The basis for the story is simple enough. In his desire to become popular, "Nowhere Man" Ronald Miller (portrayed very convincingly by Patrick Dempsey - Grey's Anatomy) decides to rent the most popular girl in his high school, the beautiful head cheerleader, Cindy Mancini (played superbly by the lovely and talented actress, Amanda Peterson - A Year In The Life), after a suede outfit which she borrowed from her Mother without permission, is ruined when it is stained with red wine; and Cindy needs to quickly come up with $1000 so that she can replace the outfit without her Mother ever finding out that it was ruined.

Fran (Left), Played By Actress Ami Dolenz (Daughter Of "The Monkees" Mickey Dolenz), Looks On In Horror As Cindy's Suede Outfit Is Ruined By A Careless Party Goer Named Quint (Played By Actor Cort McCown)

On the following day, while Cindy is heading to the Moda boutique which her Mother purchased the damaged garment from, in an attempt to exchange it for a replacement outfit, Ronald happens to be across the mall at another establishment, in the process of purchasing a telescope that he has worked all summer mowing lawns, to buy.

As luck would have it, as he is looking through the lens of the telescope Ronald spots Cindy heading through the mall on her way to the store, and decides to forego the purchase of the telescope, and to instead tell Cindy about his idea to rent her in order to become popular.

When Ronald arrives at Moda, Cindy is unsuccessfully attempting to exchange her Mother's damaged suede outfit for a new one, when Ronald (standing outside the store) taps on the store's display window, while flashing $100 bills in an attempt to attract Cindy's attention.

Cindy turns to see what the commotion is all about, as Ronald enters Moda, and with what can only be described as tremendous exuberance, tells Cindy how he wants to rent her.

As Cindy looks on doubtfully, Ronald explains his plan to her regarding his intent to have Cindy's popularity rub off on him, simply by associating with her for a few weeks. He confides in her by saying that once he has done so, he truly believes that he'll be able to join the "cool" click of students who've managed to evade him since they'd all entered junior high school.

Cindy's hilarious response to Ronald's absurd request is that she thinks that he's mowed too many lawns!

However, when Ronald starts to leave and Cindy faces the prospect of having to tell her Mother that she's ruined an outfit that she was told not to wear, and the possible severe grounding that might come with it, she calls to him as he is leaving the store, deciding to take him up on his ludicrous offer after all.

Forming a verbal contract, the two eventually agree to go through with Ronald's plan for one month, and begin their charade on the first day of their senior year in high school.

Along the way, Ronald's best friend, Kenneth (played very convincingly by actor Courtney Gains), attempts to remain friends with Ronald as he negotiates the landmine set before him, in his intent to convince Cindy's clique that he really is her boyfriend, and as such worthy of their admiration.

Kenneth would prove to be one of the most likeable characters in this movie, espousing the rare virtue of a true friend, whose high moral character enables him to ultimately forgive Ronald for the many indiscretions that he commits, while on his journey from nerd to Mr. popularity, and then ultimately on to the real person who exists somewhere between the two.

However, in spite of Kenneth's compassion for Ronald, Ronald becomes so obsessed with being popular that he is willing to do nearly anything to become so, including temporarily discarding his friendship with Kenneth, as well as the rest of his old friends, in the interest of becoming part of the cool crowd.

As such, using his innate charm and the "new look" which Cindy has fashioned for him, Ronald quickly succeeds in ingratiating himself with Cindy's clique, and within weeks of creating his faux relationship with Cindy, he becomes the most popular guy in school.

However, and unfortunately, during this time Ronald also begins to assimilate many of the negative aspects of being popular as quickly as he can acquire them, as he becomes mesmerized by his newly found popularity, while in the process beginning to lose his real identity.

Yet, with the beautiful and charming Cindy as his new sidekick, Ronald is about to have quite a bit of fun as he traverses the path from "nerdsville" to "coolville," before receiving a painful lesson in life that he was not expecting, yet which will serve him well in the years to come.

One of the great things about "Can't Buy Me Love" is that it's an extremely fast paced movie with very short scenes, that literally keep you on the edge of your seat from the time that the movie begins until the time it ends.

Moreover, while during the beginning of the first day of their faux relationship we find Cindy attempting to do as little as possible to honor their "rental agreement," something interesting starts to happen.

When they meet at school to discuss this rental contract, Cindy tells Ronald how there will be no hand holding or kissing, and how she wants her lunch hour off.

She even tries to renege on their month long agreement, instead attempting to reduce it to one week. However, Ronald quickly counters with how he mowed hundreds of lawns for her and needs more return on his investment.

The following scene is filmed in front of the main building at Tucson High School, which was constructed in 1924. The façade of this building has been completely redone over the years in keeping with the rest of the buildings on this campus. And there is now an elevated glass enclosed walkway at the back of this building, which connects to the Technological Sciences & Fine Arts Building that was completed in 1996.

The Technological Sciences & Fine Arts Building was constructed over the ground which served as the athletic field for the school, when Can't Buy Me Love was being filmed back in 1987. This is where we see Cindy Mancini (Actress Amanda Peterson) holding cheerleading practice in the early part of "Can't Buy Me Love."

You can see all of the dirt on the brick wall next to where Cindy and Ronald are standing, as well as mounds of dirt just behind the wall. This was a result of the construction of Badger Football Field, which was built during the time that Can't Buy Me Love was being filmed.

So after a terse yet tense negotiation, the two agree to have four lunches together during the first week of their month long contract.

However, at this point, Cindy decides that if she is going to go through with this contract and help Ronald in his quest to become popular, that she must first work on giving him a complete makeover.

