It’s Rom-Complicated! How Nice Guys Can Get the Girl: Lessons from ‘Say Anything’ (with Hollywood Producer Cristina Nava)

When it comes to love, you just have to take a chance. I think that we should spend some time apart.
Oh, yeah! Where'd she dump you, man? My car. Dished in the mouth.
Oh, man! Your only mistake is that you didn't dump her first. All you gotta do is find a girl who looks just like her and then dump her, man.
You guys know so much about women. How come you're, like, a gas and sip on a Saturday night, no women anywhere? My choice, man.
That's right, man. It's a conscious choice.
Say anything. Rated PG-13 starts Friday at theaters everywhere.
Welcome back to the How to Get a Girlfriend podcast. I'm your host, dating coach Conal Barrett.
I'm the real life Hitch. If Hitch was a skinny ginger with glasses, I'm here to help you flirt with confidence, get a great girlfriend, and do it by being authentic.
And this is the second in a recurring series of episodes that I'm calling It's Rom Complicated. I believe that a lot of really great insightful secrets to how to have a great dating life are hidden within rom-com movies.
And so every once in a while, I bring on a special guest to talk about a great rom-com movie, talk about some of the love lessons and dating lessons in the movie, and also just talk about what makes the movie great, the good, the bad, the ugly. And today I'm joined by an incredibly talented guest.
She's a writer, a producer, and director in Hollywood. She makes rom-com movies.
Her name is Christina Nava. Christine has co-written movies like Divorce Bait and In Other Words, and her latest film is called Say a Little Prayer.
It's a very charming rom-com and I just watched it with my girlfriend. We watched it and loved it this weekend.
It's coming to Amazon Prime and Apple Plus just in time for Valentine's Day. It's a really heartwarming story about three best friends who recite an ancient prayer to the patron saint of all things lost to help them find true loves

and a lot of unexpected events happen. So today, Christina is here to talk about a classic rom-com

called Say Anything, the 1989 movie starring John Cusack, Ioni Skye, and written and directed by

Cameron Crowe. Christina, thank you so much for joining us here on It's Rom Complicated.

Thank you for having me. I'm really excited to talk about Say a Little Anything.
It's a mashup. I love it.
It's a mashup of both. No, but Say a Little Prayer and Say Anything.
I can't wait to talk to you about Say a Little Prayer. There's a lot to learn in that movie.
It's also just a good, fun watch. Before we get to that, I'm curious, you chose the movie Say Anything to talk about today from a lot of rom-com movies.
Tell us a little bit about your relationship to rom-com movies and why you chose Say Anything. So I grew up in the 80s, and I absolutely loved those movies from the 80s.

But Say Anything was, I think, the first movie that I remember where you kind of, as a preteen and then teenager, learn about love.

And what I now know is real.

The other movies that I was watching at that time were like um other John Cusack movies um and uh you know it was like Fast Times at Ridgemont High that wasn't John Cusack but um also One Crazy Summer and they were these were all about love and obviously Fast Times at Ridgemont High is crazy love. But this one was just so sweet.
It spoke to my heart. And there were so many iconic things about it.
And it kind of set the tone for what I kind of wanted in a guy. You know, that Lloyd Dobler, real love.
Absolutely. I love Lloyd Dobler.
I think Lloyd Dobler is me in a lot of ways. Lloyd Dobler is so many men.
I think the guy listening to this podcast, he's a lot like Lloyd Dobler. Maybe he's not the richest guy in the world.
Maybe he's not the best looking or the smoothest guy, and Lloyd certainly isn't. But he wins over an incredible woman, Diane Court, played by Ione Skye.
He does it by being real, being funny, being confident, and kind of leaning into his quirky side. And I just love that message.
I guess it spoke to me because I wasn't the best looking, smoothest guy in the world. And it just gives regular guys,

quote unquote, hope. Absolutely.
Absolutely. I mean, Lloyd Dobler was, as you said, I think quirky is the most appropriate, but he was so brave.
I love, you know, the first, from the first scene, they're in someone's bedroom and he's with his two girlfriends um played by uh lily tyler and amy brooks and he's playing the guitar and they're talking about he's like i'm gonna ask her out on a second date and she and his friend cory who's played by lily tyler is like that's interesting you haven't even gone the first date what about. What about the first date? What about the first date?

And we find out that he kind of followed her to the mall at the food court and sat across and had lunch with her.

That was his first date without her knowing about it.

So he was so brave, though.

And, I mean, it's borders on a little stalker nowadays, but he was just so sweet.

And you were rooting for him, and he was harmless.

So I appreciated his bravery so much.

Well, we're going to dive deeply into Say Anything.

We're going to break the movie down into what I call the rom-comies.

