Can't Buy Me Love (1987)

A nerdy outcast secretly pays the most popular girl in school one thousand dollars to be his girlfriend.

Director:

Steve Rash

Writer:

Michael Swerdlick

Stars:

Patrick Dempsey, Amanda Peterson, Courtney Gains

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick Dempsey	...	Ronald Miller
Amanda Peterson	...	Cindy Mancini
Courtney Gains	...	Kenneth Wurman
Tina Caspary	...	Barbara
Seth Green	...	Chuckie Miller
Sharon Farrell	...	Mrs. Mancini
Darcy DeMoss	...	Patty
Dennis Dugan	...	David Miller
Cloyce Morrow	...	Judy Miller
Devin DeVasquez	...	Iris
Cort McCown	...	Quint
Eric Bruskotter	...	Big John
Gerardo Mejía	...	Ricky
Ami Dolenz	...	Fran
Max Perlich	...	Lester

Storyline

Ronald Miller is tired of being a nerd, and makes a deal with one of the most popular girls in school to help him break into the "cool" clic. He offers her a thousand dollars to pretend to be his girlfriend for a month. It succeeds, but he soon learns that the price of popularity may be higher than he expected.

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Plot Keywords:

popularity | money | poker game | cheerleader | nerd | 

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Taglines:

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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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 August 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Boy Rents Girl

Filming Locations:

3050 N Hill Farm Drive, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$31,623,833 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Apollo Pictures, Silver Screen Partners III, The Mount Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Patrick Dempsey, now a car collector and race driver, used all of his salary from the movie paying for his first car, a 1963 356 Porsche convertible.

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Goofs

The license plate on Cindy Mancini's car disappears and reappears.

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Quotes

Patty: Didn't you like, used to mow our lawn?
Ronald Miller: Yes, and you have the nicest pair of rhododendrons in town!
Patty: Rhodo-who's?
Cindy Mancini: Guys, I'll see you in home ec, OK?
Barbara: What did he say?
Patty: I don't care! Dig on his shirt...

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Connections

Referenced in Parks and Recreation: Road Trip (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Can't Buy Me Love"
Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Performed by The Beatles
Courtesy of Capitol Records, Inc.

User Reviews

great 80's teen movie!

This is the best "wannabe popular" teen movie I've seen. Yes it's old, only a year after I was born, but it's still way cool to see the awful trends of the 80's :) It's about the typical "geek" wanting to be the "popluar" kid, who takes extreme measures to achieve his goal. It's not anything anyone hasn't seen before. Geek wants the girl, geek gets popular, geek drops his true friends, becomes a geek again, although the ending is really good! It's just so much fun to watch an 80's teen movie, there so great! It's also fun to see stars in earlier films. Who doesn't want to see Seth Green as a bratty younger brother? Good movie, watch it!