The "new look" for Ronald can be seen in the following photo.

Ronald is quick to cash in on his $1000 investment by convincing Cindy to have lunch with him on the first day of their rental contract.

The building scene in the area to the right, just behind where Cindy and Ronald are sitting, contained the gymnasium that the Columbus Day dance scene for Can't Buy Me Love was filmed in. The one where Ronald does he famous "African Ant Eater Dance," which was choreographed by a young Paula Abdul. The tennis courts which appear in this photo were demolished after this movie was made, in order to make room for another building, which was eventually erected next to the gymnasium. Together the two buildings comprise a new and larger gymnasium.

Later, new tennis courts were constructed behind these buildings.

Cindy: "I know that lunch was part of our deal, but I didn't think that it meant the same table."

Ronald: "Well, I thought it would be a little bit more believable."

Cindy: "Yes I guess you're right. Anyway, you did treat."

By the time lunch period arrives, Ronald has convinced Cindy that their relationship would be more believable if they were actually seen having lunch together.

Cindy relents since Ronald decides to treat her to lunch.

Moreover, not only does she defend Ronald when an obnoxious jock named Quint comes over to intimidate him into leaving the table which is reserved for the "cool" clique, but Cindy also initiates a conversation between Ronald and some of her closest friends, once they are seated at this table.

In spite of his successful foray at the "cool" table with Cindy's in crowd, Ronald's anxiety prevents him from eating lunch.

So on their way home from school, Cindy takes Ronald to a pizza parlor that she usually stops at each afternoon, so that Ronald can finally get something to eat.

While they're waiting for their pizza, Cindy asks Ronald why he did not eat lunch, to which he replies how he just gets nervous when he is around her friends.

As their pizza arrives, three of Cindy's jock friends: John (actor Eric Bruskotter), Ricky (actor Gerardo Mejia), and Quint (actor Cort McCown), show up at the pizzeria, as Cindy suggests that Ronald take the opportunity to bond with them by inviting them to join he and Cindy for pizza.

Ronald thinks this is a good idea, and goes over to the table that the three have seated themselves at, in order to invite them to lunch.

Instead, they come over to the table, rudely help themselves to the entire pizza and then leave Ronald and Cindy sitting by themselves.

Cindy notices the frustration on Ronald's face when this happens, and reaches over to stroke his arm to comfort him.

This is the first time that we actually see Cindy starting to have some genuine feelings for Ronald.

Moreover, by the time Saturday night rolls around, Ronald has also managed to convince Cindy to allow him to accompany her to a party which is thrown by one of the jocks who was at the pizzeria; a good natured guy named John Richman (played by actor Eric Bruskotter).

However, when Ronald shows up at Cindy's house without a car, Cindy chastises him, saying how "she is usually picked up in some form of mechanized transportation."

Ronald senses that Cindy is upset that her boyfriend, Bobby (played by actor George Gray), has not called her, and even though she is annoyed at him for bringing the subject up, quickly forgives him when Ronald tells Cindy that while Bobby was a star football player at their high school, he is now just a freshman at college trying to survive. And that he is sure that even though Bobby has not called her, he is still thinking about her.

Cindy then apologizes to Ronald and they drive over to John's house in Cindy's VW cabriolet.

Once at John's, Cindy begins to notice how her friends are starting to take to Ronald, and soon begins to enjoy this charade as she puts her arm around him, and with a mischievous grin, says: "people are starting to buy this."

The audience gets the definite impression here that in less than a week from initiating their rental contract, the nerdy guy and the beautiful cheerleader have not only become partners in this deception, but that Cindy in particular is actually starting to have some fun in taking part in it.

The situation also allows them to now pose at school as a couple, which makes their relationship even more believable.

As an example of this, as they begin the second week of their rental agreement, we see the two of them entering the front of the school building on Monday morning, with Cindy asking Ronald if he wants a ride home at the end of the day, and Ronald saying "yes please," indicating how the two are suddenly starting to function as a couple.

As the next few days pass, Cindy suddenly finds herself starting to really enjoy being around Ronald, who is eager to please her. Moreover, since Cindy has helped to fashion his new look with a different hairstyle and wardrobe, in the interest of fulfilling her contract by helping him to attain his version of the Holy Grail (being part of the cool crowd), she also finds herself becoming physically attracted to Ronald in a way that she never had before.

Simply put, with Cindy's fashion sense, Ronald no longer looks like a nerd, but instead like one of her clique.

Moreover, not only does Cindy find him to be attractive, but also witty and intelligent, down to earth, and displaying a sincerity which she finds irresistible, since Ronald's genuineness affords Cindy something that neither Bobby nor the rest of her shallow entourage ever did.

The ability to be who she really is when she is with him.

Unafraid to reveal things to Ronald about herself that she would never tell to Bobby or her cliquish friends for fear of being considered uncool.

Cindy even starts driving Ronald to school everyday in her neat little VW convertible, since they live near *each other. This carpooling also enables the two of them to spend more time together, which only serves to draw them closer.

* We know that Cindy must live near Ronald because he has been mowing the Mancini's lawn for the past five years, so in order to ride his tractor to Cindy's home, she must live close to his own.

The high school scenes in Can't Buy Me Love were shot at Tucson High School, which is today called Tucson Magnet High School. The school has undergone many changes since Can't Buy Me Love was filmed there in 1987. The following photo is where the old parking lot was. To the North of this parking lot is where the old football field was, and where the scene in which Cindy is leading her cheerleading squad takes place; with Ronald sitting nearby on his bike watching Cindy through a fence.