Fun little categories and awards that are going to be really fun to listen to. Tips, jokes, all kinds of insights.
And I can't wait to hear yours. Before we do that, I want to talk about your movie.
Say a little prayer. $3,000.
That is a down payment on a minivan. This is where I take my food.
T-Grey booty. Beauty.
I'm mad. Nothing beats a picnic by the river.
When you see a painting and you have that connection with the artist, it's magic. I've had that song in my head now for a week.
The classic song. I know it's not in the movie.
Tell me a little bit about Say a Little Prayer. It's so charming.
How did it begin? Talk to us about why this movie is so special. Well, this movie is written by Nancy de los Santos.
And Nancy de los Santos was an associate producer back in the days with Selena, was shot in San Antonio. And Nancy, um, De Los Santos was like associate producer, um, back in the days with Selena was shot in San Antonio.
And so she began to write this, uh, movie probably about 20 years ago and around the same time. And, um, she, it began with her grandmother.
Um, basically, you know, Nancy was accomplished. She had been doing so much work as a producer in television, but her grandmother, all she could think of was, you're not married.
So she calls her to her home, and Nancy goes over, and the grandmother gives her this prayer to St. Anthony, to San Antonio, and it's the patron saint of lost causes, or lost things, not lost causes, lost things, and she said, you need to say this prayer because your husband is lost.
So Nancy ignored it, ignored it, but she thought it was a very funny story.

And so she wrote it as a short story back then.

I think it won awards.

She got into the Equinox program with HBO and she tried to produce it, meaning she tried to get them to produce it like someone in Hollywood. But she really ran up against a wall on that.
And I know it's it was not like a true romantic comedy. You start off with it's more about the friendship with these three young women looking for love.
And and they're already in their 30s. So've lived um they've lived their lives and they're entrepreneurs so nancy um you know it took about 20 years and at the same time i'm building my career and she was she was watching me now with social media she was watching what i was doing myself and my husband pat Patrick Perez-Vidaudi, who we together have been making independent movies and mostly romantic comedies.
And so she just asked me to breakfast one day and she's like, how are you making your movies? And she pulls out this little pad and is about to write down like my, what, 10 steps to producing a movie. I don't know.
And I just said, do you want

me to produce your movie? And she reached over and took my hand and cried. And it's like, yes, I would never ask you.
It's so much work. And, but I, I love the story.
I wanted to work with Nancy. And so, um, she had an army of people behind her, you know, who wanted to see her succeed with this story.
And we started there. And the first thing was to try to find like that one lead that would eventually sell our movie.
And that's where Luis Fonsi came in. Yeah.
One of our co-producers knew him and gave him the script and he resonated with it. And that's where it all began.
he's fantastic in this every man listening to this needs to see this movie not just because it's funny and because it's really sweet if you want to see a man who's got real a character played by louise fonzi pardon me if i said that wrong he's he's very relaxed in his confidence he's got great style I love his got the right stubble. He's got great style.
And there's a fantastic scene that I love as a dating coach. He breaks the ice with the lead actress in the movie, Vanessa Vasquez.
He breaks the ice with her in an art gallery. And it's very smooth and natural.
It's a meet cute, but it's not an unbelievable meet-cute. It's a very real world.
And you should check it out just to watch his fantastic... If you want to know how to talk to a beautiful, well-dressed woman in an art gallery, watch the movie just to see the way they meet.
It's really a good scene. You're absolutely right.
Luis Fonsi, and these are his words, part of the reason he took the role was because he said, this is not a stretch. Like this is really, this feels like me.
This speaks to me. I am this guy.
I am Rafael Reza. And he was just, he's just such a kind soul.
But he did such service to this role. was such a natural um he was funny he had comedic timing but you're absolutely right as a as take if you're taking notes on how to how to do things right in the dating world yeah yeah this one's to what this was one to what have you been to oaxaca oh'm sorry.
I apologize. I saw you staring at the painting.
It's just heavenly. It is.
This is called Dance at La Guilaguetza. It's a celebration held in Oaxaca since pre-Hispanic times i was actually there last summer really on vacation no no i was working curating actually yeah i'm one of the many who helped put well all of this together so what do you think well all the pieces are just so inspiring.
And he did what I call an indirect approach, which is he noticed Vanessa's character looking at a piece of art, and he asked her a question about the art. I just watched the scene, it's very fresh in my mind.
And it's perfect, pitch perfect for the way to start a conversation with somebody in the real world in a charming way that's not creepy, that's not stocky, like we'll talk about Lloyd Dobler later. A little stocky back in the 80s, but I love the way they break the ice.
Also, his character does something really good on their date. And if you can possibly do this as a single guy on a date, it's a nice thing to do.

He does something he's good at.

