THE REWATCHABLES · August 4, 2022
A 1987 comedy / romance directed by Steve Rash, covered in the complete Rewatchables archive.
ON THIS EPISODE
FROM THE CONVERSATION
WHY IT WORKS
WHAT DID NOT WORK
SCENES THEY KEPT COMING BACK TO
Ronald offers Cindy $1,000 to date him so he can become popular.
About 24 minCindy reads a terrible poem and Ronald mistakenly doesn't realize she likes him.
About 24 minRonald takes Cindy to an airplane graveyard, which they both think is a great date idea.
About 32 minRonald's awkward dance accidentally becomes cool and defines the film's comic peak.
About 32 minCindy reveals the truth about the deal, humiliating Ronald and the social climbers around him.
About 32 minKenneth explodes at Ronald after the prank, producing the film's most quotable line.
About 32 minRonald defends Kenneth, rejects the social hierarchy, and the movie climaxes in a slow clap and handshake.
About 40 minWHERE THEY DISAGREED
Bill SimmonsFoundational, because it created the popularity-buying template that later movies copied.
Juliet LitmanAgreeing, but emphasizing how many later teen films explicitly reworked or sanitized it.
Juliet LitmanQuestions whether he has evidence of being a fun, cool celebrity.
Bill SimmonsTreats him as charming but notes a very strange personal history.
Bill SimmonsChooses Kenneth's 'you shit on my house' confrontation.
Juliet LitmanInitially leans toward that scene but says the dance is also a contender.
Bill SimmonsThe Volkswagen Cabriolet, Cindy's clothes, and the movie's setting still look great.
Juliet LitmanAgrees that the fashion and aesthetic have held up well.
Bill SimmonsSuggests a sequel with Patrick Dempsey as an adult parent.
Juliet LitmanPrefers a darker prestige-TV version with reversed genders and heavier stakes.
Calls it one of the most important high-school movies ever and one of the most ripped-off movies ever.
Opening minutesAgrees that it is foundational, noting later films copied its structure and tone.
Opening minutesFinds Cindy likable and thinks Amanda Peterson is the movie's best performer.
About 16 minAgrees Cindy is unusually likable for a teen-movie heroine and grounded morally.
About 16 minSees Dempsey as highly watchable and notes that later roles validated his charm and appeal.
About 8 minSays Dempsey's later career, especially Grey's Anatomy, made his teen role more legible in hindsight.
About 8 minTreats the dance as one of the defining 1980s movie scenes, absurd and unforgettable.
About 32 minCalls Cindy's drunken takedown pitch-perfect and one of the movie's best scenes.
About 32 minRanks Kenneth's outburst among the most famous 1980s movie moments.
About 32 minReads the ending as a genuine moral reset rather than just a joke payoff.
About 32 minDismisses the 2003 remake as inferior and irritatingly renamed.
About 48 minSees Easy A as a modern spiritual descendant that intentionally echoes the ending and premise.
About 48 minThe central concept is a teen trying to buy his way into social status, which the hosts see as the movie's key innovation.
Opening minutesRonald's arc is framed as a betrayal of self and a return to being genuine.
About 32 minThe hosts treat the film as a template for later teen comedies, TV dramas, and rom-com beats.
About 8 minThe movie is discussed as part of the era when high-school movies became a major lens for understanding adolescence.
About 8 minThe movie was made for roughly $1.7 million and grossed $31.6 million.
About 16 minRoger Ebert gave the film 0.5 stars.
About 16 minAmanda Peterson was 15 when they made the movie and died at 43.
About 16 minThe film's choreography was by Paula Abdul.
About 56 minThe school was Tucson High School and the film used a real airport graveyard near Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
About 56 minThe production built a football field and stage for the school as part of the deal.
About 56 minChuck Lorre wrote a song used in the movie.
About 56 minPatrick Dempsey used his salary to buy his first car, a 1963 Porsche 356 convertible.
About 56 minThe Beatles song in the opening credits was licensed from Michael Jackson's catalog.
About 56 minBill believes the movie did not mention college at all, which he treats as a major oddity.
About 1:04Used as another example of a monetary relationship at the center of a romance.
Opening minutesCited as part of the 1980s high-school/coming-of-age run and as another teen-adjacent template.
Opening minutesHeld up as a better-written 1980s high-school movie.
About 8 minNamed as a sanitized derivative of the film's premise.
Opening minutesDescribed as owing a lot to Can't Buy Me Love despite being a Shakespeare adaptation.
Opening minutesReferenced as a show that borrowed the movie's visual and social templates.
About 16 minMentioned as another film that borrowed the betrayal/popularity dynamics.
About 16 minCalled an homage and a descendant of the exposure scene and teen-party structure.
About 32 minCited as a modern spiritual remake that deliberately echoes the ending and tone.
About 32 minUsed as a comparison for earlier, less grounded high-school movies.
About 16 minReferenced while discussing the Big Kahuna Burger award and the milkshake gag.
About 48 minMentioned in relation to Big John, a recurring character actor.
About 40 minReferenced because Courtney Gaines played Malachi there.
About 32 minUsed as a comparison for the locker-room scene and male-gaze excess.
About 48 minCited as the source of an earlier slow clap in Bill's research.
About 1:04Bill jokingly treats his strongest opinions as a run of 'hottest takes.'
Opening minutesThe hosts repeatedly name later films that borrowed this movie's premise or scenes.
About 8 minJuliet keeps returning to her intense emotional response to Patrick Dempsey's later TV fame.
About 8 minThey riff on the simplified cliques, tables, gym layouts, and cable rewatch culture of the era.
About 16 minBill drops assorted production trivia and location facts as a joking research dump.
About 56 minProducer Craig starts skeptical but comes around while offering a theory about 1980s execution versus modern polish.
About 1:12“I want to rent you.”About 24 min
“You shit on my house!”About 32 min
“It is tough enough to be yourself.”About 40 min
“I've seen zombies with more individuality.”About 48 min
“Who’s the dick with ears?”About 48 min
MAKE IT A MOVIE NIGHT
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
Three movies to watch before Can't Buy Me Love, and three to watch next.
ON THE MIC
Bill SimmonsThe RewatchablesREWATCH FAVS
Upvote it for the live listener ranking.
YOUR PROGRESS
Sign in with Google only when you want to save progress. The rest of the site stays public.
KEEP LISTENING
Play the episode directly from the official feed, open it on Spotify, or save it to your private Listen Later playlist.