There is now an *inverted L shaped building where the old football field was and where Cindy is parking her car in the photo below. This facility is called the "Tucson Magnet High School Technical Sciences And Fine Arts Building."

The building that her car faces is called the "V Building" and is one of the oldest on campus. This building has fallen into decay and is no longer in use. Some students who were able to gain access to it posted the following video of the building on YouTube, claiming that it is haunted. The "V Building" is normally locked so that students cannot gain access to it. I believe that it is the only one of the older buildings on this campus that has not been renovated since 1987. There have also been several new buildings constructed during this time.

*In fact, the area where Cindy is parking her VW is just pavement which sits between where the new building is, and the cafeteria (where two scenes of Can't Buy Me Love were filmed) which is situated just to the west of this building.

Badger Football Stadium was under construction while Can't Buy Me Love was being filmed, and was completed by late 1987.

One afternoon when Cindy gives Ronald a ride home from school, he decides to wash her car for her. To which she replies: "You know, when I offered you a ride home it wasn't to get you to wash my car." However, Ronald says that he's actually enjoying it - even though he doesn't tell Cindy the real reason why - the fact that he gets to spend more time with the girl he has had a crush on since junior high school.

At this point Cindy tells Ronald how she admires him for being a hard worker, to which Ronald replies that cheerleading is hard work too.

Cindy then says that aside from cheerleading, she does not do much else but shop and hangout. Ronald answers her by saying that he believes that she can do anything she puts her mind to.

We find that Cindy is used to people liking her because she is popular and beautiful, not because she has talent.

So when Ronald shows confidence in her, Cindy goes into her house and emerges with a short but beautiful poem that she wrote, which means a great deal to her, yet has never shared with anyone before.

Cindy hands the poem to Ronald and then nervously looks on as he reads it. Ronald then describes how beautiful he thinks her poem is, and tells Cindy that she is talented.

From this moment on, Cindy begins to start caring deeply for Ronald.

Moreover, when one reads the content of Cindy's poem (listed below), we must wonder that if by allowing him to be the first person to read her poem, what Cindy is actually doing is hinting to Ronald that she wants him to be the person whom she has written about. The person whom she wants to spend the rest of her life with.

Here we find Cindy almost becoming childlike in her sudden adoration of Ronald, as though she has finally found that special someone whom she has been searching for.

This is further illustrated as Cindy responds to Ronald's compliment, by mischievously spraying him with the hose she's using to wash her car, while the two then playfully chase each other around Cindy's car.

This special bond between them continues to flourish, and even though their relationship becomes derailed for a time due to Ronald's poor judgment, it is this special connection between the two which eventually brings them back to each other.

One of the most wonderful aspects of this classic romantic comedy is just how beautiful composer Robert Folk's musical score is. And the music is always just perfect during those tender moments between Cindy and Ronald.

Someone recently uploaded the musical score to Can't Buy Me Love on the Internet, so I have embedded it here so that you can listen to it as you read through this tribute page to this wonderful homage to teenhood.

Over the next few weeks of their contractual "month long" relationship, Cindy continues in her giddiness, finding herself spending more and more time with Ronald, as her friends take to him as one of their own; also admiring how genuinely likeable he really is.

In reality, we find that Cindy and Ronald have now become each others best friend, with Cindy mentoring Ronald in regard to becoming popular, and Ronald educating Cindy in regard to how to become more in touch with her own feelings, and discovering the inner and wonderful person whom she really is; the young woman whom Ronald has secretly been in love with for quite sometime.

Moreover, we get the sense that during the month that they spend together as the result of their contractual arrangement, that Cindy and Ronald have spent quite a bit of time bonding with each other, by doing things that they both enjoy. For instance, Cindy taking Ronald on shopping sprees with her, where at one point she buys him an expensive pair of new sunglasses, while at other times the two take long bike rides together; a sport that they both seem to enjoy.

We learn of this one day when they arrive in the school parking lot in Cindy's car and Ronald can be heard saying how driving to school certainly beats having to cycle there. To which Cindy replies that they are going bike riding later in the day.

This conversation is barely audible (even the original script does not list this dialogue), however, if you listen closely you can hear Ronald commenting about how driving to school beats bike riding (his main mode of transportation since he does not own a car of his own), and Cindy's answering him by saying, "yes, but we're going bike riding later."

The two appear to be having a wonderful time together just being themselves, and we can see that a special friendship is developing between the two as the prelude to eventually falling in love with one another.

However, as the situation develops, Ronald starts to become insecure in regard to his newly found popularity, which he fears he may lose at anytime.

Moreover, as he now finds himself in uncharted territory, Ronald does not know exactly how to deal with this newly found popularity, and begins to lose his own identity in the process, which causes both Cindy and himself much unnecessary pain.

We see this towards the end of their last contractual date, which takes place at one of Ronald's favorite hangouts. A field at a military base in Tucson which houses the remains of many aircraft recovered from World War II - known to local residents as the "airplane graveyard."

The following are a few pictures from their last official contractual date at this "airplane graveyard" in Tucson Arizona.

While Cindy and Ronald are sitting in her car gazing at the moon, Cindy remarks how it's no longer as mysterious. Ronald states that he is sorry that he ruined the experience for her, however, what Cindy is doing here is using the moon as an analogy.

Specifically, her comment about the moon not being as mysterious and that her experience with Ronald, star gazing, has changed things, really refers to how Cindy's feelings for Ronald have changed, since she no longer sees him as a nerd, but instead as someone whom she has not only become attracted to, but also grown very fond of over the month that they have spent together.

