Ronald Miller is a typical high school nerd living in suburban Tucson, Arizona. He has spent all summer mowing lawns to save up for a telescope. At an opportune moment, he makes a deal with next-door neighbor and popular cheerleader Cindy Mancini. Cindy had borrowed her mother's expensive suede outfit without permission, to wear to a party, only to have wine accidentally spilled on it. Cindy reluctantly agrees to help Ronald look "cool" by posing as his girlfriend for a month for $1000, although she already has a boyfriend named Bobby who is attending the University of Iowa. Ronald then trades his nerdy, yet loyal, friends for the popular, but shallow students, and undergoes a complete clothing and hair makeover under Cindy's direction. Over time, a bond develops between the two. Cindy has Ronald read a secret poem she wrote that means a great deal to her. In turn, Ronald reveals his interests in astronomy and space travel. On their last date which Ronald "paid" for, Cindy begins to have real feelings for him and hints that she would like to kiss him, but he misunderstands. The next day at school, they stage a "breakup" in front of a crowd, but Ronald takes things too far and says some hurtful things about Cindy in front of her friends. Cindy remains calm and distant, but informs Ronald that popularity is hard work, it felt like a job sometimes about impressing about people and that he needs to make sure that he "stays himself." The next day, Cindy notices Ronald behaving arrogantly at school, and becomes jealous when she sees him flirting with her best friends Barbara and Patty, further indicating her feelings for Ronald. Ronald takes Patty to a dance at school, where he performs a dance he learned from an African cultural show on public television. At first, the other kids are mystified, but they soon join in, and Ronald's new "trendy" dancing further increases his popularity. On Halloween night, Ronald and some jocks drive to the house of Kenneth, Ronald's best friend, where the jocks test his loyalty by coercing him to hurl dog feces at Kenneth's house. Kenneth is lying in wait and catches Ronald, but lets him go before his dad can call the police. Kenneth ignores Ronald the next day at school. At a New Year's Eve party at Big John's house, Ronald starts drinking and has a romantic tryst with his date, Iris, in the bathroom. Cindy walks by and hears Ronald reciting her special poem to Iris. Devastated, Cindy starts drinking even more. Later, Cindy's boyfriend Bobby unexpectedly shows up at the party. After Bobby learns about Cindy's "relationship" with Ronald, he breaks up with her. Cindy tries to explain the situation that Ronald paid her to pretend they were dating, but Bobby doesn't believe her and still walks out on her. In a drunken rage, Cindy reveals the truth about her and Ronald to the party-goers, and Ronald is immediately ostracized. Dejected, Ronald leaves and spends the night in his garage crying himself to sleep. When school resumes, he finds himself a social outcast, by both the jocks and the nerds. His attempts to reconcile with both Cindy and Kenneth are rebuffed. However, Ronald gets an opportunity to redeem himself at lunch when he sees Quint bullying Kenneth after noticing Kenneth helping Patty with her math homework. Quint threatens Kenneth with physical violence if Kenneth doesn't go back to "his side of the cafeteria." Ronald intervenes, threatening to break Quint's pitching arm if he does not leave Kenneth alone. Ronald points out that the three were all friends at one time: when they were nine, Quint fell out of their treehouse and broke his arm and Kenneth and Ronald carried him twelve blocks to the hospital. Ronald confesses he was desperate to run with the popular crowd but had messed up by trying to buy his way in. Ronald goes on to say that the clique dynamic is "all bullshit" and that it's tough enough just being yourself, and walks away. Quint apologizes to Kenneth and the two shake hands as the whole school applauds. Ronald officially redeem himself with his friends and Cindy. Following the incident, Cindy recognizes Ronald's worth and chooses to spend an evening with him rather than hanging out with her friends, hopping on the back of his riding lawnmower. Ronald then asks Cindy to prom, and the two kiss for the first time, as the Beatles title song plays. The newly-formed couple then ride off into the sunset on the lawnmower.
Can't Buy Me Love received mixed reviews from critics. Caryn James, in The New York Times, wrote that the film missed its mark and traded its potential originality for a bid at popularity: Roger Ebert gave the film a half star out of a possible 4: Rotten Tomatoes has a rating of 48% based on 23 critics. In 2006, it ranked number 41 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.
Awards
Young Artist Award
Won: Best Young Actor in a Motion Picture—Comedy, Patrick Dempsey
Nominated: Best Young Actress in a Motion Picture—Comedy, Amanda Peterson
Nominated: Best Young Actress in a Motion Picture—Comedy, Tina Caspary
In 2013 Intrada Records released Robert Folk's complete score for the film on a limited edition CD paired with David Newman's work for Paradise.
Remake
In 2003, Can't Buy Me Love was remade as Love Don't Cost a Thing starring Nick Cannon and Christina Milian. Though the triggering event differs between the two films, many of the aspects/scenes from the original film are reinterpreted in this remake, such as the eating of raw egg in the Home Economics classroom, as well as the cheerleader telling the bully that he is sitting in the wrong section in the cafeteria that he needs to sit in the "asshole section" of the cafeteria.
