Can't Buy Me Love
by Steve Rash
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Amanda Peterson, Courtney Gains, Patrick Dempsey, Seth Green, Tina CasparyDirector: Steve Rash
Cinematographer: Peter Lyons Collister
Producer: Jere Henshaw
Producer: Mark Burg
Producer: Michael Swerdlick
Writer: Michael Swerdlick
Producer: Ron Beckman
Producer: Thom Mount
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 94 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-08-13
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Can't Buy Me Love
Movie Review: Cards, Chips, Dips And Dorks
Summary: 3 Stars
As I plan to head back into the 80's with occassional reviews that I plan on doing, I came across this 1987 film that I was never overly familiar with, but I remember seeing way back when. It was never in the group of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", or "Sixteen Candles", "The Breakfast Club", or "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" for me, and after having now seen it for the first time since the 80's, still isn't, but that's okay. It doesn't have to be. It's a fine little film all on it's own. So, what's the plot?....
Patrick Dempsey(who is pretty much known as "McDreamy" nowadays)plays Ronald Miller, a 17 year high school kid who mows people's lawns over the summer. Ronald is not one of the cool kids. Hangs with the "loser" crowd, has glasses, unruly hair, etc. For years, he has had a crush on the most popular girl in school(of course he did)named Cindy Mancini(Amanda Peterson, and who wouldn't when your as adorable as Amanda?). When Cindy finds herself in a jam, Ronald swoops in to the rescue....but at a price. He wants Cindy to hang with him for a month and act like they are an item, in hopes of making himself more popular at school and getting to belong with the cool, popular kids. The plan goes into motion and works, but maybe it works a little too well, and Ronald will soon have to come to realize what's more important - being somebody your not to belong, or being liked and accepted for who you are.
Plot-wise, "Can't Buy Me Love" is not exactly original, but what makes it work is that it is performed sweetly, naturally, and honestly. You see what happens to Ronald and how it touches everyone around him, for better or worse. One of the best aspects is his relationship with his best friend, played by Courtney Gains, and the lows that come with it once Ronald becomes popular. Their confrontation in the video arcade is affective. Most of the cast are 80's types, but it's two main stars, Patrick Dempsey and Amanda Peterson, bring sweet life to the characters that helps make it's plot less obvious. Okay, it's obvious, but they make it likeable and watchable. Dempsey does a great job as geeky Ronald, popular Ronald, and back to geeky Ronald. We like him and feel sorry for him in the start, and then are shocked and disgusted with him and the way he acts and treats others when he becomes one of the "cool kids", and then it's back to liking him again and wanting him to have what he wants when the old geekster comes back to the forefront. Amanda Peterson is the popular girl, but she plays it with a sweetness that never makes Cindy Mancini a nasty caricature of these types of characters - Popluar captain of the cheerleading team with her own little clique. Life isn't exactly a bouquet of roses for her either. The two of them, and their characters, really make the film. Elsewhere, you will find a young Seth Green("Buffy", "Austin Powers") as Ronald's little brother, Chuckie. He's a hoot in the role. Ronald's father is played by Dennis Dugan, who went on to become a successful comedy director, having filmed a lot of of Adam Sandler's films.
What's not to like about the movie?. Not much. "Can't Buy Me Love" won't win any awards for originality, and that's probably the only big thing going against it. For most of the movie, it never delved into cheesiness, until the end. Ronald's final speech outside in the cafeteria bringing the "cool" and the "not so cool" kids together gets washed away with a little too much cheese with big, sweeping music played as it goes along, but this can be overlooked when you have such a charming little movie played very well by it's two main stars. I love the 80's. Some see the dated fashions and everything else as a detriment to these films, but that couldn't be further from the truth. It enhances the movie and helps make it what it is. It only adds to the charm.
At the end of the day, "Can't Buy Me Love" is a pleasant, harmless, little comedy, that has grown over the years into a real teen/high school classic for a lot of people. No, Ronald, you can't buy love, but you can achieve it by staying true to who you are.
Summary of Can't Buy Me Love
Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 06/01/2004 Rating: Pg13Comedy DVD Video
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