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Say Anything... poster

Say Anything...

year 1989decade 80sdirector Cameron Crowegenre Romantic comedy-drama

100 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

John Cusack Lloyd Dobler
Ione Skye Diane Court
John Mahoney Jim Court
Lili Taylor Corey Flood
Amy Brooks D.C.
Pamela Segall Rebecca
Jason Gould Mike Cameron
Polly Platt Mrs. Flood
Bebe Neuwirth Mrs. Evans

Say Anything... | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanguest Judd Apatow
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Producer credits not yet identified.

Roger Ebert's review

Rating not yet verified

Roger Ebert gave the film an enthusiastic review and called it one of the year’s best; the podcast does not state a numeric star rating.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:25:51Read transcript
  • Cameron Crowe credited the enthusiastic Siskel and Ebert television review with helping the movie at the box office.
  • The quoted Ebert review calls the film one of the year’s best, says it cares deeply about its issues, and praises it as a funny, warm romantic comedy.
  • The discussion contrasts this praise with Ebert’s negative reviews of Heavyweights, The Cable Guy, and Tommy Boy.

Most Rewatchable Scene

The graduation party is the clearest favorite; the opening friend circle, phone call, family dinner, sex conversations, gas-station advice, prison confrontation, airplane ending, car scene, FBI interview, and breakup are also praised.

In the discussion (16)
Approx. transcript time · 00:31:14Read transcript
  • The opening with the lead’s three female friends efficiently establishes his goal, personality, and the social stakes around Diane.
  • Diane calling him back turns landline anxiety into a successful party invitation.
  • The graduation party is the leading choice because its rooms, background behavior, yearbooks, and shifting conversations feel like a real high-school party.
  • Corey’s songs about Joe reveal a complete funny and painful relationship story inside the party.
  • The couple separating and later recapping mirrors how dates actually move through parties.
  • The Superbad party is described as a later, more extreme descendant, including the risky period-stain joke and a strong first audience screening attended by Crow.
  • The dinner speech rejecting buying, selling, and processing before declaring kickboxing the sport of the future is a major scene choice.
  • Telling the female friends about sex is praised for Corey’s warning that the memory permanently changes the relationship.
  • Diane telling her father she chose to have sex is praised for Mahoney’s shifting relief and horror.
  • The male friends’ gas-station advice is praised as a parody of toxic masculinity and useless breakup clichés.
  • The prison confrontation exposes the father’s darkness, then pivots through Diane’s letter and the boyfriend’s hope that a loving version once existed.
  • The airplane-seatbelt and smoking chime ending is praised as an instantly recognizable romantic ending.
  • The car sex scene is praised for the leads’ sweetness and his involuntary shivering afterward.
  • Diane’s interview with the investigator is praised for the precise profile of her father’s cash purchases and stolen gifts.
  • The party through the long drive home is directly selected as the best depiction of the best night of someone’s life.
  • The breakup immediately after the lead declares his love is praised for his wounded, age-specific reaction and rainy tape-recorder montage.

What’s Aged the Best?

The real Cusack siblings, Mahoney’s proud-father reaction, deep supporting cast, organic title drop, and durable soundtrack age best.

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:57:54Read transcript
  • John and Joan Cusack playing siblings gives the relationship an extra lived-in quality.
  • John Mahoney’s overwhelmed reaction to Diane’s fellowship is singled out as recognizable proud-parent behavior.
  • Lauren Dean, Pamela Adlon, B.B. Newworth, Jeremy Piven, Eric Stoltz, and Stone Gossard appearing in small roles shows the cast’s unusual depth.
  • The film says its own title naturally when Diane tells Lloyd he can say anything to her.
  • Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes,” the Replacements, Living Colour, Fishbone, and the observed Red Hot Chilipvers create an era-specific soundtrack that still works.

What’s Aged the Worst?

The panel wants more late-1980s music, finds the kickboxing gear primitive, and says the boombox and persistent pursuit read differently now.

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:00:23Read transcript
  • The soundtrack could have used more of the late-1980s college-rock and punk moment.
  • Lloyd’s MMA gloves and equipment look primitive beside modern gear.
  • The boombox image has lost context for younger viewers even though the scene and Peter Gabriel song remain powerful.
  • The era’s romantic-comedy pattern of repeated calls and waiting outside someone’s house would be received more critically now.