He plays guitar on their first date,

and she watches him play guitar at this bar-slash-music venue,

and that's also a really cool scene

because a great, simple move I teach my guys is I say,

if there's a way to do something that you're good at on the date,

maybe not play guitar and sing,

but it'd be good to do something you're good at because that can be really attractive to a woman you meet. Yeah.
You know what? That's a really good point. Yeah.
That's a very, very good point. Well, if you, if you do sing and you play guitar, there's always karaoke.
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
That when I was, when I was dating, like I remember this guy guy was pursuing me, and then he invited me to this shorts film festival, and his directing and the movie was just so beautiful. I remember seeing him in a different light.
Right. It ended, and we were dating the very next week you know like um it just it did it captured it caught my attention yeah well on my first date with my now girlfriend Jess I I was a dating coach when I met her and I invited her out to go out with me with my clients just because I thought well I want to see her watch me do what I do maybe she'll be into that that.
And if she's not, that's okay. There was no pressure to do that.
But she later said how that impressed her, that she got to see me doing what I do. So whether it's a karaoke bar date, where you can sing your favorite karaoke song, that's a good first date move, or just letting the other person see you in your element, and maybe giving her a chance to see her in her element.
That's a great way for two people to connect, I found. When my husband and I met for the first time in an after-school program, but we were both, I was coming out of a five-year relationship and he was in a five-year relationship and he was unhappy he stayed in for another four years so we met up four years later and I was actually back then acting and touring a one-woman show and I was really nervous because I was going to go promote my show my my show on this radio station and I get there and it's him and he he's one of the four hosts.
And so I just felt like I felt at ease. And we I got to see him in his element.
And like, it was fun. And I all the nerves went away.
Yeah, we went out to see me in the show. And like, he got to really know me because that was that show was completely about

my pursuit of love it was called rocks in my salsa okay good great title yeah it was it was about all

of the the the rocks and like along the way and trying to find love and so he was like you know

he was just taking notes and and now we're married 17 years later with three kids. Congratulations.
Well, you anticipated my next question. I wanted to ask you, you know, there's a lot of rom-com movie tropes, right? There's the meet cute, there's the grand gesture, there's klutziness, but there's also just moments that are sweet and adorable

from movies. And when you think back on your single dating life back in the day, are there any moments that stand out to you as, oh, wow, that was such a rom-com movie moment that happened in that dating world? Yeah.
I mean, um i I think like grand, speaking of grand gestures, I think like I honestly, it wasn't even in the dating world. It was, um, if I had, you know, I was thinking about my in eighth grade, I was 14 years old and, you know, we're in the classroom.
It's the second, it's the day before we're about to graduate.

And, you know, you're off to high school.

And this huge bouquet of roses is brought in by our principal.

And everyone's oohing and aahing.

And I'm like, I wish those were for me, you know.

And so he goes to our teacher.

And she points to the back of the room.

