I've spent a good portion of my life sitting in front of flickering images produced before 1980. I just prefer "old" movies (although I guess technically movies made after that are considered old now, aren't they? even *I* might be considered old now, mightn't I? ack!) for any number of reasons -- their timelessness, the fact that I can usually watch them with my parents and not have to hide under the couch cushions during any of the scenes (you know what I mean) and some undefinable quality that just attracts me in a way that modern movies don't. That being said, I've been trying to play catch-up for the last two years and finally watch all of the modern movies that most people would consider must-sees. I've enjoyed a lot of them! I still prefer the oldies (but goodies!) but I'm really having fun with this project.
One of the movies on my to-watch list was Say Anything (1989.) I've heard about the scene pictured above and I know the film is a staple in the lives of basically everyone from my generation. This week I finally watched it, and I really liked it! Do I need to touch on the plot? I feel like everyone (except me, until this week) has seen it. Just in case -- John Cusack plays a lovesick guy who is hung up on the school "brain" and finally asks her out right after graduation. Despite having a graduation party scene, it really wasn't a typical high school movie (although I'll be the first to admit - despite my aforementioned dedication to old movies - I'm a big fan of She's All That) and the plot went places that I wasn't expecting. Which was a good thing!
This is probably insane but I think my favorite thing about it was (SPOILER!) the fact that she didn't run downstairs and jump into his arms when Peter Gabriel's voice came streaming through her windows. It just would have been too typical, you know? I also loved that her reasons for going back to him were ambiguous, but he didn't even care. It was so much more satisfying to see her return to him in a moment of desperation and to have him accept her in spite of that, instead of a hokey "I couldn't live without you" kind of thing. You know everything will turn out all right but it can be implied instead of written in bold letters, underlined, and covered in glitter.
The only disappointment for me was the dad's storyline. I really liked him! It was kind of heartbreaking to find out he was guilty. Otherwise I thought it was an incredibly fantastic movie (actually, I really have no qualms with that plot twist, I just liked the character and was sad that his story turned out the way it did.) If you haven't seen it yet, it's on Netflix instant. And if you don't have Netflix instant, you can rent it on Amazon. So you really have no excuse not to watch it tonight. Go! Hurry! Turn on the tv and enjoy a really nice Saturday night movie :)