Casting What-Ifs

John Cusack beat Christian Slater after Robert Downey Jr. declined; Jennifer Connelly, Elisabeth Shue, Pamela Adlon, Julia Roberts, Dick Van Dyke, Lawrence Kasdan, and Richard Dreyfuss figure in other casting or directing possibilities.

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:32Read transcript
  • Cusack beat Christian Slater for Lloyd, while Robert Downey Jr. turned the role down.
  • Jennifer Connelly and the actress rendered Elizabeth Shoe auditioned for Diane.
  • Pamela Adlon auditioned for the friend role played by Amy Brooks, and Julia Roberts was also considered.
  • Dick Van Dyke met Crow and James Brooks about playing Diane’s father before John Mahoney was cast.
  • The director rendered Lawrence Kasten had been set to direct but stepped away from Crow’s personal project.
  • Richard Dreyfuss read the script and wanted to play Lloyd.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Mike Cameron is the literal “that guy” choice, while Lauren Dean is rejected as too recognizable.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:06:29Read transcript
  • The drunk party guest driven around for hours is selected as a literal familiar social type.
  • Lauren Dean is considered for Joe but rejected as too established to qualify.

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Eric Stoltz, Jeremy Piven, Mike Cameron, and Joan Cusack’s young son form the field; Lili Taylor is ruled too substantial.

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:08:00Read transcript
  • Lili Taylor is ruled ineligible because she appears in too many scenes.
  • Piven, Stoltz, and Mike Cameron are the initial finalists.
  • Stoltz’s bird-costume role grew from his request to work as a production assistant and learn filmmaking.
  • Joan Cusack’s small son is added for tracking the household action with an unusually effective child performance.

Recasting Couch

The cast is left intact; the principal is the only joking replacement nominee.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:10:09Read transcript
  • All three panelists call the film exceptionally or perfectly cast and decline to replace anyone.
  • The principal is offered as a late joking nominee.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Research covers the shared Karate Kid dojo, Don “The Dragon” Wilson’s work with Cusack, the Toshiba boombox, and the rejected Smithereens theme song.

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:10:46Read transcript
  • The dojo also appeared in The Karate Kid.
  • Don “The Dragon” Wilson worked on Cusack’s kickboxing scenes, which reportedly began the actor’s decades-long practice.
  • The iconic boombox is identified as a Tashiba RTSX-1.
  • Crow commissioned the Smithereens to write the theme; he rejected “A Girl Like You” because its lyrics revealed too much plot, and it became the band’s biggest hit.

Apex Mountain

Ione Skye is placed at her acting apex; Cusack has two broader peaks, while Singles wins Seattle movies and other film or career apexes are debated.

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:12:38Read transcript
  • Ione’s role is placed at her apex because Diane is judged her best character.
  • Cusack’s career is described as having a Say Anything peak and another around Conair, Being John Malcovic, and High Fidelity.
  • John Mahoney and Cameron Crowe are rejected as peaking here, and Lauren Dean’s Joe is debated against Enemy of the State.
  • Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or The Breakfast Club is preferred for 1980s high-school-movie apex.
  • Singles wins Seattle-movie apex even though Say Anything may be the better film.
  • Better Call Saul is offered as the stronger nursing-home-fraud example.

Picking Nits

The panel debates trimming or expanding the nursing-home fraud and whether Diane’s breakup is too abrupt, then defends the time passage and pre-college pressure.

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:16:08Read transcript
  • One view would remove two or three minutes of nursing-home fraud; another wants twenty more minutes and deeper relationships with residents.
  • Diane’s breakup initially seems abrupt because she appears to love Lloyd.
  • Changing outfits and rooms imply repeated conversations and time passing before the breakup.
  • The father’s manipulation and the expectation of a pre-college breakup supply a period-specific motivation.
  • The panel gives young listeners a joking public-service recommendation to end high-school relationships before college.

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie

The panel chooses among the rain-baptism monologue, Corey’s distinction between men and guys, the great-success-story exchange, and Lloyd’s kickboxing dinner speech.