And I turn around. And he heads straight for me you know and oh boy and they were for me from not even from the person that I had a crush on it was like this boy the seventh grader who had silently had a crush on me for who god knows how long and it was the most it was this day, I don't think that I actually have ever had like this, this grand of a gesture from really anybody who that really took me by surprise.
And I guess like in thinking about it, I was just thinking like, I wish he would have told me or maybe not. I mean, I just you know, he held on to that for for so long and I was gone, you know, I thanked him and I was so flattered.
And to this day, it's like probably the biggest, the grandest of gestures next to my husband asked getting on his knee without, we were swimming and he just was overcome with emotion and he got on his knee and asked me to he proposed to me in his swimming trunks with no ring no anything no shirt so those are my two but uh those those are probably like even though it was middle school i mean i was 14 almost in high school but i feel like that was such a rom-com moment and that's so innocent and sweet right and it but it but it's a lesson like if hopefully in the future he just really let women the girl know sooner so he might have he might have had a chance i don't know i've done that i did the same thing yeah my big crush her name was betsy baker age i remember know, there's something about middle school, high school. There's just a moment where you look at a person and say, I think I'm going to have a crush on them now.
It's almost like it overtakes you. You don't choose it.
It just chooses you. What do they call it in Twilight series? Like you're not a zinger, but you're, I can't remember what it is.
In the Twilight movies? The Twilight series, they call it, you're almost zapped. Okay.
They call it imprinted. Ooh, okay.
Yeah. I guess Betsy Baker imprinted herself on me circa seventh grade, and I pined over her for three years.
I sent her anonymous love poetry. Wow.
And I never, I told her later and and it was awkward but but she's i said oh yeah those letters those are from me and she's like oh that explains a lot and anyway i was that was my lloyd dobler yeah before we get into the movie i've got to ask you a little bit about your incredible career you're a movie producer producer, a writer, a director. Why rom-coms? Why have you specialized in rom-coms? Tell us more about that.
Well, I think that when I transitioned from theater to writing for film, I just thought that through film we were able to reach more people. That transition came at a moment when I was really looking for love.
I was about 33 years old. And actually, I'm wearing the shirt that I wore when I had my birthday.
And I turned 33. And I called it my Jesus year where my you know, I was gonna find the love of my life.
It was like my calling. You know, I would I was just ready for love.
I wanted to find my husband and my partner. And I think that that was when I started to write.
And so then my husband and I got married. And that's, I know you're going to cut this out, but can you hear the trash truck? Yeah, I can.
Should you want, we can stop until it leaves. It's okay.
I find it kind of strangely charming when I hear dogs barking and trucks going by. So I don't mind if you don't mind.
We can hear you fine. That's all that matters.
But thanks for asking. So anyway, so we were approached by an investor once we were married to produce.
And he was also a fanatic of rom-coms. And I loved him too.
And so that was our first opportunity to make an indie film. Well, the second time we made our movies, but the first time we made our indie film.
And I loved writing it. In other words, I wrote, and that one is on Tubi.
You can go find it and watch it. I love Tubi.
It was very easy for me to write that because I loved love. And I just really dug into my own experiences.
And honestly, I feel like I do channel the movies of the 90s when I write romantic comedies or comedies. I have a fascination with them.
So that's where it really started. The opportunities that were coming to us were in this genre, to be honest.
Well, what I like about Cameron Crowe's movies, this is the second movie I've talked about on this podcast feed. I haven't done it yet, but I had a conversation about Jerry Maguire, Cameron Crowe movie.
And there's something about Cameron Crowe's writing there. His characters, here's my amateur viewpoint.
Tell me as a professional writer and director, I'd love to hear your take. To me, what's great about his dialogue is very natural.
I don't feel like I'm watching a movie. It seems really naturalistic.
And every character, even small characters, get those little grace note moments. Like you mentioned, Lloyd Dobler's two female friends, one played by Lily Taylor, the other is, I believe, James Brooks' daughter.
And even James Brooks' daughter gets a little moment in the movie. Everybody's a person.
Nobody's just a rom-com trope. That's what I really love about Cameron Crowe's movies, at least the rom-coms.
Yeah, I agree. There's just something, like you're saying, very natural, and the interactions with the characters are really funny though and and i what i love is that it's it's like it's not just about the plot you really cameron crow presents um each character with just such um such a their their nuances about them even even um what's it jeremy piven was in it and and he was hilarious like uh he cameron crowe does not um there's not a wasted character you know what i mean like there's a purpose for it but they're funny or they they they uh they lends such a such a beautiful palette to to to say say anything and you know jeremy piven plays this drunk character at the party and he just is hilarious you know and he and it's he's there for like 30 seconds maybe and he's gone but he's he's hilarious, you know? Yeah, big impact and he's yeah he's gone yeah yeah yeah i love it i love his writing cameron crowe's great let's get to it let's get to uh say anything and let's break this down with these categories here we here we go these are the rom-commies uh let's start by rating the meet cute now in this movie there's not's not a meet cute per se.
So for this category, I'm going to consider that first phone call, basically a meet cute. And I thought it was fantastic.
I loved how nervous he was. That was so relatable.
And I liked how at first she, Diane Court played by Ione Skye, at first she says, hey, I'm busy,

but then she seems to be charmed by him. So they didn't have a meet cute per se, because their characters had already met before the movie started.
But that phone call, I just thought that was so relatable. Yeah.
I mean, awkward for sure. Awkward for sure.
and what I found

adorable

was

he said

I'm Lord

you Yeah. Awkward for sure.
And what I found adorable was, you know, he said, I'm Lloyd Dobler. I don't know if you know me.
She said, yeah, we ate together. We had lunch together.
He's like, oh, you remember? She said, no, I took the message. You told my father or something like that.
You know, and she wasn't weirded out by it. Right.
You know, and I really, I really love that. You know, number one, I really miss the phones with the cords.
I just have to say. Remember the days? Yes.
That was a good, good. That was really fun to watch.
I love how he says to her, her father in the movie, he says, isn't she great?

Isn't she great?

Talk about getting on the dad's good side.

There's a move to steal.

There's a move to steal if you ever talk to a woman's dad.

Lloyd Dobler, 555-1342.

It's 555-1342.

555-1342. Okay, I'll get her the message.

