Can't Buy Me Love (1987)

RELEASED IN 1987 and directed by Steve Rash, "Can't Buy Me Love" is a high school dramedy about a geek at an Arizona high school (Patrick Dempsey) who pays the most popular girl in school (Amanda Peterson) $1000 to act like she likes him for a month so he can move up the social strata. Of course, this creates unforeseen problems. Courtney Gains plays his geek friend and Seth Green his little brother. This is better than some 80's teen flicks (e.g. Molly Ringwald's movies), but not as good as others ("Fast Times at Ridgemont High"). It's arguably on par with "Just One of the Guys" and "Some Kind of Wonderful." Unlike those films, however, it has a semi-campy vibe wherein the cast members often exaggerate their lines in an artificial way, which telegraphs that what's happening isn't real. If you can roll with this odd element, there's a lot of good in "Can't Buy Me Love" and the ending is genuinely moving. There are many serious/realistic scenes, like the notable airplane graveyard sequence. The two protagonists have good chemistry and their relationship arc is convincing. Tina Caspary (Barbara) and Darcy DeMoss (Patty) are serviceable on the fringe female front. THE FILM RUNS 1 hours & 34 minutes and was shot in Tucson, Arizona. WRITER: Michael Swerdlick. GRADE: B/B- (6.5/10)

I was inspired to watch this otherwise forgotten 80s teen rom-com by the recent tragic death of star Amanda Peterson.It certainly doesn't hold a candle to the better known teen comedies from the genre's golden age, but stars Patrick Dempsey and Peterson are quite good, and the film features an early appearance from Seth Green, who steals every scene he's in as Dempsey's little brother. Also featured are Ricardo (Rico Ssssuave!), Courtney "Malachai" Gaines and several other familiarish faces.There's just enough here to merit a revisit if you're an 80s kid. For all others, your mileage may vary.

An unpopular guy desperately wants popularity so goes about it by paying a girl $1000 to be his girlfriend...but then they begin to fall in love with each other...ooh.Let's be honest you know exactly how the movie is going to pan out from the start. But come on...I know it's cheesy but I just love it!! I would watch it many times and not get bored. Beautiful actors and the characters are lovable. It checks all the high school rom com clichés even the nerdy guy taking off his glasses and changing his shirt and becoming (very)hot. It's a very sweet,breezy movie and a quotable one too, ideal for watching with girlfriends at a sleepover or something.

The movie has a typical romantic plot within an American high-school setting, with lead characters being a nerd (Ronald) and the head cheerleader (Cindy). She and her friends would not even acknowledge him when passing by whereas he is desperately infatuated her. Ronald figures that he needs to become popular in order to be noticed by girls and offers Cindy a thousand dollars to pretend in public that they are going out, hoping that it would boost his popularity. She accepts the offer and throws in his makeover at no extra cost. The rest of the storyline is fairly predictable. However, there are two issues that this movie addresses probably more successfully than most of the other teen chick flicks: leadership and forgiveness.The rest may contain some spoilers.Ronald aspires not only to acceptance by his peers, but also to becoming their informal leader. The path that he initially takes in order to achieve that status is typical of a high-school environment, as he chooses exclusivity over social cohesion, egoism over altruism, herd mentality over individuality and conceit over humility. Eventually, he realises that sustainable informal leadership is based on selfless acts and promoting social inclusion.Whilst at the peak of his ill-gotten popularity, Ronald does not forgive Cindy the fact that she used to ignore him when he was just one of the geeks. In fact, he cruelly rejects her even though she has developed warm feelings for him and has extended him support and trust that are well in excess of what is stipulated in their arrangement. However, once his popularity has vanished and he is left with no friends, he expects Cindy and his former best friend to immediately take him back and forgive all the gross insults he has inflicted upon them. Having failed that, Ronald finally realises that he needs to deserve to be forgiven.