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It's graduation time for the Class of 1988 and when normal teenage relationships are breaking up to get ready for college, Lloyd Dobler is ready to start one. He has his heart set on wooing Diane Court, the school valedictorian. A feat unto itself, considering she is the school valedictorian and has just learned that she was accepted for a fellowship in London and he really has no idea what he's going to do after high school. All he knows is that he loves kickboxing. "Say Anything". The movie that is known for the "boombox scene". The movie that so many women say is great because of Lloyd Dobler. The romance between Lloyd and Diane really is near perfect. He pursues her relentlessly, but his pursuit never turns creepy or stalkerish. He's attentive to her, considerate of her. Of course women like him. He's everything that we women ever wanted. He showers her with affection but is always careful never to push any boundaries. He is always concerned with her relationship with her father and doesn't want to do anything to jeopardize that. He's near perfect. Near perfect for one reason: he doesn't have a job. The romance between Lloyd and Diane is so mature, and yet this one aspect of their romance is what takes it from being "Romantic Movie Cliché" and grounds it in high school reality. Women are so difficult, aren't they? We want it all. We want a Lloyd Dobler but we also want a Daddy Warbucks. However, this is exactly what makes the character of Lloyd so endearing: he doesn't have a job. When asked what he wants to do with his life, he ponders the question throughout the entire film and comes up with this: "What I really want to do with my life - what I want to do for a living - is I want to be with your daughter. I'm good at it." This is the kind of guy that every woman wants, but if she were with him in real life, the relationship wouldn't last more than a year. What woman wouldn't want a man saying those kinds of things to her? Being as attentive as he is? As considerate as he is? But there's one key element missing: he can't support her. No matter how successful she becomes, rare is the woman who will have a man around who can say nice things but doesn't bring home any bacon. Anti-feminist? Maybe. Realist? Absolutely. But this is just a movie, and in MovieLand, the relationship between Lloyd and Diane is near perfection. Something completely unexpected was the strength of the relationship between Diane and her father. Rare and refreshing is the father/daughter relationship where the daughter feels comfortable enough to confide in her father of her sexual encounters. Mr. Court is also in trouble with the law for IRS fraud dealing with the nursing home that he runs. So much trouble in fact, that by the end of the film, he's in prison. Diane is understandably upset by this, and the scene in which she forgives her father is far more touching than the well-known "boombox scene". "Say Anything", while unrealistic, is still one of the better high school movies of all time. The characters are just so loveable, we can't help but be swept away into their "Romantic Movie Cliché". "Just knowing that a version like that exists, knowing that just for a minute she felt that and wrote 'I can't help loving you'. That has to be worth something." email this review to a friend
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