After seeing and hearing about the iconic scene where John Cusack holds a boombox over his head in order to win back the girl he loves, I decided it was finally time to see this movie. I started it one evening, and stopped it halfway through and then finished it last night. Although it didn’t hold my attention enough to finish it in the same sitting, I am happy I watched through it to find out the rest of the story. I think I had built this up too much in my head because the actual movie didn’t pan out to what I had hoped it would be.
The first half didn’t grab me much, but it was your overall typical high school story. I found the second half more interesting, but then was let down by that pivotal scene I mentioned above. Because it wasn’t really that pivotal. That scene isn’t what got them back together, it didn’t change the story any. If she would have at least looked out the window, or allowed herself a private smile that showed she was hearing and responding to what he had done for her, I would have enjoyed it more. As the scene played out it was very anti-climactic.
I enjoyed John Cusack’s performance, as I always do. He’s an actor I really like. Other actors in the movie also put in wonderful performances. The dad was phenomenal, and got across all the emotions needed to portray someone doing something so distasteful, but yet believing it really was the best and right thing to do for his daughter. I enjoyed that Jeremy Piven showed up, he’s another actor I enjoy watching on the screen and he came off well as one of the guys.
I believe that if I had seen this movie while still in high school, or around that age range, it would have affected me much differently, and perhaps I would have connected with the characters more. As it stands, it’s a cute movie. I don’t dislike it, but I don’t really like it either. I’d say 3 stars on my scale.