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:19:57Read transcript
  • The rain-on-the-car baptism and “Power Lloyd” monologue is offered as a favorite and a yearbook quote.
  • Corey’s instruction to be a man rather than a guy receives one selection.
  • The closing exchange about nobody believing a great success story will work is another favorite.
  • Lloyd’s admission that he cannot know whether he is a great fighter before pro bouts, followed by his plan to spend the night with Diane, receives another selection.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Initial revulsion gives way to cautious interest in a ten-hour series, using the successful High Fidelity adaptation as a model for flipping the central roles or following side characters.

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:21:57Read transcript
  • The initial response is revulsion, followed by a small amount of curiosity about a 2021 ten-episode version.
  • Episode three could be about Joe, while ten hours at the gas and sip are appealing.
  • The High Fidelity television adaptation is cited as proof that a seemingly bad remake idea can work after changing the lead.
  • The leads could be gender-flipped, or the suitcase-store clerk could anchor an episode.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Questions imagine Lloyd’s later UFC and podcast career and ask how long he and Diane lasted in England.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:23:06Read transcript
  • The panel asks whether Lloyd predicted the UFC and became an MMA blogger, podcaster, or both.
  • Lloyd is imagined meeting Dana White and building a podcasting empire after returning for a fight.
  • The group asks how long the couple stayed together in England and predicts tension over Lloyd’s idleness and party behavior.

Who Won the Movie?

Cameron Crowe receives two votes; John Cusack and an unnamed nursing-home resident receive one apiece, with Peter Gabriel an alternative.

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:25:05Read transcript
  • John Cusack is the first vote, with Peter Gabriel raised as an outsider because the song became inseparable from the film.
  • An unnamed nursing-home resident wins one vote for her brief line.
  • Crow receives a vote for launching his directing career, taking young people seriously, and influencing the kinds of films a participant wanted to make.
  • Crow receives a second vote because Cusack has several signature films while this debut made audiences commit to Crow’s future work.
  • The closing places Crow alongside Soderberg, Die Hard, and Harry Metzally in an influential 1989.
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
John Cusack
Speaker not identified
unnamed nursing-home resident
Speaker not identified
Cameron Crowe
Speaker not identified
Cameron Crowe

More from the conversation

Apatow says the film reflected his friend group and influenced his later work both consciously and unconsciously.
Approx. transcript time · 00:03:03Read transcript
The movie is positioned as a sophisticated transition from 1980s high-school comedies into a more modern treatment of first love.
Approx. transcript time · 00:04:46Read transcript
James L. Brooks and Polly Platt produced Crow’s directorial debut, and Lawrence Kasdan reportedly encouraged Crow to direct his personal material.
Approx. transcript time · 00:07:05Read transcript
Apatow describes producing as protecting a filmmaker’s intent while pressing on unresolved story questions, using The Big Sick and The 40-Year-Old Virgin as examples.
Approx. transcript time · 00:08:15Read transcript
Brooks’s father-daughter-and-crime premise gives the romantic story an IRS plot that adds adult tension.
Approx. transcript time · 00:15:21Read transcript
The panel explains how age and parenthood shift sympathy from Lloyd toward Diane’s fearful and morally compromised father.
Approx. transcript time · 00:16:22Read transcript
Crow’s journalism and Fast Times background lead into Cusack’s teen-film career and his role as a bridge out of the 1980s.
Approx. transcript time · 00:20:10Read transcript
The Ebert discussion broadens into how critics and awards undervalue broad comedy even though audiences repeatedly rewatch it.
Approx. transcript time · 00:25:51Read transcript
The film treats Lloyd’s female friends as real advisers while portraying his male friends as a social group he must outgrow.
Approx. transcript time · 00:31:14Read transcript
The graduation party’s carefully directed background action leads Apatow to discuss staging ensemble comedy and testing risky jokes.
Approx. transcript time · 00:35:02Read transcript
The ending is placed among enduring romantic-film conclusions because it resolves the couple through a small shared sound.
Approx. transcript time · 00:52:51Read transcript
The boombox scene is both culturally overfamiliar and still inseparable from Peter Gabriel’s song.
Approx. transcript time · 01:01:25Read transcript