| Overall Grade: |
A- |
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| Story: |
B+ |
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| Acting: |
B |
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| Direction: |
B+ |
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| Visuals: |
B- |
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Better Than I Remembered
by Khan (movies profile)
Jun 7, 2008
This movie is a lot better than I remembered it.
Can't Buy Me Love is one of the better known High School movies, about a kid (Patrick Dempsey) who pays the most popular girl in school (Amanda Peterson) to pretend to be his girlfriend for one month to break into the "cool" clique. Of course, it works, but of course, he gets more than he bargained for when becoming cool actually turns him into a jerk and shows Cindy (Peterson) how shallow being cool actually is. Nonetheless, this is a kid's movie, everybody learns a lesson and they live happily ever after... I think.
That's honestly one of the places I went when I saw this movie again after so many years. Truth be known, I didn't like Can't Buy Me Love when I was a kid, for a couple of reasons. First of all, it was not a John Hughes High School movie - yes, super film geek knew even then who directed what and what that meant (two second Aslum Khan history lesson: my knowledge of "direction" came from my father telling me that Splash (Ron Howard, 1984) was directed by Richie from "Happy Days." I had no idea what that meant, but I started watching Siskel and Ebert soon after that, and by the time I was sixteen or so I already knew what a director did and that I didn't want to do it), and because Hughes didn't direct it, I perceived it as a lesser film. More than that, though, I was embarrassed by it. I knew I was Ronald (Dempsey), and I knew that deep down, I wished this had happened to me. I felt like everybody else knew that too, and that just reiterated how big a loser I was. And I didn't like some of the comedy. I'm sorry, but to this day, flatulence humor is not funny to me. I'm the only person who thinks that famous scene from Blazing Saddles (Mel Brooks, 1974) is actually pretty gross. (I'm also one of the few people who doesn't think that movie is very good as a whole. If Richard Pryor had been in it, IMO, it would have been a masterpiece. But Cleavon Little just isn't very talented, IMO). Which is why I'm knocking off a point even now.
But what struck me about Can't Buy Me Love this time around is how authentic it is. When I was younger, the one thing I did like was the film's acknowledgement that if you live in the same place long enough, everybody knows each other - the cool kids went to elementary school with the nerds, who went to elementary with the hot girls - and somehow, they all outgrow that. The thing is, that element is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of realism. The film actually attempts to explain why the popular girl is the way she is, in giving us some insight into Cindy's mother. When Ronald starts hanging out with the cool kids, they initially still think he's a dork, like they would in real life. They notice his behavior and his car, and they're first put off by his stupid dance (a brilliant contrivance that I haven't seen in any movie before or since, and that's equally authentic. I know from experience that even when the nerd /tries/ to act cool, he'll invariably ***** it up. My Temple of Geek Science blog is all about that, how being a nerd goes back to basic personality traits, not just circumstance). The way Ronald actually cries and behaves once he's exposed is how a real kid would act in this situation. And the last scene, where he wears a cowboy hat just so they can shoot a "riding off into the sunset" ending is equally inspired.
But as always, my reviews are as much about me as they are about the films in question, and seeing this movie was actually pretty timely for me. I'm at a crossroads in my life, a point at which I'm finally getting where I wanted to "end up" as an adult, and my mood is good, so I'm reflecting a lot about life and the whole "growing up" process. Ronald says in this movie that he was born in 1969. He also says that when he is his father's age, people will be living and working on the moon. Well, hasn't happened yet, but that's besides the point. The point is that this kid is pushing forty now, and I wonder what became of him. I wonder what will become of all of us who grew up in John Hughes America. I know what my peers are doing - some have found their "calling," but many are still finding their way.
The characters in Can't Buy Me Love learn a lot. Those of us who grew up watching those films did too. I'm just a little fuzzy on what we learned. |
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