Can't Buy Me Love (1987)

Amanda Petersen's career could have gone a totally different way.

I don’t know all those “nerd gets the girl” movies of the 80s are all sort of creepy now.

Who would have guessed that Patrick Dempsey would become a TV heartthrob.

I watched this movie so many times.

I guess starlet Amanda Peterson went on to live a hard life.

Devin de Vasquez who played Iris bared her bosoms and showed the good China as a Playboy Playmate.

Petersen looks like Kim Walker from HEATHERS, who also died young.

Dempsey did another one around this time called Loverboy that is also really good. He plays a pizza boy that mistakenly becomes a gigolo. Kirstie Alley, Kate Jackson and Carrie Fisher are in it too.

r8 I also remember that one but it wasn't as good as CBML

I love this movie so much. I've watched it so many times. Takes me back to the late 80s which was a great time (for me).

Damn r5, that's heartbreaking.

If you went to the University of Arizona, you can see the Arizona-Sonora dorms in the background, across the street from the high school where the movie was filmed.

I enjoyed this movie when it came out, mostly because of the dance sequence which I thought was hilarious.

I may not feel the same way about it now.

Where can I watch this movie?

OMG the scene where he thought he was watching American Bandstand, but it was a program on public television showing African dancers. That still cracks me up now.

Which Dempsey movie was it where he was a young teen boy hauled off to court, with a reputation as being hung like a horse. He gets hauled out of the room and brought back with the analysis that he was “average?” I recall laughing a lot at that movie, but don’t remember what it was called.

Cards with the 'tards. Who could beat a night of cards, chips, dips, and dorks?

Still not quite sure how this:

transformed into THIS:

Too bad Amanda isn't around today to reveal names so they would never work again.

I haven't seen it in years, but I remember the scene where the big girl came up to Dempsey at lunch and said, "Didn't you take economics? You could have had me for $49.95!"

Plastic surgery, R17/18.

i always thought Patrick Dempsey was hot.

Was Brett Kavanaugh anywhere near the set?

r17 The whole point was for him to make him over so he could be cool.

...ugh, for HER to make him over.

She truly is a tragedy. She was so beautiful and was such a great actress.

I was a teen actor in the 80s (no I won't tell you what movies I was in) and Dempsey's name was hot hot hot in the biz as the new cool actor back then. For a whole year, it seemed every project I was put up for, the producers were looking for "the next Patrick Dempsey."

Anyway, I knew Amanda Petersen from a job we did and she was so charismatic and pretty. I thought she was going to be crazy-famous. She was another one with a ton of buzz, who just fizzled. Most people didnt know at the time that suffered from pretty severe bi-polar disorder. It was shocking seeing those photos of her.

the african anteater ritual

"Now that ain't Dick Clark!"

Was this movie a hit? I was a teen in the Midwest in 1987 and I’ve heard of this movie but it didn’t seem to make any impression. I’ve also never come across it on cable.

Patrick Dempsey seems like a weird dude. Religious? Abuse survivor? In the few interviews I’ve seen him do he was very awkward and guarded about typically innocuous details about his personal life. Great hair, tho.

I remember at the time thinking how she looked like the ultimate dream girl. She was so cute.

Who would have guessed 80s nerds Patrick Dempsey and Sarah Jessica Parker would evolve into TV sex icons

I wonder how a non-union movie could afford to license a Beatles song

R32 Yoko make good deal.

I think Michael Jackson owned the rights to licensing the Beatles songs then.

R34 he owned the Partial rights not the whole catalogue and then he sold them in the 2000s when he was broke for his "legal fees"

I liked Loverboy much more but loved this too as a kid.

[quote]Plastic surgery, [R17]/18.

On his WHOLE face?!

It wasn't a hit when first released but developed a following later on. It was shown quite a bit on Cable in the late 80s and throughout the 90s. After then, not all that much.

