Themes: Cliques, Schemes and Ruses, Social Climbing
Main Cast: Patrick Dempsey, Amanda Peterson, Courtney Gains, Seth Green, Tina Caspary
Release Year: 1987
Country: US
Run Time: 94 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Borrowing a chapter from the John Hughes school of teen comedy, this likeable caper was a box office success. Patrick Dempsey stars as Ronald Miller, a high school nerd about to enter his senior year, who longs for acceptance as one of the "cool kids." His next-door neighbor Cindy Mancini (Amanda Peterson) is a cheerleader and one of the most popular girls in school, but she doesn't even know that Ronald exists. When she ruins an expensive outfit of her mother's, Ronald offers the $1,000 needed to replace it, if she will pretend to date him for one month. Although skeptical about Ronald's plan, Cindy agrees, and her "new boyfriend" turns out to be right about what he thinks dating Cindy will do for him -- he becomes accepted by the school's snobs because of his association with one of their own. At least, for a while. Originally titled "Boy Rents Girl," Can't Buy Me Love (1987) was the first production launched by former studio executive Thom Mount after leaving his high-profile post. His company went on to produce weightier material such as Bull Durham (1988), The Indian Runner (1991), and Natural Born Killers (1994). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
The struggle to graduate from geek to god has rarely been as painfully misguided as in Can't Buy Me Love, in which a well-meaning romantic (Patrick Dempsey) uses the money he'd set aside for a telescope to rent a popular beauty's affections for a month's time. Of course, in this process he also must step on the toes of his former clan of nerdish friends, and Dempsey's Ronald Miller does so with an iron boot, straying further from the straight and narrow than a frivolous comedy like this would usually require. The rocky road to popularity, as well as the revelation that the journey is pretty hollow, is handled at about the average level for this genre. Dempsey's intensity as an actor gives Ronald Miller a third dimension that the script doesn't provide. Amanda Peterson made quite an impression as Dempsey's love interest, bringing a lot more to the production than just a pretty face, but never again materialized in such a prominent role. Seth Green also makes an early career appearance as Ronald's pesky younger brother. Beneath its simplistic narrative sheen, Can't Buy Me Love has enough warmth and true sentiments that it deserves its status as a fond favorite of those who were teenagers in the late '80s. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Devin DeVasquez - Iris; Darcy de Moss - Patty; Eric Bruskotter - Big John; Ami Dolenz - Fran; Sharon Farrell - Mrs. Mancini; Steve Franken - Moda Clerk; Will Hannah - Camera Salesman; Cort McCown - Quint; Gerardo Mejia - Ricky; Cloyce Morrow - Judy Miller; Max Perlich - Lester; Tudor Sherrard - Brent; Phil Simms - Rock; Dennis Dugan - David Miller; Wayne Chandler - African Host; Lisa Givens - Bambi La Brock; James Gooden - Mr. Wurman; George Gray III - Bobby Hilton; Ty Gray - Duane; Corissa Miller - Transfer Girl; Jimmie ZLee Mithcell - Mr. Webbly; Jennifer Nelson - Freshman; Erin O'Flaherty - Fr. Wurman; Jan Rooney - Mrs. Hagmer; David Schermerhorn - Albert; Wagelie - Meredith/Freshman; Todd Walsh - Stocky Jones
Credit
Steven Saxton - Associate Producer, Caro Jones - Casting, Paula Abdul - Choreography, Mark Burg - Co-producer, Gregory Poe - Costume Designer, Jerram A. Swartz - First Assistant Director, Steve Rash - Director, Jeff Gourson - Editor, Jere Henshaw - Executive Producer, Ron Beckman - Executive Producer, Robert Folk - Composer (Music Score), Robert Folk - Musical Direction/Supervision, Cher Slater - Makeup, Donald L. Harris - Production Designer, Peter Lyons Collister - Cinematographer, Thom Mount - Producer, Andrew Bernard - Set Designer, Christian W. Russhon - Set Designer, Peter Bentley - Sound/Sound Designer, Michael Swerdlick - Screenwriter, Wayne Rice - Screenwriter
Ronald Miller (Dempsey) is a typical high school nerd. At an opportune moment, he makes a deal with popular cheerleader Cindy Mancini (Peterson) to spend $1,000 of his savings to replace a suede outfit Cindy damaged that belonged to her mother. Cindy has few options and reluctantly agrees to help him look "cool" by pretending to be his girlfriend for a month. Both agree never to reveal the pact.
Ronald then trades his nerdy-but-loyal friends for the shallow popular students and undergoes a complete clothing and hair make-over at Cindy's direction. Over the month, the two discover each other's individuality and are drawn closer together in appreciation. Cindy soon starts to actually like Ronald and becomes jealous when she sees him going out with her girlfriends Barbara and Patty. When the month has ended, Ronald and Cindy dramatically "break up" at school.
Ronald continues playing "cool" by hanging out with the jocks and hot chicks. At a New Year's Eve party, Cindy is brutally dumped by her college boyfriend when he learns about her relationship with Ronald. In anger and frustration, Cindy tells the party-goers the truth about her relationship with Ronald and his "cool" pretenses. Cindy effectively puts Ronald back at square one with not only the hot crowd who avoid him but the nerdy crowd as well.
Ronald suffers much emotional distress at being socially isolated; however, a moment comes to redeem himself when he defends a nerd against the onslaught of a jock. Ronald points out they were all friends at one time and suddenly they are divided into cliques. Cindy recognizes Ronald's worth and the two reconcile when Cindy opts to hop on the back of Ronald's riding lawn mower instead of hanging out with her popular friends. The two share a kiss as the title song plays.
The film was shot on location in Tucson, Arizona, at Tucson High Magnet School (then known as Tucson High School). The choreography is by Paula Abdul, who makes an uncredited appearance as a dancer. When the filmakers decided to make this a non-union shoot, the Screen Actor's Guild protested the filming, going so far as to send representatives to the school to discourage students from appearing on camera. Because of this, none of the school's drama students chose to appear as extras in the film.
Reception
Caryn James in the New York Times wrote that the film missed its mark and traded its potential originality for a bid at popularity by writing, "Michael Swerdlick, the writer, and Steve Rash, the director...waste a chance to make the much deeper, funnier movie that strains to break through. [The film]...has an identity crisis that's a mirror-image of Ronald's own. He thinks he wants popularity at any price, though he's really a sincere guy. The film thinks it wants to be sincere, when all it truly wants is to be popular, just like the other kids' movies, so it sells off its originality."[4]
