Cast (in credits order) - courtesy of the
imdb
John Cusack .... Lloyd Dobler
Ione Skye .... Diane Court
John Mahoney .... James Court
Lili Taylor .... Corey Flood
Amy Brooks .... D.C.
Pamela Segall .... Rebecca
Jason Gould (I) .... Mike Cameron
Loren Dean .... Joe
Glenn Walker Harris Jr. .... Jason, Lloyd's Nephew
Charles Walker (I) .... Principal
Russel Lunday .... Parent
Polly Platt .... Mrs. Flood
Gloria Cromwell .... Ruth
Jeremy Piven .... Mark, Gas N'Sip Boy
Patrick O'Neill (I) .... Denny, Gas N'Sip Boy
Gregory Sporleder .... Howard, Gas N'Sip Boy
John Green Jr. .... Luke, Gas N'Sip Boy
Bebe Neuwirth .... Mrs. Evans the Career Counselor
Eric Stoltz .... Vahlere
Kim Walker (I) .... Sheila
Chynna Phillips .... Mimi, Joe's Girl
Allison Roth (III) .... Tammy
Lisanne Falk .... Sandra
Diane Court: Nobody thinks it will work, do they?
Lloyd Dobler: No. You just described every great success story.
Say Anything was filmed in 1989 and written and directed by Cameron Crowe, a personal favorite. It is also one of a series of movies where John worked with his sister, Joan Cusack. (She plays his sister in this movie)
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Synopsis: The beautiful class brain Diane Court gets a phone call from Mr. anybody Lloyd Dobler and agrees to go on a date. A relationship blossoms from it, but is stymied by the efforts of her father. His wish is for her to succeed and forget about Lloyd, as he feels the young man isn't worthy of his precious jewel. Diane, feeling that she and her father have "the perfect father-daughter relationship", always so sure of it, comes to doubt him. In an interesting sub-plot the Courts are payed a visit from the IRS and Diane finds that this life she has been living with her divorced father all these years has in fact been a lie. When she has spent her whole life giving him the 100% truth. This is where the worm turns in the movie and she learns some valuable lessons from both the men in her life.
What I love about Cameron Crowe is that he almost always manages to keep the viewer interested and involved with the characters. He remains grounded and keeps it real. The movie was funny and sincere. It was a breath of fresh air in a sea of over-indulgent teen movies that were drowning the nation at the time. This is the movie that got me hooked on Cusack and this is a movie that I recommend watching. It is one that I still enjoy now. There are some terrific conversations and interesting one-liners. There is some great music. And it is incredible the amount of things that are said with no words in this film. By a look, a touch, what is not said and what is implied.
Watch it. Love it.