I liked Amanda Peterson and thought she had what it took to become a star. It's too bad how her life ended up.

Another Dempsey fun 80s movie is Meatballs III. DL fave Sally Kellerman plays a GILF porn star who dies on set and has to help get nerdy Dempsey lose his virginity so she can get into heaven.

It's one of those movies that is light entertainment, but won't likely watch a second time of your own accord.

I recall liking it, but have never felt the desire to see it again.

When I watch it, I always think about how hot it must have been filming outside in Tucson.

Funny I just saw this movie a few weeks ago.

And R7 I didn't actually realize they were two different people.

R32 When it was still an indie movie, they hadn't licensed the song yet and it was still named Rent Me. Disney bought the movie and I assumed put up the money to license the song. Then they changed the title to Can't Buy Me Love

There were some scenes like the dance scene at the end that seemed cheaply made like a non-union film

I never saw this when it first came out (when I was a teen), but saw it about ten years later on cable with a bunch of my friends. It was strange, because I was the only one of the group that had never seen it, so I guess it was somewhat popular, but I missed it.

It does bring back memories of when I saw it though, which was on a fun vacation weekend at the beach with a bunch of friends. But we were all drinking and kind of buzzed so my only memories are of the African dance scene.

So awful about her rape. Was it an actor who did it?

Amanda's family gave an interview after she died and said a Hollywood executive raped her and blackmailed her.

I can't beeline Cindy Mancini is dead. 🙁

Amanda Peterson was also in Annie and A Year in the Life TV series with Sarah Jessica Parker.

[quote] Amanda's family gave an interview after she died and said a Hollywood executive raped her and blackmailed her.

They also said she had been clean for 2 years and her death had nothing to do with drugs. Boy were they wrong about that!

I only saw this movie because it was filmed at my high school , albeit three years after I graduated. It didn’t do much for me.

She seemed so broken in that scene at the end with her fight with Patrick Dempsey's character. Similar to the vibe I got from Corey Haim in Lucas.

Even if Dempsey's a grower, I'm not expecting much

Some Girls is so difficult to get hold of on the internet. Amazon doesn't even have it. I guess eBay. Enjoy it more for the nearly forgotten Lance Edwards than Dempsey, but they're both good. Loved Lila Kedrova!

Some Girls made me want to runaway to Quebec City. Though the movie isn't good, it all looked so amazing. Andre Gregory was so daddy hot in this.

I would have liked to have seen Amanda in more 80s movies

Any guesses at the Hollywood executive?

It wasn't exactly a comedy or a drama

It was a hit for a small-budgeted teen flick.

The non-union thing is not a surprise. You wouldn't believe how much union undermining was going in Hollywood - even from so-called democrats.

I think this is better than most of the John Hughes teen movies - it's certainly better than Pretty in Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful. Just a lot of memorable touches like the lawnmower and astronomy stuff. Funny side characters.

Dempsey has had more plastic surgery than just about any man in Hollywood -- a new jaw line, a new chin, a new nose, etc. etc. But unlike most recipients of so much work, his looks excellent. He was either very lucky, or had a very skilled practitioner.

[quote]She seemed so broken in that scene at the end with her fight with Patrick Dempsey's character. Similar to the vibe I got from Corey Haim in Lucas

And, the scene where Ronny Miller was humiliated at the party. Great film, Amanda Peterson was beautiful in this movie.

Peterson wasn't raped on the Can't Buy Me Love set, it was on another set after that.

I was in college when this movie came out, and I can remember that I went to see it in the theater. But I can't remember much about it. Does the movie have a bunch of fart jokes in it? I think that's what I remember about it.

R62, it had one fart joke.

Dempsey almost disappeared in the 90's in a string of forgettable movies and TV spots. Then he did Will & Grace and his career gained steam again.

When Dempsey resurfaced with his new face (nose/cheekbones/jaw), the gossip was that it cost about $100,000 all told.

i always thought he was hot, even as a nerd

R50, did you attend Tucson High or University High.

