Been: Had Ione Skye turned down the role of Diane, Jennifer Connelly would have played her. In fact, Connelly turned down the lead in Heathers to audition.
 * Before choosing "In Your Eyes", the director commissioned The Smithereens to write a song for the film. The result was their song "A Girl Like You". It ended up being rejected for revealing the entire plot.
 * Woman in White: Diane has a tendency to wear white dresses.