Say Anything…

  


Cast: John Cusack, Ione Skye, John Mahoney, Amy Brooks and Lili Tyler

Crew: Written & Directed By: Cameron Crowe Produced By: Polly Platt Executive Producer: James L. Brooks DP: Laszlo Kovacs Editor: Richard Marks Costume Designer: Jane Ruhm

Theatrical Release Date: April 14, 1989
DVD Release: March 5, 2002
Blu-ray Release Date: November 3, 2009

Tidbits:

  • Other actors considered for Lloyd included Christian Slater, Loren Dean, Kirk Cameron, Robert Downey Jr., along with future directors Todd Field and Peter Berg.
  • Crowe on other actresses considered for Diane: “Jennifer Connelly was the runner-up to Ione Skye. She was brilliant; she had all the languages… Elisabeth Shue did an amazing version of the graduation speech. But there was something haunting about Ione in River’s Edge. I had an instinct that Ione was right.
  • Crowe on casting Jim Court: “We had a hard time finding the dad. Rob Reiner was the first guy we went to. He said, “I’m not acting right now.” Dick Van Dyke really was amazing… We just kept hearing about John Mahoney, and then he came in and was so disarmingly charming and looked like William Holden… A lot of people, even actors coming up for the part, wanted to know, “Why does the father have to be guilty?” The answer was, without the father being guilty it’s Pretty in Pink.
  • Cameron commissioned The Smithereens to write the theme song/boom box moment for the movie. They wrote the wonderful “A Girl Like You”, but thought the lyrics revealed too much of the plot.
  • When Lloyd drives along 45th street in Seattle, he passes the Guild 45th Theatre, which is showing another Cusack film, Tapeheads.
  • Crowe regular Eric Stoltz is featured as Vahlere. He plays a character with the same name in Jerry Maguire.
  • Joan Cusack (John Cusack’s sister) plays the role of Lloyd’s sister, Constance.
  • Philip Baker Hall (Secret Honor, Magnolia) has a small role as the IRS boss.
  • Professional kickboxer, Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson appears as Lloyd’s sparring partner.
  • Singer Chynna Phillips (Wilson Philips) appears briefly as Joe’s girlfriend, Mimi.
  • John Cusack nabbed the Most Promising Actor Award at the 1990 Chicago film critics association awards.
  • Say Anything… was voted the #1 Modern Romance of All Time by the staff of Entertainment Weekly in their February 2002 issue.
  • William Arnold, film critic for the Seattle PI votes Say Anything… and Singles as one of the Top 10 Landmark Events in Seattle Movie History. “Cameron Crowe makes “Say Anything…,” and will follow it up with “Singles” — two definitive films about the Seattle youth scene of the ’90s.
  • “I gave her my heart, and she gave me a pen.” voted by Premiere Magazine as one of the Top 100 Movie Lines We Can’t Live Without. You can read Cameron’s comments about that line here.
  • Say Anything… was named to Entertainment Weekly’s list of the Greatest Movies Ever Made (in the comedy section).
  • The New York Times named Say Anything… as one of the “Best 1000 Movies Ever Made”.
  • Say Anything… was among the nominees for inclusion on AFI’s list of America’s 100 Funniest Movies. It did not make the Top 100.
  • Back in May of ’98, Entertainment Weekly included the film in their “Top 10 Tapes For Romancing At Home”. EW’s Ty Burr comments: “John Cusack and Ione Skye play teenagers in love: Sounds simple, but it’s actually the sharpest look at young love in years. That may be because director Cameron Crowe understands how one song (in this case, Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes”) can come to mean everything that passes between two people.”
  • Say Anything… was nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack and Best Screenplay at the 1992 Fennecus Awards.
  • Roger Ebert, whose always been a big supporter of Say Anything…, recently added the film to his list of “The Great Movies”. You can read his comments here.