Can't Buy Me Love (1987)

RELEASED IN 1987 and directed by Steve Rash, “Can’t Buy Me Love” is a high school dramedy about a geek at an Arizona high school (Patrick Dempsey) who pays the most popular girl in school (Amanda Peterson) $1000 to act like she likes him for a month so he can move up the social strata. Of course, this creates unforeseen problems. Courtney Gains plays his geek friend and Seth Green his little brother. This is better than some 80’s teen flicks (e.g. Molly Ringwald’s movies), but not as good as others (“Fast Times at Ridgemont High”). It’s arguably on par with “Just One of the Guys” and “Some Kind of Wonderful.” Unlike those films, however, it has a semi-campy vibe wherein the cast members often exaggerate their lines in an artificial way, which telegraphs that what’s happening isn’t real. If you can roll with this odd element, there’s a lot of good in “Can’t Buy Me Love” and the ending is genuinely moving. There are many serious/realistic scenes, like the notable airplane graveyard sequence. The two protagonists have good chemistry and their relationship arc is convincing. Tina Caspary (Barbara) and Darcy DeMoss (Patty) are serviceable on the fringe female front. THE FILM RUNS 1 hours & 34 minutes and was shot in Tucson, Arizona. WRITER: Michael Swerdlick. GRADE: B/B- (6.5/10)