As part of his insecurity, instead of realizing that under the façade of his new wardrobe and "Ronnie" persona, it is really the old Ronald and his charm that has enabled him to gain his new friends, Ronald remains fearful that he is going to lose his popularity, and with it, any chance he may have at ever being with Cindy for real.

Moreover, this fear prevents him from even noticing that Cindy really has taken a sudden and extreme liking to him, which keeps the two from becoming romantically involved.

The scene between the two is so perfect as they gaze upon the moon and stars, that you just know that something is going to go wrong, which prevents them from becoming a couple.

Instead of noticing that Cindy is really attracted to him, Ronald unwittingly disregards her romantic advances that evening, thinking that Cindy is still just playing along with him as part of their agreement.

In fact, he gets so depressed that their rental agreement has come to an end and that Cindy is no longer going to be part of his life, that Ronald even fails to notice that Cindy wants to kiss him; or how truly devastated Cindy is when Ronald instead asks her how they should initiate their breakup upon the completion of their contractual arrangement.

Amanda Peterson's performance in this scene is really something special, as she shows her vulnerability in such an emotive way that you can't help but feel enormous compassion for her character, as she opens her heart to Ronald.

We sense her dilemma here as she ponders whether to tell Ronald how she really feels about him and risk being rejected, or does she simply conceal her feelings from him, and live with the misery of never truly knowing how he really feels about her?

The scene ends with Ronald having rebounded from his depression, after Cindy tells him that he now has a reputation to protect as the most popular guy in school. Something that Ronald, himself had not given any thought to.

While Cindy is now completely frustrated at how clueless Ronald has become to her newly found affection for him.

Even the following day at school, once Cindy essentially confronts him in a furtive manner, wanting to discuss their relationship yet not daring to actually admit that she's fallen in love with him (for fear that Ronald may not feel the same way about her), Ronald is completely clueless; missing the fact that Cindy is trying to tell him that she loves him and wants to be his girlfriend.

Moreover, to Cindy's horror, Ronald thinks that she is just acting out the final "break up" scene in their faux relationship (as they had discussed doing the night before), and decides to add some dramatic license of his own, by raising his voice so that those around them will notice that they are having an argument.

Ronald then proceeds to insult Cindy in front of her clique, while accusing her of hanging all over him like a cheap suit for the month that they dated. He then ends his tirade by saying that he is tired of Cindy comparing him to her boyfriend, Bobby, and that if he were Bobby, he probably would not have called her while he was away at college either.

This is an extremely sore point for Cindy, since she was very upset that Bobby appeared to have completely forgotten all about her once he went away to college.

It also reminds her of the day that she and her two best friends, Patty and Barb, were in her bedroom when they received a phone call telling them that Bobby was going to be interviewed on a TV news program. Excited that she was going to hear Bobby mention her name on TV during the brief interview, Cindy and her friends anxiously watched the interview, only to become very disappointed when Bobby said that what he really missed about his old school was a hydro massage machine that the football team used after practice.

Here we see Cindy attempting to hide her disappointment, yet, as she and her friends leave to attend cheerleading practice, instead of putting Bobby's football jacket on, Cindy tosses it on her bed, signifying that her relationship with Bobby is on the rocks.

So the last thing that Cindy wanted to hear, was Ronald telling her that she was not good enough for Bobby.

We now find Cindy, not only devastated by Ronald's insensitive comment, but also completely taken aback by his viciousness. In fact she becomes so angry with him, that Cindy slaps Ronald and then quickly disappears into the crowd of students who have gathered for this public display.

This is the pivotal scene in the movie where what could have been a beautiful moment between the two, instead takes us on what at times turns out to be a very frustrating roller coaster ride, which leaves "Can't Buy Me Love" viewers desperately wanting to see these two flawed yet wonderful characters finding their way back to each other.

In the next scene we see Cindy pulling her VW into her driveway, having now regained her composure, and being followed by Ronald, who is once again back to cycling to and from school.

When he arrives, Ronald tells Cindy how the slap she gave him during their official breakup was Academy Award worthy, not realizing that it was the result of his making some very hurtful comments to her, thinking that they were just still role playing.

However, Cindy was no longer role playing, and genuinely upset by the mean spirited things that Ronald said to her.

Now believing that she and Ronald have absolutely no chance at a romantic relationship in the future, Cindy still displays her love for him, as she attempts to give him some friendly advice about being popular; describing how she must work at it, or how she herself could easily become rejected by her clique.

Before they part, Ronald shows his thoughtfulness, by giving Cindy a leather bound folder to keep her *poetry in (she earlier confides in Ronald that she is a poet and that he is the only person who knows about this), while she tells him that "no matter what happens with the popularity thing" not to change to please her clique, and to instead just be himself.

*For Amanda Peterson fans, here's a piece of trivia: In another movie in which Amanda had a starring role entitled "Fatal Charm," her character (Valerie Richter) also has a gift for writing poetry, however, has concealed this from her friends.

Or course, in his attempt to build on the popularity which, thanks to Cindy he managed to achieve in the month that they were dating, Ronald then undergoes a significant personality transformation as "Ronnie."

Having now assumed this new personality, Ronald becomes far more extroverted; oftentimes becoming outright boisterous. As the real, more introverted Ronald continues to hide behind this outgoing persona, while awaiting the inevitable train wreck that later takes place, when Cindy has finally had enough of his obnoxious behavior and decides to sternly put him in his place.

