X
- 1987
- PG-13
- Buena Vista Pictures
- 1 h 34 m
- 1987
- PG-13
- Buena Vista Pictures
- 1 h 34 m
Summary A nerdy outcast secretly pays the most popular girl in school one thousand dollars to be his girlfriend.
Directed By: Steve Rash
Written By: Michael Swerdlick
- 1987
- PG-13
- Buena Vista Pictures
- 1 h 34 m
- 1987
- PG-13
- Buena Vista Pictures
- 1 h 34 m
Can't Buy Me Love
36
7.9
Where to Watch
Summary A nerdy outcast secretly pays the most popular girl in school one thousand dollars to be his girlfriend.
Directed By: Steve Rash
Written By: Michael Swerdlick
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 11 Critic Reviews
36
0% Positive
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
82% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
18% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 11 Critic Reviews
36
0% Positive
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
82% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
18% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Nice performances, a useful script and a dignified ending all boost this film's appeal, but it is the workable simplicity of the premise that really does it.
Though it looks bright and the young actors have a couple of sweet moments, the picture is almost unremittingly punishing, hammering home its "be yourself" message with all the gentle persuasiveness of a Marine drill sergeant.
The director has a feel for this shopping-with-Mummy's- plastic milieu, but the theme of peer group pressure and the almost universal human need for acceptance is compromised by a script of very Californian piety. Otherwise a slight but not unenjoyable movie.
Unfortunately, Can't Buy Me Love is not particularly funny. Rash is so concerned with exploring the abhorrent high school caste system - making a teen comedy with a conscience - that the story ultimately becomes leaden and pedantic. Add to this the movie's predictability at every turn, including an ever-so-tidy conclusion, and you end up with something that's little more than a nice try. [14 Aug 1987, p.3D]
The problem with Can't Buy Me Love is that too often characters do and say things teenagers wouldn't. At times this is a funny, touching film, but more often it isn't.
A John Hughes movie without Pretty in Pink director John Hughes, sure makes you appreciate the teens' auteur. Frankly, Steve Rash, who directs this copycat comedy, another nerd-gets-the-cheerleader romance, isn't fit to wear Hughes' hightops. Rash only tinkers with adolescent angst, without the progenitor's empathy for his audience.
Can't Buy Me Love makes American teenagers look like stupid and materialistic twits. That would be all right if the movie were aware of itself and knew what it was doing - if it were a satirical comment on our society. But this movie is as naive as the day is long. It doesn't have a thought in its head and probably no notion of the corruption at its core.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 7 User Ratings
7.9
100% Positive
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 7 User Ratings
7.9
100% Positive
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
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Awards
Young Artist Awards
• 1 Win & 4 Nominations