Okay. She's pretty great, isn't she? What? She's really pretty great, isn't she? Yeah, she is.
Good luck, kid. Good afternoon.
Not that that would happen in 2025. And I'm going to geek out now, but that just the line from the father, he's like, you know, when he answers the phone, he's like, this is Lloyd Dauber.
Are you the guy with the truck? No. Are you the guy with the Mustang he's like you know when he answers the phone he's like this is Lloyd Dauber are you the guy with the truck no are you the guy with the Mustang like the father is testing him with these three questions it was just really brilliant like yeah as a parent I'm like taking notes like oh this is really great to ask to get info very quickly no I'm the guy with the Chevyvy malibu yeah yeah yeah uh let's talk about their chemistry from sparks to duds i thought that i think cusack and irony sky have a really sweet chemistry it's innocent for most of the movie very innocent it's not like a fiery passion but there's sort's a sweetness to it.
There's this earnest, innocent, offbeat connection. It's almost like they're both equally quirky and strange, not strange, but they're, in a way they're both outcasts and they seem to see that in each other and it creates a sweet, almost innocent chemistry.
Yeah. I, you know, I feel like, um, for them it's, it, it was timing, right? Like, I feel like, so it was graduation, and Diane Court kept saying, like, she had been away for college courses and not really been a part of, like, high school, and she didn't go to the parties, and she didn't do this, and really fully aware she shared that with her father and so this random guy calls her and she was like i'm busy tuesday i'm busy saturday i'm busy like for the rest of my life almost right right and he says well what about tonight there's a high school party happening and it was timing because she had just said, I kind of missed it.
I missed high school. I missed that connection.
They don't know me and I don't know them. And so I think in love that that's true.
Like it's timing, you know. Yeah.
Someone, both parties have to be ready. The iron was hot.
There was a moment for them to meet up. I tell my clients, I say, oh, you matched with her yesterday.
Or sorry, he said, a client might say, oh, this girl went quiet. And I said, well, when did you match with her? Like 10 days ago? He said, well, did you ask her out? He's like, no, waiting until the moment's right.
I'm like, it's been 10 days. You got to strike while the iron's hot.
So yeah. Does that rule still apply nowadays? I haven't been in the dating scene for obviously 17, 18 years.
Okay. But is it wait? Are people still doing the waiting period? Well, I coach men and I teach my clients.
I say, don't wait. Just basically be Lloyd Dobler.
Ask for what you want within reason and go for what you want until you get a clear yes or a clear, hey, thanks, but no thanks. And don't play any kind of games like, oh, I need to wait two or three days because people just have so many dating options today in the swiping Tinder era that if you wait too long, somebody else is going to snag that person up or they'll be distracted by other shinier objects.
Yeah. You know, my husband and I told you we met on the radio on a Friday, November 3rd of 2006.
And I had been alone for two and a half years, like single. and I didn't, we connected after,

we had gone out for a drink um right after the radio show that was on friday and he was gonna wait until like the next week to ask me out but i really wanted to see him so i reached out and i called him and i said do you want to go see babble on sunday and we went out on Sunday. But I was so over the games of that meeting.

You went all Sadie Hawkins day on him.

I did.

Nice.

That's great.

Hey, when that happens, men, we appreciate it so much.

Oh, good.

It feels so good because we know how scary it is to ask somebody out

and to be the one to make the move.

So when the woman makes the move, I have no problem with that at all. In fact, we're very grateful when it happens.

We do, I do tell my guys, hey, you want to be the one to lead the dance. Dating is a dance,

generally. Generally, a man's going to lead that dance.
But if you want to take the lead,

God bless you. So it worked out for the two of you.
Speaking of which, next award,

the Steal This Dating Move Award. I have two, tied for two in this category, this award.
First of all, on that phone call, I really like how vulnerable and authentic and sort of genuine Lloyd is. He's openly expressing his interest in her.
He's not playing it cool. He's not being all cocky and doing any kind of play it cool.
He's being genuine both first with her dad when he leaves the message and then when they have that phone conversation. So that's a great thing to steal from Lloyd, which is just put it out there.
Let a woman know that you're intrigued by her, that you would love to take her out, and she'll say yes or no, and either answer is fine. So that's one little move to steal.
And the second one, I'm curious to hear your point of view on this as a woman and as a woman who produces rom-com movies. I also noticed how he was persistent with her because her initial reaction on that phone call is, oh, you know, I'm really busy with these 19 things.
But she was talking to him. She did call him back, right? And so he did, he combined persistence with charm.
He didn't give up right away. He didn't, that part anyway, he didn't edge into stalker.
He just said, okay, that's fine. I know you're busy.
There's his party tonight. He didn't give up.
And you could kind of see her sort of be like, all right, all right not taking my busy for an answer and then she basically said let's do it so i say persistence plus charm is is a nice way to um ask a woman out until you know for sure she either is or isn't available what's your take i i agree i agree and i liked his uh liked his, his, his shift into just like, finding the moment, finding that, finding that connection. And you never know, right? Like he, he actually said the right thing.
And he didn't even know it. You know, he just kept saying, how about Saturday? How about Sunday or whatever it was.
And then when he switched, there's a switched, he added a little more story behind it, right? Oh, there's a party. I'm not going to let you run off to England or Europe before having a taste of one of these parties.
And there's a story behind it that really intrigued her. And so she and so she said yes.
So that was curious.

