This page is about the film Say Anything. Information about the band Say Anything can be found here: Say Anything (band)

Say Anything... is a romance film directed by Cameron Crowe and released in 1989. This movie was Cameron Crowe's directorial debut, and is one of his best-loved films, as well as one of the best-remembered performances from John Cusack. In 2002, Entertainment Weekly ranked it as the greatest modern movie romance.

Taglines:

• To know Lloyd Dobler is to love him. Diane Court is about to know Lloyd Dobler.
• She's got every thing going for her. He's going for her with every thing he's got.
• A Lloyd meets girl story.

Basic plot

The movie, which is set in Seattle, Washington, features John Cusack as Lloyd Dobler, a mediocre student and aspiring kickboxer who improbably attempts a relationship with school valedictorian Diane Court (played by Ione Skye), despite the fact that she is far outside his social circle. 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 IRS 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.

Memorable scenes

A memorable scene from the movie occurs after Diane breaks up with Lloyd. Lloyd appears outside her bedroom window at night while she sleeps, in an attempt to win her back, holding a boombox over his head playing the song "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel. It is now a standard pop culture reference for romance.

Another memorable scene from the movie is when four losers hanging out at the gas station give Lloyd advice on his girl troubles. Lloyd finally asks them, "If you guys know so much about women, how come you're here at like Gas 'n Sip on a Saturday night, completely alone, drinking beers, no women anywhere?" They pause, look around, and answer back, "By choice, man, by choice."

Trivia

• Crowe asked The Smithereens to write and record the theme song to the movie. When the finished product, "A Girl Like You," was given to the producers, it was rejected due to the lyrics giving away too much of the plot. It was released on the band's Smithereens 11 album and went on to be their first Top 40 single.

• Lloyd Dobler lives with his sister, Constance. Constance is played by Joan Cusack, the real-life sister of John Cusack.

• Original song choices for the Peter Gabriel "In Your Eyes" scene were Fishbone's "Turn The Other Way" or Billy Idol's "To Be A Lover."

Pop culture references

• In an episode of Attorney at Law, Phil Ken Sebben attempts to woo Birdgirl by playing an "In Your Eyes"-sounding song through a boombox.
• In the South Park episode Raisins, Stan, when advised to win back his ex-girlfriend Wendy by playing Peter Gabriel outside her window, shows up at her house in a Lloyd Dobler-ish outfit but plays a decidedly unromantic Peter Gabriel song, "Shock the Monkey." Unsurprisingly, this tactic fails. The film is referenced again in the episode when Stan consults the school goths for advice in a scene which parallels a similar scene in the movie where Lloyd asks his male peers for their advice.
• In It's Good To Be Queen, an episode of American Dad, Stan Smith attempts to make up with his wife after an argument by holding Peter Gabriel himself over his head to sing "In Your Eyes." The tactic is partially unsuccessful because he is mistakenly using Gabriel Byrne, not Peter Gabriel.
• The The Lloyd Dobler Effect is a band named after the film's lead character.
• The Hawthorne Heights song "Niki FM" prominently features the line, "I'm outside of your window with my radio."
• In The Starting Line "Best of Me" music video the main character is standing outside his dream girl's window in a trench coat and boom box similar to Lloyd's.
• In Good Clean Fun "The Myspace Song" music video the main character stands outside of a girl's window donning a similar trench coat and carrying a boom box. There is a line in the song "We were like Lloyd and Diane, two hearts in the same place" during the video as this line is sung it shows a picture of Lloyd Dobler and Diane Court.
• The film's iconic boombox sequence is parodied in Date Movie, in which the lead character, Grant (played by Adam Campbell) gets pelted with fruit and various other debris whilst standing in front of Julia's (played by Alyson Hannigan) window.
• In "Bring the Pain", a Grey's Anatomy episode, Meredith Grey tells Dr. Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd that she loves him in such a way that she would "hold a radio over my head outside your window," a reference to the movie.
• In Two for the Road, a Lost episode, Hurley explains the famous boombox scene to Sayid.
• In the final episode of the Channel 4 sitcom Spaced there is a homage to the boombox scene. In order to apologise to their landlady the main characters roll up to her house in a tank. A boombox is raised upon which is playing Take That's "Back for Good".

External links

1989 films | 20th Century Fox films | Comedy-drama films | Coming-of-age films | Romance films | Teen films | Directorial debut films

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