A Seattle high-school graduate with no apparent future, tired and for most part abandoned Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) sets his sights on the lovely Diane Court (Ione Skye), the class valedictorian, whom he had a chance encounter with at the town mall. After numerous valiant attempts and apparent successes, the two fall in love; however, while Lloyd is head over heels, Diane seems hesitant to maintain their relationship considering her recent fellowship at an acclaimed university and her father's trouble with the Internal Revenue Service. The romance between Cusack's Lloyd and Skye's Diane, although seemingly coming from out of nowhere, is still palpable and, as far as teen romance is concerned, very believable, and writer-director Cameron Crowe's bizarre and motor-mouthed dialogue perfectly suits the character of Lloydl; however, most of the scenes are stolen by John Cusack in what likely is his best performance to date; he fumbles over his words to accentuate the attitude of his character, and there are other moments when Cusack suddenly becomes the ultimate hero, even more involving than Rocky Balboa or Luke Skywalker at times; through the climax of the film it seems impossible not to root for Cusack, particularly the iconic scene forever cemented in teen movie history in which Lloyd stands outside of Diane's house next to his car, holding a boom box over his head and blasting Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" with a look of desperate heartache and lost pride on his face. An iconic date movie.
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