Interestingly enough, while Ronald is becoming more and more immersed in his new found superficial personality, Cindy is growing into the strong and compassionate young woman whom she is meant to be, while displaying a depth to her person that she had been previously afraid to reveal to anyone.

However, during the next few months of the fall term of school, Cindy suffers in silence as her two best friends, Patty and Barb, move in on Ronald, while she attempts to come to grips with the fact that she is now truly miserable without him.

Cindy soon begins to understand why, having realized that when she and Ronald parted company, not only did she lose someone whom she had unintentionally fallen in love with, but that Ronald had in reality become not just her best friend during the month that they spent as boyfriend and girlfriend, but also Cindy's soul mate.

As a result of this, we also see Cindy returning to her earlier aloof state, in an effort to conceal the pain she feels in not being able to spend her days with Ronald.

We also see how Cindy has become very jealous of any woman Ronald is dating, as she is driving to a Halloween party with Patty and Barb, and describes how disappointed she is that her two best friends were so quick to come on to Ronald after she and Ronald broke up.

Of course, Patty and Barb don't realize that Cindy and Ronalds' relationship began as a farce. Nor do they realize that during the time they were together, that Cindy actually began to fall in love with Ronald.

We also see Cindy's jealousy when Barb describes how Patty has had Ronald to herself for two weeks, at which time Cindy says "you mean she's attacked him for two weeks."

This is really one of the most compelling parts of this movie in regard to how Cindy begins to see Ronald for the intelligent and genuinely kind person that he normally is, and opens her heart to him, while beginning to understand that in spite of her natural beauty and popularity, there is something missing in her life that she desperately needs.

A relationship with a beau who will truly love her for who she really is, and whom she can also love and nurture.

This is part of Cindy's growth process in becoming worthy of Ronald's love.

This situation only becomes worse after the Thanksgiving Holiday, where Cindy ends a superficial relationship she began having with an abusive college freshman named Brent, after her contractual breakup with Ronald, and then attempts to win Ronald back.

On the Monday morning after Thanksgiving, we see Ronald pursuing Kenneth along a school hallway, attempting to apologize to him for taking part in the egging of Kenneth's family's home on Halloween night. However, Kenneth is understandably furious with him and walks away.

We soon find Cindy walking over to Ronald as he stands along a row of student lockers, just to say hello to him. While she's speaking with Ronald, she asks him if he would like to accompany her to the airplane graveyard again sometime.

This is the place where they had their last official date. And Cindy has chosen the airplane graveyard because it has since become a special place for her, as she remembers the evening that she and Ronald spent together, sitting in an old helicopter, and using Ronald's telescope to gaze up at the stars and moon. It was here that Cindy realized that even though her relationship with Ronald had begun based on a falsehood, that she was starting to fall in love with him.

Cindy even writes a poem called "Broken Moon" just for Ronald.

However, instead of appreciating Cindy's kindness and thoughtfulness, Ronald only ends up belittling her, while telling Cindy to save the poem for her college boy.

Here we also see that Cindy is not the only one who is jealous, as Ronald displays his own jealousy in regard to any suitor of Cindy's, because as far as he is concerned, whether she knows it or not, Ronald is deeply in love with her, and wants Cindy be his girlfriend - no one else's.

However, if he wasn't so insecure and clueless, Ronald would have figured out on their last contractual date that Cindy was in love with him and wanted to be his girlfriend, and could have thus saved them both a tremendous amount of heartache.

Moreover, as Cindy walks away from Ronald, clearly hurt by his callousness, Ronald momentarily reverts to his old sensitive self, trying to catch up with her in order to apologize, when he encounters a young woman named Iris (played by actress Devin Devasquez), who blocks his path.

Iris has become enamored with Ronald, knowing that he is the most popular guy at school, and even though Ronald is in love with Cindy, he sees no chance of ever being with her, so he decides to date Iris for a brief time.

This scene represents how conflicted Ronald has become in his quest for popularity.

Specifically, his overwhelming desire to be with Cindy, whom he truly loves, and his nearly as intense goal of becoming part of the in crowd.

Iris represents the superficial part of Ronald's psyche, which motivated him to offer Cindy the contractual agreement in the first place.

Cindy, that is the real kindhearted and emotionally evolved Cindy, who emerges as the direct result of the quality time that she spends with Ronald over their month long contractual arrangement/courtship, represents the part of Ronald's psyche that needs to be loved and nurtured in a genuine and meaningful relationship.

As such, what we see here is Ronald doing battle with his own inner demons, whom he must defeat, before he becomes worthy of Cindy's love.

Moreover, in his battle to rid himself of these demons, one thing that soon becomes clear in Can't Buy Me Love is that once Ronald does become popular and ends his official contract with Cindy, he does harbor some serious resentment towards her for being so indifferent towards him for so many years; even the fact that Cindy did not even know his real name until they began their "rental" contract.

And he also resents the fact that it cost him $1000 of his hard earned money which he used as the entrance fee for becoming popular with Cindy and her clique.

Something he points out to her when Cindy attempts to reestablish contact with him on the day that school resumes after the Thanksgiving Holiday.

This meeting in the school hallway also represents the second time in this movie where they could have resolved their differences, yet because of Ronald's ignorance or anger, fail to do so.

However, his $1000 investment has paid off handsomely, in that in less than three months from the time that he and Cindy agreed to this contractual arrangement, Ronald is now the most popular guy at school.

Yet, with each passing day, he begins to realize that in spite of his popularity, he is miserable without Cindy.

Ironically enough, as miserable as Cindy is without him.

During this trying time, how the two of them must have longed for the time during their month long contractual agreement, when they were truly happy spending their days together.

