Say Anything... (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Say Anything... | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Cameron Crowe |
| Produced by | Polly Platt |
| Written by | Cameron Crowe |
| Starring | John Cusack Ione Skye John Mahoney Lili Taylor Joan Cusack |
| Cinematography | László Kovács |
| Editing by | Richard Marks |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | April 14, 1989 |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Say Anything... is a romantic film written and directed by Cameron Crowe and released in 1989. It is the first film actually directed by Crowe (he was only the writer for 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High and its pseudo-sequel, 1984's The Wild Life). In 2002, Entertainment Weekly ranked Say Anything... as the greatest modern movie romance. This movie ranked number 11 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the fifty best high school movies.[1] It is the 48th best reviewed movie of all time according to rottentomatoes.com.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Basic plot
The movie, which is set in Seattle, Washington, features John Cusack as Lloyd Dobler, an average student and aspiring kickboxer who improbably attempts a relationship with school valedictorian Diane Court (played by Ione Skye), despite the fact that some of his friends believe she is out of his league. Diane falls for Lloyd, partly because of his gallant ways and partly because he makes her laugh. However, their relationship is beset by several obstacles. Diane has just won a major scholarship to study in England and will be going there at the end of the summer. Her father James, played by John Mahoney, is under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service for alleged tax violations committed at his nursing home, and Diane worries she should be spending more time with her father rather than Lloyd. Also, Diane's father does not approve of his daughter dating an underachiever like Lloyd, and pressures her to break up with him, which she reluctantly does. Lloyd ultimately wins her heart before the summer's end and helps support Diane through her father's conviction. The film ends with Lloyd escorting nervous-flyer Diane to England.
In the movie's most famous scene, Lloyd appears outside Diane's bedroom window carrying a boombox over his head playing Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes". The scene has become well-known in pop culture and is a frequently used reference in TV and film.
[edit] In popular culture
- The stereo scene:
- In the 2005 comedy Date Movie, Grant Funkyerdoder (Adam Campbell) tries to win back the heart of his girlfriend (Alyson Hannigan) by lifting a stereo over his head. His plan is futile however, because she ignores him, and the neighbors throw food at him to get him to shut up.
- Parodied on the Australian movie show The Bazura Project, Episode 1.04, as part of the episode's opening sequence.
- The Starting Line begins their video, "The Best of Me" by recreating the famous stereo scene.
- Webcomic XKCD has a strip that makes reference to the boombox scene.[3]
- In the Grey's Anatomy episode "Bring the Pain," Meredith references the holding a radio over her head scene
- In Lost, Hurley asks Sayid for the radio that plays only static so he can hold it over his head as a romantic gesture for Libby.
- In the Arrested Development episode "Whistler's Mother", Oscar Bluth copies the scene to attract Lucile Bluth.
- In the final episode of the UK comedy Spaced, Tim plays the Take That song "Back for Good" to appease Marsha, after she finds out he and Daisy are not a real couple.
- In the South Park episode "Raisins", Stan recreates the scene to win Wendy back, only instead of playing "In Your Eyes", Stan instead plays "Shock the Monkey". The scene with the boys explaining their girl troubles is also referenced.
- In the Family Guy episode "Stewie Kills Lois", Herbert recreates the scene to get Chris, only instead of playing "In Your Eyes", Herbert plays "Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee".
- In an episode of American Dad!, Stan Smith attempts to win back his wife by holding Peter Gabriel himself over his head to sing "In Your Eyes". He fails in part because he is mistakenly holding Gabriel Byrne instead.
- On The Daily Show, a 2006 'check-in' with Stephen Colbert had Colbert recreating the scene, so he could do his toss within the time allotted that evening. In the 23 January 2008 episode, correspondent Jason Jones recreates the scene at the home of an Icelandic soldier, in an attempt to convince her to return to Iraq.
- In the movie A Night at the Roxbury, Doug Butabi (Chris Kattan) holds a radio over his head while playing the song "What is Love?" at his brother's wedding mimicking the scene from "Say Anything". He does this with the intention of keeping his brother Steve Butabi (Will Ferrell) from getting married.
- In the Drew Carey Show episode "Drew's Cousin" (S3E25), Mr. Wick stands on the pool table in the back yard with a boombox after breaking up with Drew's cousin.
- Also used in the 2005 film The Puffy Chair when the main character tries to convince his girlfriend to join him on the road trip.
- In Disney's "That's So Raven", Devon holds a boombox outside Raven's window playing songs from a concert that she couldn't go to.
- The scene can also be seen in Melee's Built to Last music video.
- In the film Safe Men, Frank (Mark Ruffalo) attempts to get his ex-girlfriend back by blasting Player's "Baby Come Back" on his stereo outside her window.
- In a May 2008 episode of the CBS soap opera Guiding Light Bill Lewis (Daniel Cosgrove) tries to recreate the stereo scene in an attempt to win back his girlfriend Lizzie Spaulding (Marcy Rylan).
- Band names, song titles, music videos and lyrics:
- Say Anything frontman Max Bemis named the band after the movie because he could relate to the character of Lloyd Dobler.
- Lloyd Dobler Effect is a band named after the film's lead character.
- The band Pencey Prep, fronted by singer Frank Iero (now guitarist of My Chemical Romance) wrote a song titled "Lloyd Dobler."
- The song "Niki FM" by Hawthorne Heights contains the lyrics "I'm outside of your window, with my radio." This is a reference to the scene from Say Anything.
- The Bouncing Souls have named the songs "Say Anything" and "Joe Lies (When He Cries)" in reference to the film.
- The Australian rock band Kisschasy have a song called Ione Skye on their 2005 album United Paper People
- Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip reference Lloyd Dobler in their song 'Waiting For The Beat to Kick In'. The lyrics even feature one of the quotes from the film: "How hard is it to decide to be in a good mood? And then just be.. in.. a good mood?"
[edit] References
[edit] External links
|
|||||