A 2018 thread that I never saw.

As a point of trivia, about four years after the movie came out, I attended that high school, and lived in the neighborhood in which the characters lived. It was kind of exciting to see a movie take place where I grew up.

I remember streets being closed for filming, but I never got to see any of the stars. Tucson had been famous as a movie location for westerns, but when they died out, not many movies were made there.

Stir Crazy, and The Wraith were made in Tucson when I was just a little, little kid. HAHA!

I remember him being in some quirky movie back in the 90s where he played a mysterious stranger that may or may not have been the Devil, and I was surprised that he'd gone from dorky to smoking hot.

I remember him being in some quirky movie back in the 90s where he played a mysterious stranger that may or may not have been the Devil, and I was surprised that he'd gone from dorky to smoking hot.

Here's another still from the movie, sans glasses and hair on forehead- he's cute:

I loved his wavy hair.

Trying to make him into an action star with RUN(1991).

I guess they were aiming for a Keanu/Speed type of success. Yes I know it's a non sequitur.

One of my first crushes as a gayling in the 80s. I still go for those types of skinny nerds with imperfect faces.

During the last hour (or finale) of Can’t Buy Me Love, Dempsey just got hotter and hotter...no wonder Cindy Mancini fell for him. Dempsey even looks hot wearing the black cowboy hat at the end of the movie.

I loved Run. Another movie that practically no one remembers. I don't think it's ever been released on DVD.

[quote] [R34] he owned the Partial rights not the whole catalogue and then he sold them in the 2000s when he was broke for his "legal fees"

1985: ATV Music, having been acquired by Robert Holmes a Court, was put up for sale. Michael Jackson, who had famously been told about the value of publishing by McCartney during the sessions for their 1982 collaboration "Say, Say, Say," purchased ATV's 4,000-song catalog for $47.5 million, becoming the owner of the approximately 250 Lennon-McCartney songs, as well as tracks by Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley and more. McCartney, to say the least, was not pleased.

1995: Amid reported financial issues, Jackson sold half of ATV to Sony for approximately $100 million, and together the two formed Sony/ATV Music Publishing, with Jackson and Sony each owning 50 percent of the company.

2006: With financial problems mounting and a potential bankruptcy appearing imminent, Sony negotiated a deal on Jackson's behalf to reduce loan payments on his debts, and as part of the negotiations, retained an option to purchase 50 percent of Jackson's 50 percent ownership in the future, which would give Sony 75 percent ownership of the catalog. According to the New York Times, the catalog was valued at the time around $1 billion, and if Jackson had gone bankrupt, his share of the company could have gone to auction in the proceedings that followed.

2009: Following Jackson's sudden death at the age of 50, his share of the catalog came under the control of his estate, run by Jackson's attorney John Branca and industry veteran John McClain.

2016: After announcing their intention to trigger their purchase option of Jackson's stake in the company, Sony officially agreed to buy out the Jackson estate's full 50 percent of Sony/ATV for $750 million, making Sony the sole owner of the Lennon-McCartney catalog as well as Sony/ATV's 750,000 songs.

2018?: McCartney's lawsuit this week was filed with an eye on the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, which allowed songwriters to retain the publishers' share of their copyrighted works released before 1978 after a 56-year period (comprised of two 28-year terms); for the earliest Beatles songs, that term will be up in 2018, with the later songs eligible by 2026. That reversion back to McCartney is not assured, however; Duran Duran lost a similar suit against Sony in December.

You can see at least four SAG members in the background holding "PICKETING" signs at the beginning of the movie when Cindy Mancini is leading the cheerleaders on the school campus, because of the movie's non-union status.

If they made it today, it would star a mixed race girl in Cindi, a Latino guy as Patrick D., and a trans man as the sidekick.