The climax soon occurs when at a New Years Eve Party, Cindy shows up alone.

Having had a bit too much to drink herself, Cindy soon finds a slightly tipsy Ronald with Iris (the "Greyhound girl"), quoting the poem to her that Cindy had entrusted Ronald with on the day that they were washing her car, and really starting to bond as a couple.

Once again, we find that Cindy is devastated, dejected, and totally frustrated by Ronald's behavior.

Moreover, when her old boyfriend, Bobby (played by actor George Gray), suddenly shows up at the party a few minutes later (after having never bothered to call Cindy while he was away at college) and is told that Cindy has been romantically involved with Ronald, Bobby decides to confront Cindy with the allegation.

Cindy, still furious with Ronald, tells Bobby that they were only pretending to be dating because Ronald had paid her, to which Bobby replies that that made her a prostitute, and storms out of the party.

Cindy, now having spent the past three months in misery in attempting to win Ronald's love and respect, and having put up with as much of his abuse as she can stand, unleashes her anger at him, exposing the fact that Ronald paid her to be his girlfriend, while Cindy berates her friends for being such followers of his.

Ronald is then immediately shunned by the clique which had grown to worship him, and Cindy is now torn between the deep affection that she still feels for Ronald, the pain which he has caused her, as well as the guilt she now feels for betraying his confidence at the party.

On the following Monday when school resumes from the Christmas Holiday, Ronald finds himself being shunned by Cindy's clique, and completely ostracized by his fellow school mates.

Even his former nerd compatriots want nothing to do with him, and he is rendered "status-less."

However, in spite of this, we see Cindy watching Ronald while they are at school, quietly agonizing for him, as she witnesses Ronald suffering the psychological abuse which she knows that she is largely responsible for causing.

If anything, this endears Cindy to us even more, since we see how compassionate she has become, now trying to find a way in which to save Ronald from himself, while still attempting to heal from the emotional scars that she has suffered from him, as he navigates his way through this tumultuous situation.

In the below photo is a very young Seth Green, playing the role of Chuckie Miller, Ronald's younger brother. Here we see Chuckie confronting Cindy in regard to how she "nuked" his brother and taken him from "geek status to king status to no status," while in a moment of anger, Cindy accuses Ronald of sending his messenger boy to plead his case.

It is also interesting to note that during this scene there is a young couple walking by the store's cosmetic counter where Cindy is seated.

As they're walking past, the woman appears to make a beeline for Cindy, until her boyfriend grabs her by the arm and whisks her away, leaving this author wondering if she was going to tell Cindy off for torpedoing Ronald at the New Years Eve party.

Moreover, in spite of her anger with Ronald, over the next few weeks we see how much Cindy has changed and developed into a stronger person, as she quietly defends Ronald when her friends continue to demean him for betraying them.

In the above photo we see Cindy defending Ronald as he drives past the pizzeria where he and Cindy went for a late lunch on the first day of their rental agreement. Cindy does so when her friends, Patty and Barb, make fun of Ronald, claiming that he is spying on them, and referring to the car he is driving as his "spaz mobile"

Cindy reminds Barb (actress Tina Gaspari) and Patty (actress Darcy Demoss) of how they had once both gotten very comfortable in that "spaz mobile" on dates with Ronald when he was considered to be the coolest guy in school.

Knowing that Cindy is right, neither Patty nor Barb bother to argue with her.

Furthermore, in getting to know and care for him, Cindy now begins to understand how her calculated act at the party has devastated Ronald's life. And she gradually begins to see the desperation that Ronald experienced in attempting to retain the popularity that he never envisioned himself having, which drove him to become so unbearable.

As such, she gradually begins to forgive him for his cruelty and insensitivity, even if she is not quite ready to let him know it.

At the same time, Ronald has now realized that Cindy's exposing their *faux relationship at the New Years Eve party actually did him a favor, because "she brought him back to reality," thus enabling him to realize that in his quest to be popular, he had lost sight of what he wanted most of all.

A relationship with Cindy. The girl whom he'd worshipped since they were in junior high school. In Ronald's eyes the most beautiful girl in the world.

* What's ironic here is that what began as a superficial relationship would later develop into a very real one, as Cindy and Ronald became each other's constant companion during the month that they spent together.

And had it not been for both Ronald's insecurity as well as obtuseness, their friendship would have blossomed into a romance by the time that their last contractual date had taken place.

As such, now that Ronald has managed to rediscover himself, he is again obsessed with being in Cindy's life, and developing the relationship with her that has eluded him since they began high school.

However, he finds this to be a challenge since Cindy is still upset with him for the spiteful things that he said to her, and still unsure of his feelings for her.

Consequently, she continues to refuse to speak with him.

Yet, while she won't answer his phone calls, with each subsequent time that he calls her, the invisible wall that has built up between them begins to gradually erode, as Cindy comes to understand that Ronald still truly cares about her, in spite of his terrible behavior.

In the next scene we find him sitting in his room staring longingly at a sketch that he drew of Cindy, as he again attempts to reach her by calling her Mother's phone line.

However, instead of telephoning as himself, he introduces himself as someone named Donald, since before they formally met on the day that he offered to rent her, Cindy had always mistakenly thought that his name was Donald rather than Ronald.

It is not completely clear in the movie why he does this, however, it is probably done in an effort to show Cindy that he is back to being his old self, and not the jerk he became once he attained popularity.

Among the excuses that Cindy makes for not being able to talk to him each time he calls, is that she is either taking a bath, washing her hair, or out of the country (Ronald's favorite excuse).