I mean, that was really cool, a very good shift, and I appreciated that. Okay, so it's Lloyd, and let's go out.
You want to go out?

Oh, thanks, but I'm busy.

Busy?

Yes. Things are pretty hectic right now, but thanks.

You busy on Friday?

Yeah, I have to help my father.

Are you busy on Saturday?

Saturday I have some things to do around the house.

So you're monumentally busy?

Well, not monumentally. What about tonight, then? Can you learn that party at Valier's? Look, Dan, I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to leave the country without attending Valier's graduation event.
This gentleman is 22 and comes out of hiding once a year for this occasion. And he dresses up as the Lakeside Rooster.
And he makes this drink called the Purple Passion. Actually, I think that...
You know, and you're not in England yet. We know that, of course.
But by the way, I wanted to just tell you that I lived in England for three months. And my parents lived in Holland, you know, so we lived in England and Germany.
And I could give you an enormous amount of tips. Many tips.
English tips. Well...
No tips. Don't give me any tips of any kind.

I'll go.

Pardon me?

I'll go.

You will?

Excellent.

All right.

So I would take notes from that,

like add a little narrative behind it.

That's a great point.

He made it to her benefit.

Yes.

That's how you...

Actually, I can't let you go to Europe

until you experience a party. Exactly.
Yeah, exactly. Clever.
Clever. Good job, Lloyd.
Lloyd's got some hidden game. Oh, absolutely.
I don't know if you remember the part where they had already gone out on the first date. It was after the party and And the three girls now were in their bedroom talking about, they were saying, oh, no, she's setting him, Diana's setting him up for failure.
This is Lily Tyler. And they got to meet, he's going to meet the family.
Like, you know, he's going to ruin it with that talking thing. And then she says, if you were Diane Court,

would you fall for Lloyd Dobler?

And there was this pause where the obvious thing to say was no,

but they all really thought about it.

And they're like, yeah, we would fall for him.

All the women, you know, because he's charming.

He's a sweetheart.

Yeah.

So, yeah. No, that was, yeah, he's very likable and he's got great intentions.
And I think that's really attractive. Just letting those good intentions come out.
The next category actually is one that I didn't tell you about. So no pressure to answer this one, but I'm ready with an answer.
And that is the worst piece of dating

advice from a character within the movie. And for this one, there's a scene where Lloyd has been dumped by Diane and he's talking to all these guys outside the gas and go or the gulp and go or whatever that gas station is.
And one of the guys says, oh, well, just here's what you do. Go out and find the girl who looks just like her and nail her that's that's how to get over it so there's the worst piece of dating advice from the movie absolutely look at kanye she looks like kim kim kardashian but no that's so right kanye's got such a type.
He can't get over that lesson. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Man, all you gotta do is find a girl who looks just like her, the nailer, and then dump her, man. Get her off your mind.
Your only mistake is that you didn't dump her first. Diane Court is a show pony.
You need a stallion, my friend. Walk with us, and you walk tall.
Walk tall, my man. Bitches, man.

You didn't give that kid a compliment.

Hey, dude, I better bail.

All right, man, see you tomorrow.

I'm here for you, Luke.

Be cool, man.

I got a question.

You guys know so much about women.

How come you hear, like, a gas and sip on a Saturday night,

completely alone, drinking beers?

No women anywhere.

