Everyone knows the image: John Cusack standing outside Ione Skye’s house, boom box held high over his head, blasting Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.” It’s been endlessly parodied and meme’d to death, but in its original context, Cameron Crowe’s directorial debut Say Anything, the moment still strikes right at the viewer’s heart. In the film, Cusack stars as charming slacker Lloyd Dobler; the role that made him the unrequited crush of a whole generation of women. In the existential haze of post-graduation, he pointedly pursues the self-conscious valedictorian Diane Court (Skye). It also features an affable but intimidating John Mahoney as Diane’s single father and a hilarious Lili Taylor as Lloyd’s firecracker best friend. What follows is an emotionally complex coming-of-age story, eschewing cliché to tell a love story as unforgettable as its’ iconic image.
Witney Seibold discusses Say Anything… on the New Beverly blog.