Of course, since being "nuked" by Cindy at the New Years Eve party, we find that Ronald's life hasn't exactly been a bed or roses either.

In his frustration to get her attention, Ronald ends up following her into the women's restroom at school, and thinking that he is talking to Cindy, unwittingly tells one of the teachers who is using the restroom what he meant to say to Cindy.

How all he ever wanted was to be part of her life, and that the stupid idea that he came up with to rent her made him into someone other than who he really was.

To Ronald's horror, when the stall door opens, it isn't Cindy who emerges, but instead a teacher who is not at all impressed with Ronald's admission.

Not only does she grab him by the ear as she walks him out of the bathroom, berating him, she also sentences him to a month's detention.

So the price for Ronald's intent to become popular continues to grow well beyond his initial $1000 expenditure; especially as we recall him telling his parents during their Thanksgiving dinner that he did not get his report card, leaving us to believe that Ronald did not have his usual straight A semester; and didn't want his parents to know about it.

After Cindy's Mother hangs up with Ronald, he decides that he must do something desperate to win back the heart of the woman he loves.

So a *few days later, Ronald takes his lawnmower over to Cindy's and starts performing dangerous stunts on her front lawn, which not only awakens Cindy and their neighbors, but has her running out of the house to his rescue, feeling that he has finally snapped under the mental duress he has suffered since the night she "demolished" him at the New Years Eve party.

*Some people have stated that Ronald shows up on Cindy's lawn the following morning after calling her home and speaking with her Mother. However, if you look carefully, Cindy is wearing a completely different nightgown on the evening that Ronald calls her, then she is on the morning that she races out on to her front lawn to confront Ronald. So the confrontation must have taken place at least a day or two later.

As she berates him for waking up their neighborhood, stating that her Mother was about to call the police until she told her that Ronald was "suffering from a chemical imbalance and seeking psychiatric help," Ronald finally has the chance to tell Cindy how he really feels about her.

How all he ever dreamed of was getting close to her and becoming part of her world, yet when he finally was able to do so, he had lost his own identity in the process.

Ronald then implores Cindy to join him in soul searching so that they can truly discover who they really are and if they belong together.

At long last, Cindy finally learns that Ronald really does love her, so she is no longer fearful about telling him how she feels about him.

The movie gets a bit confusing here, because they agree to meet later on that day to discuss their relationship.

However, we never know if that actually takes place or not.

Instead, the next scene in the movie occurs at school where Ronald's best friend, Kenneth, is helping one of Cindy's best friends, Patty, with a math problem, in which Patty shows real affection towards Kenneth (Perhaps Patty was paying close attention to Cindy's criticism of she and Barb when they made their "spaz mobile" comment in regard to Ronald, since Patty is now seeing a depth to Kenneth that she finds very attractive).

So now we see another romance in the making between one of the popular girls at this school and one of the nerdy guys who is obviously very taken with her.

Of course, this is met with derision by a jock named Quint (well played by actor Cort McCown, whose character offers no end of comic relief in this movie), who decides to bully Kenneth for what he states is Kenneth's intent to "pull another Ronald McDonald Miller on them."

Moreover, when Cindy turns to John and Ricky and asks them to stop Quint's attack on Kenneth, they sheepishly look on, yet do nothing, even though they know that Quint is wrong.

Ronald soon shows up with a baseball bat in hand threatening to break Quint's arm if he fails to let Kenneth go.

There is a tense moment before Quint does so. However, the scene is important given Ronald's speech about how foolish the segregation is between those who are popular and those who are unpopular in school, when it is tough enough for teenagers to just be themselves.

It is a strong message, given how difficult it is to be a teenager, with all of the peer pressure and myriad obstacles that they must overcome before becoming adults.

We see *Cindy looking emotional during this speech as her eyes follow Ronald as he leaves the cafeteria grounds, and his speech is eventually met with applause from all of the teenagers seated within the area; especially as Quint apologizes to Kenneth and they shake hands.

* As another piece of trivia here, this author has noticed how Amanda Peterson appears to be younger in some scenes than she does in other, and her voice higher.

While some of this had to do with makeup, I believe that most of this can be attributed to the fact that when Touchstone Pictures agreed to produce "Can't Buy Me Love," they decided that they wanted some of the scenes from the movie shot over again before it was released for public screening.

This meant that when they resumed filming, Amanda was about five to six months older than she was when Can't Buy Me Love was first filmed, and had noticeably matured during this time, with her voice becoming a bit deeper.

Also, a number of different hairstyles were used for her character during the time that "Can't Buy Me Love' was filmed, so that in one scene we would see her with a perm, while the next scene she had a completely different hairstyle, which could also have indicated that she was wearing her hair differently over the course of the time in which this film was produced.

The changes are subtle here, yet definitely discernible.

* The "Mancini" House is in reality now a club house for the Hill Farm residential development. Prior to 1981, Hill Farm House served as the residence of Dr. and Mrs. *Donald Hill, who actually sold this house along with the property it is located on, as well as the surrounding area, to a development company which began developing the Hill Farm neighborhood in 1981.

Dr. Donald Hill Obituary

*Dr. Donald Hill was an early pioneer in rheumatology, and developed a superb reputation in the field during his lifetime, establishing a clinical practice which was based on a complete treatment protocol for the arthritic patient, in an effort to help them as much as possible. It's interesting to note that Amanda Peterson's father, Dr. James Hill Peterson, is a well known and highly respected otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat), whose practice is in Greeley Colorado.