Aren’t SAG actors not allowed to do non-union movies and aren’t non-union movies (and commercials) sort of for the ghetto actors who can’t get anywhere? Both Amanda and Patrick had amassed a lot of credits by then I’m just surprised. (And non-union Pay is a joke too)

She did her mom a favor destroying that outfit. Mom was clearly a whore!

Dempsey had to have already been a SAG member by this point. I doubt he scabbed or SAG would have thrown his ass out! Perhaps the extras were non-union? The extras used to have their own union but it was wholly mismanaged, so they begged to be allowed to go back to being represented by SAG, who agreed. Their bargaining power was so screwed by then that they have never had total clout like principal performers and they still struggle to have all extras on a a set in LA be 100% union members. Only a certain number of them are and the rest are non-union.

It's worse in other cities which are separate jurisdictions, especially in Georgia and all those shitty Right-to-Work for less states.

R85 that makes a lot more sense if it was just the extras. I highly doubt any of the principal players weren’t SAG.

Playboy Playmate Devin Devasquez, who played Iris, was secretly dating Prince at the time and he flew her around the world during his Purple Rain tour.

She escorted his Dad to the Purple Rain premiere.

Dempsey was dating actress/acting coach Rocky Parker at the time of filming. They got married when he was 21 and she was 47. I remember it being a big deal because she was the mother of his friend Corey Parker who did quite a bit of acting in the late 80s and 90s.

Dempsey made the wise choice to go by his stepfather's last name professionally and not his biological father's last name Schlossnagle.

It's available on HBO Max

I'm barely getting around to watching these 80's films. Watched this movie a few weeks ago and Working Girl and Big a few months back on the HBO app. An ex bf that was white would ask me, why didn't I watch them movies in the 80's. I'm thinking growing up we could barely afford food in the house. Let alone cable and VCR s. Good movies tho. Patrick Dempsey had a high energy and alluring sensibility.

This movie wasn't as publicized or successful as Fast Times at Ridgemont High or anything by John Hughes, but everyone around at that time seems to remember it.

Holy shit, R88. I don't recall that.

OMG...HOW???

OMG...HOW???

She managed to keep him for ten years; they were married for six of those years.

Dempsey with his former stepson.

Whatever department was non-union, I doubt they would have been able to complete the film if they shot it in LA.

Lord! Do yourselves a favor and google Rocky Parker now. I'd link but don't want to. Imagine the two of them together now.

I just watched this. Patrick Dempsey was always sexy and I found this film had to suspend my disbelief to believe he really be considered an unpopular nerd in that high school. His character was charming and very hot prior to the makeover which just involved taking away his glasses, some hair product and a new wardrobe.

R15 it was called “In the Mood”

[quote]His character was charming and very hot prior to the makeover which just involved taking away his glasses, some hair product and a new wardrobe.

Welcome to every female character makeover in film ever

Some good side by side comparison shots of now vs. then Tucson locations used in the movie.

Is flowing wells still a shitty high school. Amanda’s sister adopted Amanda’s oldest daughter and raised her.

What surprised me was Seth Green as the obnoxious little brother. On par with Corey Haim in Secret Admirer and that other one in Better Off Dead. Seth is recognizable even as a preteen and was even small for his height then.

Also "Rico Suave" Geraldo as one of the dumb popular jocks

Gerardo rocking the midriff

I get Amanda Peterson mixed up with Lori Singer

r104 When I saw Buffy I recognised Seth Green from Woody Allen's Radio Days

R107 She looks more like Kim Walker to me from Heathers and that Outsiders TV show. Both were beautiful.

I used to get Elizabeth Shue and Peterson mixed up

Amanda Peterson looked nothing like Lori Singer. Maybe you're confusing her with Amanda Peet.

Lori Singer and Daryl Hannah

Doppelgangers?

It's nice the film was set in Tucson. So many movies are either set in NYC or Southern CA and if they want a third option Chicago or San Francisco. So it's cool to see other states get represented once in a while.

