Recent high school grad Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack), whose only ambition in life is to become a famous kickboxer, grabs opportunity by the throat and asks his class’s valedictorian, Diane Court (Ione Skye), out on a date. Although she usually shoots down anyone who comes calling, Diane accepts Lloyd’s proposal. Romance quickly blooms, but Diane’s overprotective father (John Mahoney) sees Lloyd as an impediment to the future he’s carefully contrived for his daughter. Diane is eventually persuaded to break up with Lloyd, but he refuses to let her go.

CRITIQUE

And I once again wonder if there’s something wrong with me. Say Anything... is another one of those movies most people of my generation love unconditionally but I see as flawed. I happen to think it’s sixty-six percent of a great movie, but that other thirty-four percent is pretty awful, and I can’t ignore that. Other people seem to be able to, because it’s the part of the movie almost no one mentions when the movie is being discussed. But me, I can’t get it out of my head.

Were the movie consistent, it would rank just behind Almost Famous (a feat he has no hope of ever matching) as Cameron Crowe’s greatest achievement as a filmmaker. What works here is just that good. The relationship between Lloyd and Diane may very well be the most credible of its kind; it’s completely organic, completely believable. But consistency is a stumbling point for Crowe (look at Singles), and here you get material that is justifiably praised mixed with elements that not only seem to have been intended for another movie but also look to be the work of a completely different (and lesser) filmmaker.

For the first fifteen minutes or so, Say Anything... is frightening. It looks like it’s going to be a knockoff of a John Hughes movie, offering up a take on high school life that doesn’t resemble any sort of high school life ever experienced by actual human beings. The graduation ceremony is phony, and the party that shortly follows begins as the sort of bash people think they’ve been to but are just mistaken because they’ve seen it on film so many times. (I always cringe a bit when Bebe Neuwirth’s character shows up. She represents one of the worst clichés high school fiction has given the world.)

But then the movie takes a turn, turning into a wise, believable take on circa-twenty relationships. This part of the movie is also frightening, but in this case it’s because there’s a good chance you’ll think Crowe has at some point been spying on you. (At least two scenes here always have me thinking that, then I realize this movie was released more than a year prior to the time similar moments in my life occurred. That’s even scarier.)

But mixed into all of this is a subplot involving Mahoney, some shady business practices, and an IRS investigation. This is the sort of material that is generally used in this sort of movie as backstory; you expect it to be mentioned once or twice, or have one of the main characters relate the story behind it, but you don’t expect it be played out before your eyes. Crowe affords it quite a bit of time, even going so far as to give one long passage over to it. He uses it largely as a means to an end, which is a huge misstep. (Crowe would attempt something similar in Jerry Maguire, where the results were pretty much the same.) There are myriad ways the story could have reached the same conclusion; there’s no reason (or at least no good one) for it to rely on plot machinery this loud, clunky, labored, and melodramatically phony.

The movie has a few other problems. Like every Crowe script not titled Fast Times at Ridgemont High or Almost Famous, there are more than a few extraneous characters and unresolved subplots. (Why doesn’t Lili Taylor get a final scene?) The storytelling can be awkwardly episodic at times. And there are elements that seem to have been cooked up by someone working at the level of junior high dramatics rather than someone who’s been a professional writer since shortly after junior high. (Contrast: Diane’s father smothers her; Lloyd’s parents are conveniently out of the country. You can’t get any more junior high than that.)

I know it’s more than a little silly after twenty years, but I still root for this movie, hoping it will be all it could have been. It never seems to work, but that doesn’t stop me.

THE VIDEO

The 1.85:1/1080p transfer--encoded with AVC onto a 50GB disc--is certainly an improvement over that of the DVD, but there’s never any question this is a modestly budgeted movie produced twenty years ago. The image is slightly flat, but it always has been. Colors are on the subdued side; even the more saturated primaries barely stand out. But given the limitations of the source, this is quite likely the best the movie could have looked.

THE AUDIO

Pretty much the same is true of the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Dialogue is the primary component here, and while it generally sounds fine, there are a couple of dropouts. Surround action is limited to some mild ambiance and music bleed. Aside from strengthening the score (which is awful) and soundtrack selections (which are far better), the low end takes a vacation. English 2.0 Dolby Surround and French and Spanish Dolby Digital Mono tracks are also included; English SDH, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Spanish subtitles are available.

THE EXTRAS

Fox has ported over all of the extras from the movie’s previous DVD release and has also tossed in a couple of new features. Unless noted otherwise, the video-based material is presented in standard definition.

The commentary by Cameron Crowe, John Cusack, and Ione Skye, which was recorded about seven years ago for the DVD, is a very good track. Running twenty minutes longer than the movie itself, it’s as informal as a commentary can get and still be informative.

Say Anything...20 Years Later (20 minutes, HD) is a retrospective featurette heavy on comments from Crowe, Skye, and Cusack. It comes dangerously close to being sickeningly fawning and self-congratulatory.

You also get a vintage featurette (9 minutes, SD), which is one of those promotional pieces that were used as bumpers/filler for cable channels back in the day.

A Conversation with Cameron Crowe (10 minutes, HD) is a new interview with the writer-director.

I Love Say Anything...! (9 minutes, HD) is a rather painful piece in which C- and D-level comedians make stupid jokes and gush over the movie. (Thank goodness “Weird Al” is on hand to add some dignity to the proceedings.)

The To Know Say Anything...Is to Love It! Trivia Track provides pop-up text balloons over the course of the movie. The info provided is both production-centric (Eric Stoltz served as a PA to Crowe when he wasn’t filming his scenes) and tangential (the amazing origins of 7-11).

Five alternate, thirteen extended, and ten deleted scenes (50 minutes total, SD) are also included. Most of the deleted/extended bits were wisely cut (especially the scene with Dan Castellaneta), although the extended version of the scene in which Diane has dinner with her mother does help answer a few questions. 

A photo gallery (5 minutes, HD) offers up a montage of behind-the-scenes and marketing stills.

Two theatrical trailers and eight TV spots close out the extras.

FINAL THOUGHT

Luckily for all those involved, the whole of Say Anything... ends up being greater than the sum of its parts.