This residential neighborhood is in an exclusive part of Tucson, Arizona and the following is some general information in regard to the historic Hill Farm Home, that also served as the setting for Cindy Mancini's house and a number of the scenes between Ronald and Cindy in Can't Buy Me Love.

The home is now called the Joesler community clubhouse, and can be rented by residents of the Hill Farm community for parties and other special events.

"The house was designed for Dr. and Mrs. Donald Hill by famous architect Josias Joesler, who designed many of the distinctive homes and buildings in Tucson between 1928 and 1956."

Also see: Hill Farm Development Website

Perhaps this is where the idea for Cindy to mistakenly call Ronald, Donald, came from, in reference to Dr. Donald Hill, the former owner of this house.

A number of "Can't Buy Me Love" fans have also wondered if in addition to the money which Ronald was supposed to receive for mowing the lawn, Cindy may have also given him back the $1000 he'd paid her as part of their initial agreement, when she says "this should cover it."

In this writer's opinion, that is exactly what Cindy does in order to show Ronald that her feelings for him have changed, and that not only does she now care deeply for him, but that the $1000 means nothing to her anymore.

Especially when taking into consideration the comment that Ronald made to her earlier (in school right after the Thanksgiving Holiday), after Cindy said that a date with another girl who is interested in Ronald, named Iris, was no great conquest at all, since "she had given more rides than Greyhound," in reference to Iris' promiscuity.

Ronald's response was "at least it won't cost me a thousand bucks," which resulted in Cindy's walking away from him more hurt than she had ever been by him before.

So now little more than a month later Cindy and Ronald have their third opportunity in this movie to finally reunite, as their rental agreement is nullified when Cindy returns the $1000 to Ronald.

Speaking on Cindy's front lawn, they converse for a few moments with Ronald describing how he had been looking at the moon the evening before, and Cindy saying how she had done the same (in reference to their last official date which was filmed at an airplane graveyard in Tucson, Arizona).

It's obvious at this point that even though she is still a bit aloof with him, Cindy wants to tell Ronald how she really feels about him, yet, her clique suddenly shows up in order to pick her up for an outing, and as she tells him that she has to go, it appears that all Cindy and Ronald will ever be are just friends.

Can't Buy Me Love's screenwriter, Michael Swerdlick, does an excellent job of leaving us hanging for a minute or so here, because that is exactly what we think is going to happen as Cindy and her entourage drive off, leaving Ronald by himself.

However, Swerdlick ultimately proves himself to be the consummate romantic with the *delightful ending he chose for "Can't Buy Me Love."

*An ending that was so compelling that it was literally stolen verbatim by the producers of the 2003 movie, "Easy A" - whose male and female co-stars ride off on a lawnmower (that's nearly identical to the Snapper in CBML) into the sunset with their arms raised in the air in a victory salute.

As such, as Ronald enters the roadway on the way back to his home, lamenting his loss of Cindy, we hear the screech of tires as the car she is in abruptly stops, and Cindy gets out and calls him by the name Donald, hearkening back to the day that they decided to first enter into their rental contract.

Here we suddenly see the childlike Cindy again, overjoyed that she has Ronald back in her life, and this time certain that he loves her as much as she loves him.

However, instead of telling Ronald that she forgives him for everything that has happened between them and that she truly does love him, Cindy instead decides to show him this, as she hops onto the lawnmower seat behind him and cuddles up next to him saying: "Now let's get this deal straight."

The same words she said to Ronald on their first day of school, when their rental contract actually began, and Cindy was outlining her responsibilities within this contract.

Many of this movies' fans have described this as their favorite scene in Can't By Me Love (some of whom had actually said that it brought them to tears), as Cindy and Ronalds' fates are finally sealed, they fall in love, and ride off into the sunset in each other's arms, in the finale of what has become perhaps the finest romantic comedy ever made.

This ending may sound cliché, but it sure does work on an emotional level, as the audience celebrates the joy that both Cindy and Ronald experience in overcoming the obstacles throughout this movie that had once served to keep them apart, while they both emerge as better people for their suffering.

In fact, being a romantic at heart, this writer would like to think that Cindy and Ronald not only rode off into the Arizona sunset together, but also lived happily ever after, eventually raising a family of their own.

In the research I did while writing this review, this author literally found thousands of comments posted on Websites like YouTube and CBML fan sites, describing how much the people who have watched CBML really love this movie; particularly the great chemistry between Cindy and Ronald.

And, moreover, how they identify with this movie and its strong message - "Don't be pressured into being someone you're not. Just be the best person that you can be."

As such, "Can't Buy Me Love" is a romantic comedy that you will want to watch over and over again, not just because of its message, but also because there is a purity and sweetness to the way in which these characters are played (by the ever gifted Amanda Peterson and her costar, Patrick Dempsey), that has attracted millions of loyal fans to this movie over the past 27 years, and made perpetual teen icons of both Amanda and Patrick.

There is also a beauty to "Can't Buy Me Love" that unfolds as we watch these two soul mates navigate the complexities of their teenage years before ultimately finding each other.

And they leave an indelible impression on us as they do, when they discover how friendship and true love go hand in hand.

Over The Past Few Decades "Can't Buy Me Love" Has Become The Iconic Romantic Comedy That It Has, Largely Due To The Exceptional Acting Talent Of Amanda Peterson, Whose Career Should Have Skyrocketed After This Movie's Success At The Box Office, Yet For Mysterious Reasons Did Not - What Actually Happened To Amanda Has Become A Matter Of Conjecture By Her Millions Of Fans; Those Whom To This Very Day Lament The Loss Of This Extraordinary Talent From The Acting Community