A teenage boy named Ronnie Miller is quite unpopular amongst his peers. He has a few loyal friends, though.

As he is going into his senior year of high school, he is mowing lawns to save up money for a telescope. He has a kind, supportive father, who roots for his wishes. But he also has an unkind and sneaky little brother called Chuck. His mother is more in between.

Anyway, Ronnie has some feelings for this popular girl, Cindy Mancini, who is also on the cheerleading squad at school. When Cindy accidentally stains her mom’s outfit at a Labor Day party, she is unable to afford a replacement.

However, Ronnie pays $1000 for her. Technically, he’s helping her get a new outfit for her mom—especially since she borrowed it without her mother’s permission. But he says that he’s paying her to act as his girlfriend for a month. After some hesitation, though, Cindy agrees.

She and Ronnie have good times together. They even go to places that are off-limits to the public without getting caught.

Once that time is up, though, Ronnie and Cindy have a pretend argument to “break up.” But they do it at school, and all the other students are watching.

Cindy’s friends, Barbara and Patty, praise her for slapping Ronnie. But Cindy is actually in a relationship with this college guy, Bobby. And she has been for a while, even when “dating” Ronnie.

At some point, Ronnie becomes infatuated with Patty. After watching a cultural dance on an African TV show, Ronnie and Patty have everyone imitate it at a school event.

When it is Halloween, Kenneth begs Ronnie to throw dog feces at a neighbor’s home. They get caught, but don’t get arrested.

But when New Year’s Eve occurs, big surprises negatively affect Ronnie. While at a party, Bobby breaks up with Cindy, assuming that she cheated on him. Heartbroken and drunk, Cindy announces that Ronnie paid her to pretend to be his girlfriend. This prompts everyone to turn on him.

But can Ronnie fix his reputation before he graduates from high school?

Regardless of how this movie had mixed reviews, I ended up enjoying it. This film is specifically a romantic comedy, and I laughed at times.

The part where Ronnie and Kenneth threw the dog waste was gross, though. I covered that part up.

But note that this movie is rated PG-13 for swearing, substance use, and a little bit of explicit intimacy. It also depicts teenagers quite accurately, even if a good number of the actors were older.

For instance, Patrick Dempsey, who played Ronnie, was in his early 20s when this movie was shot. Yet that’s normal in films.

However, the actress who portrayed Cindy, Amanda Peterson, was in her teens. Even though teenage characters often get played by actors in their 20s and 30s, I appreciate it when they’re depicted by actual teenagers. It adds authenticity, thus making them more credible and relatable to real people that age.

Although I didn’t exist in the 1980s, I admired how the characters behaved and looked based on that time. Many of them have large hairstyles, especially curly hair. That taught me a lot about that decade, even though I already knew that.

The concept of the story was unique. Rather than having the male and female actually fall in love, they pretended.

The points of view between Ronnie and Cindy were around the same number. But it was still clear that Ronnie was the main character.

Yet getting a lot of moments from Cindy’s perspective made me feel more empathetic toward her—particularly when she angrily announced that Ronnie had paid her to “love” him.

Despite the strengths, though, I will admit that some parts didn’t have enough tension. That made me a bit bored at times. Yet that didn’t ruin the movie for me.

Overall, I liked Can’t Buy Me Love. It was a good watch with a high emphasis on 80s teenagers and their lives.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.