By choice, man. That's right, man.
It's a conscious choice. It's a choice, man.
Oh, my goodness. I have three sisters.
One of my big sisters could not stop dating guys named Dave. So, hey.
Wow. I've had three different Christines in my dating past, so maybe we all have types.
That's funny. My friend did that with tim's i think the that is a perfect really piece bad piece of advice i think one of the worst in breaking up with someone was here give them a pen like the dad oh yeah john mahoney's advice yeah uh diane Quartz advice to her for breaking up with Lloyd is, like, here, give him a pen.
Right, yeah. That's horrible.
That's the worst way. I mean, that's out there with Sex and the City's getting dumped with a Post-it.
Oh, I don't know that episode. Yeah, Karen Bradshaw gets dumped through a post-it by one of her suitors.
Okay. Gotcha.
Well, in Lloyd's defense, when the character says, oh, just go nail a girl who looks just like her, he said, look, I'm taking advice from three guys who are at the gas and gulp and go on a Saturday night. It's like, can I really put value in this advice? Yeah.
He's really just smart, and he knows it's all BS. He knows.
He's so smart. Yeah.
He's so smart. Maybe that's another hidden dating tip from this movie.
It's just like one of my mottos is your true self is always coming out, so just let it shine. And if you're a smart, brainy person, let that intelligence come out.
And I love how Lloyd just likes to let his, you know, wears his brain on his sleeve. Intelligence is obviously really attractive to Diane.
Definitely, definitely. I thought about this quite a bit, sir, and I would have to say, considering what's waiting out there for me, I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career.
I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that.
Next award. This age like fine wine.
What is something from this movie now, gosh, 35, 36 years later that has aged really, really well? And for me as watching this over this last weekend, a couple of things stood out. One is the music.
The music is aged like fine wine. Oh my god, Peter Gabriel.
That song's incredible. Just late 80s music.
And not to sound cheesy here, but just Lloyd really believing in his worth. He knows he's not the cool kid in school.
He's not rich. He's got to live with his sister, his real life sister, the amazing Joan Cusack.
But he really believes in his worth. And there's a great moment when one of the classmates at the party comes up to him and says, how did you get a date with her? And he says, I'm Lloyd Dobler.
And he's just understanding his worth and value as a man, as a young man. I think that's timeless as you really have to understand what the worth you bring to the romantic table.
So that's my choice for what's age like fine wine. Any thoughts from you? I agree.
Yeah, no, I agree with everything you're saying. And I think that just the pursuit of love is timeless.
Yeah. That I can just imagine, like, cavemen clunking, you know, some animal on the head and bringing it over to the cavewoman in their pursuit.
I just feel like my children could watch this and it's still relevant to them. That and Lloyd's trench coat.
They're timeless. Yeah, absolutely.
Wow, I've got this image now of a caveman standing outside a cavewoman's cave holding a giant rock over his head or smacking a couple of rocks together. Completely.
Completely. However, they made music.
Yeah, my husband and I always talk about that, like that some of these things are just primal,

like with love, you know.

Yeah.

And we talk about that.

He calls himself a caveman sometimes in that pursuit,

you know, in the pursuit.

But it's timeless.

Pursuing love is timeless to me.

Yeah.

And I think Cameron Crowe's writing,

his screenplay, the writing is timeless. And these characters, I should have mentioned earlier, I just think John Cusack and Ione Skye are absolutely ethereal.
10 out of 10. They're just so, they embody these people.
I can never catch them acting per se. Maybe that's partially the dialogue, but I think their performances are so real.
John Mahoney is incredible, but these two leads are absolutely incredible. As a rom-com movie expert, do you feel the same way or how do you feel about their performances? I love their performances.
One of the things that I found, I guess, uncomfortable and awkward and that's just because you know we cut it's a cultural thing right and is that um diane court's relationship with her father where she tells him everything you know usually if you you're going to talk about you're the first time you you have sex with someone you go to your girlfriends to talk about them he goes to his girlfriends like Albert does but she went to her father and that was awesome but would never ever ever ever happen to me you know my father's a Mexican man from Mexico and no you to this, to this day, I, in, in his eyes, I have not had sex. We have three children, but so it's not that it's unrealistic.
It was just, wow, that is very different. And that's, I guess, like when writing in writing romantic comedies and I, I write them and I am mexican-american and so if i tend to write them with characters that are latino and that brings the cultural element of of things and i just don't think that i could ever write um latino characters telling their parents you know that they just had sex for the first time.
I don't know. I know I couldn't ever imagine my younger self having told my parents, either one of my parents, about that.
Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
I was raised Roman Catholic, so you just didn't talk about that in Ohio in the 80s and 90s. Right.
Forget about it. I mean, and now I really, I think about my own children, and I'm like, I don't know.
I don't know that I would want to know either. You know, I don't know.
That is one left to be addressed, I guess. We're not there yet.
Yeah. No, totally.
I imagine the casting in a rom-com is just so important. Finding the right people to embody these roles.
In your movie, again, there's Vanessa Vasquez and there's Luis, I'm sorry, say his name again. And her, but her female friends.
Oh, they're fabulous. They're incredible.
I just want to hang with them i want to be one of the girls yeah jackie jackie cruz plays ruby and yeah ruby's great as aspiring social media influencer and jackie cruz was on orange is the new black she played um i can't remember her the name of her character but she was one of the cholitas we call them okay and um uh she's actually so so so funny um she's she i think her character was the hardest to play because jackie is very smart and very um she's also very light so she brought that to ruby for sure yeah you know we had vanessa vasquez played adela and she's an entrepreneur um aspiring aspiring to have this beautiful art gallery so she's got this serious business side to her and then christina played by vivian lamoli what is a single mother in our movie say a little prayer and so i think ruby the kind of flighty free spirit has 10 jobs because she won't be tied down to me seems like the hardest one and and jackie cruz nailed it and she has to i thought one of the favorites of our audiences i thought she was wonderful i thought the writing of the so just for the listener who hasn't seen the movie yet ruby is under the impression that the main male actor is into her rather than the um vanessa vasquez's lead female character so ruby's character sorry the character of ruby has to get it think that that Luis's character is into her. And the reasons why he's not are very believable.
He's a gentleman. He doesn't want to make her feel bad.
But it leads to some conflict between the girlfriends. But Ruby was really embodied in a very real way.
So who you choose really helps deliver a believable character as much as the words on the page, I would think. Absolutely.
Absolutely. And, you know, the audition process is very important.
But it all, I don't know, there's not been one movie that I've produced or written, more produced on the producing side, where we felt like, oh, we was just bad cast we didn't cast that very well i it it has really present we've been presented with such beautiful talent so in this particular one say a little prayer we keep getting that comment over and over that the relationship with the girls is so wonderful yeah nancy the Los Santos did a wonderful job in her writing yeah and be warned guys if you watch the movie you're probably going to fall in love with Vanessa Vasquez the lead actress I did my girlfriend said okay she's your hall pass if it ever happens oh wow that's awesome although back in the day my hall pass would have been Ioni Sky from Say Anything. Oh, wow.
Okay, back to the rom-comies. Let's talk about the next category.
What aged like warm milk? What has aged poorly from this movie? I think the big thing is there's something that's going on in 80s rom-coms. There was a lot of overly persistent men who were coming on a little strong at times.
And there's, of course, I think the boombox scene from this movie is arguably more famous than the movie itself. Such an iconic image, such an incredible image that more people probably know the boombox scene than actually have seen say anything.
But of course, there was a lot of movies happening back then where the guy would just, you know, I don't know if you've ever seen, what was the Brat Pack movie, San Elmo's Fire, where Emilio Estevez's character drives hours and hours to essentially stalk a female character. We've got Lloyd with the boombox outside her window.
And anyway, I think that has not aged all that well for obvious reasons. No, no, no.
But the boombox scene, so again, I'm Mexican-American and in our culture we have theade. Okay.
And it was with trios outside of the window.

