Say Anything

Now I've been trying to keep my reviews short, but this is a one of my good friend's favorite movies and I genuinely want to talk about it for awhile.

Say Anything is a teen romance in which an underachieving but charming guy falls in love with a brilliant and ambitious girl with plans to go to college. The protagonists Lloyd and Diane are very likable and their love appears genuine and real. Diane's father is a very warm, encouraging and lovable man, even though he sometimes gets in the way of the relationship. The scene of John Cusack holding a boombox blasing Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" is iconic. The plot of the movie is standard for a romantic comedy, but its good and feels fresher than most. Pretty much any girl will love it, and a lot of guys will too. I give it 8/10

Romantic-comedy spoiler alert: they end up together. The final scene shows Lloyd and Diane on a plane on their way to England. Diane is extremely frightened of taking off, and Llyod is there talking her through it and comforting her. "If anything happens, it usually happens in the first five minutes of the flight," he says. "When you hear that smoking sign go ding you know everything's going to be ok." In the last few seconds, Diane and Lloyd stare at the no smoking sign until finally, right before the screen goes black, they hear the ding.

This scene sums up the whole movie and is actually a great metaphor. It's only briefly touched on, but Diane is afraid and uncertain about what her future holds. She gives a graduation speech at the beginning of the film, closing with "When I think about the future, the truth is, I am really... scared." Diane has spent her whole young life pursuing goals and opening doors, never stopping along the way to just live. She admits to Lloyd that she went through through high school without getting to know anyone or allowing anyone to get to know her.

Although he is very loving and supportive, her father, I believe, is the main source of her ambitions and fears. He is constantly telling her that she's special, that she has a bright future, that she's at the top of the pyramid. When in the end it's revealed that he's been stealing money, he admits that it was all for her. His affection for his daughter is so strong that it's selfish and damaging, breeding jealousy and causing him to break the law.

Lloyd, on the other hand, has no idea what he wants to do with his life. He's not farsighted like Diane and her father, and in the end he admits that all he really wants to do with his life is be with Diane. He's not particularly gifted and doesn't work that hard, but he's got a great heart. In addition, the absence of his parents (he lives with his sister) suggest that he doesn't have anyone pushing him to succeed. But he's a truly great guy, and you gotta love him.

I very much liked the ending in the airplane, and the characters' behaviors reflect their personality and outlook. Diane needs to establish a checkpoint, telling herself that if something happens in the future, then she's going to be fine. She looks to Lloyd for guidance and support, to assure her that things will work out, both on the plane and in their future life together. In the meantime, she's frozen and intent on reaching that checkpoint. Lloyd tries to play it cool and talks too much, which his friends have earlier identified as a nervous habit. He's waiting too, but not anxiously--what will happen, will happen. At last, the ding comes, telling the audience that everything will work out.

I actually think the ending would have been better without the ding. The truth is, there is no "ding" in the real world--we never know in life when we're safe or when things are going to be all right. Life's just unpredictable. We can only take what comes and trust in ourselves and those around us, those we love, that we'll take off successfully.