I never knew this about Lori Singer:

[quote]Singer was a musical prodigy, making her debut as a cellist with the Oregon Symphony at thirteen, and was subsequently accepted to the Juilliard School, where she became the institution's youngest graduate.

[quote]Welcome to every female character makeover in film ever.

Eva Grubb-Ginger Grant

[quote]R82 If they made it today, it would star a mixed race girl in Cindi, a Latino guy as Patrick D., and a trans man as the sidekick.

And...?

Why would that upset you?

Another thing I like about this movie is that it has like three endings. It rea;;y gives you your money's worth.

I liked Patrick pre plastic surgery so much more than post. I remember seeing him after the nose job and being disappointed. He removed all the character from his face. I am sure it did wonders for his bank account, but I still think he would have been successful without going that route.

[quote] I think Michael Jackson owned the rights to licensing the Beatles songs then.

[quote] [R34] he owned the Partial rights not the whole catalogue and then he sold them in the 2000s when he was broke for his "legal fees"

1985: ATV Music, having been acquired by Robert Holmes a Court, was put up for sale. Michael Jackson, who had famously been told about the value of publishing by McCartney during the sessions for their 1982 collaboration "Say, Say, Say," purchased ATV's 4,000-song catalog for $47.5 million, becoming the owner of the approximately 250 Lennon-McCartney songs, as well as tracks by Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley and more. McCartney, to say the least, was not pleased.

1995: Amid reported financial issues, Jackson sold half of ATV to Sony for approximately $100 million, and together the two formed Sony/ATV Music Publishing, with Jackson and Sony each owning 50 percent of the company.

2006: With financial problems mounting and a potential bankruptcy appearing imminent, Sony negotiated a deal on Jackson's behalf to reduce loan payments on his debts, and as part of the negotiations, retained an option to purchase 50 percent of Jackson's 50 percent ownership in the future, which would give Sony 75 percent ownership of the catalog. According to the New York Times, the catalog was valued at the time around $1 billion, and if Jackson had gone bankrupt, his share of the company could have gone to auction in the proceedings that followed.

2009: Following Jackson's sudden death at the age of 50, his share of the catalog came under the control of his estate, run by Jackson's attorney John Branca and industry veteran John McClain.

2016: After announcing their intention to trigger their purchase option of Jackson's stake in the company, Sony officially agreed to buy out the Jackson estate's full 50 percent of Sony/ATV for $750 million, making Sony the sole owner of the Lennon-McCartney catalog as well as Sony/ATV's 750,000 songs.

2018?: McCartney's lawsuit this week was filed with an eye on the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, which allowed songwriters to retain the publishers' share of their copyrighted works released before 1978 after a 56-year period (comprised of two 28-year terms); for the earliest Beatles songs, that term will be up in 2018, with the later songs eligible by 2026. That reversion back to McCartney is not assured, however; Duran Duran lost a similar suit against Sony in December.

***One additional note about Lennon's side of the issue: A provision of that law states that if the songwriter were to die within the first 28-year period, the writer's heirs would be eligible to recapture that publishing share at the end of that first period, which in the Beatles' case would be 1990. Lennon died in 1980, and sources told Billboard in 2009 that Sony cut a deal with his wife Yoko Ono prior to the expiration of that period to retain ownership of Lennon's share for the duration of the copyright period, which covers the 70 years after the owner's death; in this case, 2050.

Patrick was much better looking before the nose job.

Didn't realize until much later that was Seth Green playing his younger brother. Saw it in the theater when it came out, enjoyed it because I was a teen.

Some Girls was amazing to my little gayling self because I'd never seen a teen actor do full frontal. And Dempsey is naked quite a bit in that film and has a nice tight little body.

I also thought the house was cool.

Did they dub over Rico Suave's voice or was he just doing a bland accent? In a CBML Q&A from a few years back, he had a thick Latino accent. Or maybe the Latino accent was a put-on?