Can't Buy Me Love

"Ronald is making an investment in his senior year. He's hiring the prettiest cheerleader in school to be his girlfriend."

1987 1h 34m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 735

ComedyRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Nerdy high schooler Ronald Miller rescues cheerleader Cindy Mancini from parental punishment after she accidentally destroys her mother's designer clothes. Ronald agrees to pay for the $1,000 outfit on one condition: that she will act as though they're a couple for an entire month. As the days pass, however, Cindy grows fond of Ronald, making him popular. But when Ronald's former best friend gets left behind, he realizes that social success isn't everything.

“Ronald is making an investment in his senior year. He's hiring the prettiest cheerleader in school to be his girlfriend.”

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Cast

Patrick Dempsey
Ronald Miller
Amanda Peterson
Cindy Mancini
Courtney Gains
Kenneth Wurman
Tina Caspary
Barbara
Seth Green
Chuckie Miller
Sharon Farrell
Mrs. Mancini
Dennis Dugan
David Miller
Darcy DeMoss
Patty

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Steve Rash
Writers: Michael Swerdlick
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $32M — a 17.6× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

39 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Steve Rash, shot by Peter Lyons Collister. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Robert Folk. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jeff Gourson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Patrick Dempsey and Amanda Peterson and Courtney Gains carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Ronald is making an investment in his senior year. He's hiring the prettiest cheerleader in school to be his girlfriend.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Steve Rash directs. Peter Lyons Collister behind the camera. Robert Folk scores. Jeff Gourson cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $32M — a 17.6× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
339 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Directed by Steve Rash, shot by Peter Lyons Collister. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Robert Folk. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Jeff Gourson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Patrick Dempsey and Amanda Peterson and Courtney Gains carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Ronald is making an investment in his senior year. He's hiring the prettiest cheerleader in school to be his girlfriend.".
9IMDB entry: tt0092718 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 10 themes, including "new year's eve", "high school", "cheerleader", "nerd".
11Released under 13 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Peter Lyons Collister
Original score: Robert Folk
Editing: Jeff Gourson
Production design: Donald Lee Harris
Costume design: Gini Kramer
Makeup / hair: Cher Slater
Sound: Les Fresholtz
Runtime: 94 min · 1h 34m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,800,000
Box office: $31,623,833
Return: 1757% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Can't Buy Me Love (1987)

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Steve Rash

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What people are saying

Wuchak2018-02-10
★ 7/10
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)
John Chard2019-01-19
★ 7/10
Whatever happens to your popularity, stay yourself, don't change to please others. 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