L'amour ne s'achète pas

Most 80's teen flicks leave a rather sick feeling in my stomach, but this one has always been a favorite despite the stereotypical shallow, big-haired girls and the Animal House wanna-be jocks. The difference is that the stars, Patrick Dempsey and Amanda Peterson, are not so stereotypical in their roles as lonely nerd and ultra-popular head cheerleader.

Patrick Dempsey has always been underrated as an actor with style, and it is unfortunate that his character, Ronald, is so unlikable after the film's premise kicks in. Ronald goes "from geek to chic" and back again. But Dempsey himself seems too inherently confident to really pull off the geek aspect believably, and he's too cruel to the girl whose heart he won for Ronald to be a truly sympathetic character. The hip version of Ronald, however, is a hoot to watch, even if it is somewhat overdone in the context of an already unlikely plot.

The standout in this film is Amanda Peterson, whose character Cindy has to be one of the most genuinely likeable "stuck up" high school girls on film. Watching her character grow and open her heart to Ronald is the main reason I've given this film repeated viewings. Although the genres are quite different, I'd compare Peterson's character to Renee Zellweger's character in Jerry MaGuire in terms of sheer likability. Making characters likeable is much more difficult than making them sympathetic, and I'm frankly shocked that Peterson's career did not skyrocket after this performance.

Whether you're looking for creative ways to invest $1000 or dancing lessons, Can't Buy Me Love is one 80's teen flick that has a lot to offer.

Can't Buy Me Love is directed by Steve Rash and written by Michael Swerdlick. It stars Patrick Dempsey and Amanda Peterson. Music is by Robert Folk and cinematography by Peter Lyons Collister.

Plot has Dempsey as nerdy outcast Ronald Miller, who fed up of not being popular pays Cindy Mancini (Peterson), the most popular girl in school, one thousand dollars to be his girlfriend.

The 1980s was awash with films of this ilk, the teen dramedy topped up by a big hearted message and a finale of punch the air worth. What it all comes down to is if the film can hold its head above water, not become too twee, and crucially have you smiling come the finale. As evidenced by its popularity among 80s cineastes of a certain age, Can't Buy Me Love delivers all that you expect from such fare.

The core theme is of course self acceptance, the attainment of such in amongst the scary world of teenage school years. This shines bright in spite of some rather unconvincing dialogue and contrived corny moments. Director Rash just about holds it together, ensuring that the charm of the lead actors holds weight for character engagement, even though for thematic depth the screenplay only skims over the surface.

The teenage dramedy would evolve considerably once the 80s was left behind, becoming more biting, daring and observational. Yet for those who lived and loved this type of film in the 80s, there's a lovely nostalgic glow to be gleaned from revisits to the likes of Can't Buy Me Love. Nothing wrong with that. 6.5/10

If you like 80s movies this is my top 5 of all time. This movie is amazing and should not be forgotten. The story is about Ronald played by Patrick Dempsey who is a nerd and lives next door to Cindy the most popular girl in High School played by Amanda Peterson. Ronald mows lawns for a living and is saving his money for his science project. He finally has enough money to pay for his project but he decides to help out Cindy with dilemma. Cindy ruins her moms dress at a party and she needs a 1,000 dollars to buy a new dress so her mom doesn't ground her for life. Ronald decides to give up his money for the project if Cindy pretends to like him. The movie is amazing. Its very funny, great acting, and the chemistry works. This is one of my favorite movies of all time. I could watch it over and over again. If you like 80s movies check this movie out as well as Teen Witch, Some Kind Of Wonderful, Just One of the guys, and Big.

I love those cheesy 80's teenage love stories. They are fun and entertaining. "Can't Buy Me Love" is one of the better ones for sure. It is one of those movies that you can watch over and over and still love it. The story is interesting and the performances are great. Amanda Peterson is fantastic as the high-priced yet emotionally repressed love interest of lawnboy Patrick Dempsey. The story is funny and moving and can even make you cry. Watch it with friends, watch it alone, watch it with someone you love and remember the pressures of high school and the friends that got you through it.

I guess in the case of this movie you could say "you might get what you paid for". The messages in this movie are pretty clear. They are made easy to identify by many simple one dimensional supporting characters and a few scenes devoted to clearly spelling a message out. This movie is extremely stereotypical, but it was made in and about a very stereotypical time, so I don't think they went too far in portraying these characters as their stereotypes and little else. The messages and characters will seem very familiar to those of us who grew up and went to high school in the 80's, but may be be lost on teenagers today. All of that said this is basically a pretty good movie, that I can never turn off when I happen to catch it on cable. The performances are very good by the main characters and reasonably good by some of the supporting characters and the scenes move well without any wasted time. There is very little build up to any of the movies scenes, so there is really something going on all the time.

Not in the same class as The Breakfast Club or Sixteen Candles, but very watchable and enjoyable.