And that really was, even watching it with my husband on Friday,

we were re-watching it.

And he's like, oh, this is the modern serenade for serenata.

And so I really, truly appreciated it.

I think that would have aged well, the kind of imposing nature of these male characters yeah, that didn't age too well that is very much a part of the 90s back then I think luckily we're. Luckily, we're in a different era now.
Yeah. But, okay, next category, the recasting couch.
According to my very cursory internet research, a couple other actors considered for the role of Lloyd were Robert Downey Jr. Oh, my goodness.
And Christian Slater. And I could see Downey doing this.
He has that hyperverbal vibe of Lloyd Dobler. Christian Slater.
And I could see Downey doing this. He has that hyper verbal vibe of Lloyd Dobler.
Christian Slater, though, I just feel like he's too cool, too handsome at that age to come off like the guy nobody could imagine with Diane Court. Any thoughts on either Downey Jr.
or Christian in these roles? I researched that as well and I saw Robert Downey Jr.

But yeah, Christian Slater, I agree. No, he

was too bad

boy, too

cool for this.

That would have actually been a very

like, oh yeah, they belong together. There's

no

pursuit.

I think that would have been a slam dunk.

But I could see Robert

Downey Jr. I think that would have been a slam dunk.
But I could see Robert Downey Jr. I think Matthew Broderick would have been a good voice back then.
I can see Broderick for sure. Yeah, that would have worked.
That would have worked. And I didn't really look and find out who Ione Skye was up against, but I just can't imagine anybody.
Jennifer Connelly.

Ooh, okay. There you go.

Yeah.

There you go.

And, uh, yeah. I, I think.

How do you think that would have been if Jennifer Connelly played that role?

Um, well, there was another one that was also Elizabeth Shue was being considered for that.

I think Elizabeth Shue would have been just as good as in that role over Jennifer Connelly, I think. I used to love Elizabeth Shue and she was in the Babysitter's Club and all that.
So I think she would have been great too. Cocktail.
She's in Cocktail. Of course.
Karate Kid. Yeah.
I had a major crush on her back in the day. Oh, yeah.
There's something about Ioni Skye's smile. Yeah.
She's got a beautiful smile, and you can imagine, oh, that's the beautiful woman, young woman, who was just so focused on school and grades that she just basically was not very socialized until the until very late in the day and somehow she captures that really well yeah she did a great job she's she's just so pretty and when she came out in that dress uh the white dress when lloyd went to pick her up at the house his reaction i reacted the same way it She looks amazing. Yeah.
Well, that's the next category, the what are they wearing award in a good way. I think she looked incredible in that dress.
They did a great job of having the, oh my gosh, isn't this person beautiful moment. And yeah, I think that white dress did it.
And of course, as you mentioned, Lloyd's trench coat is pretty iconic yeah although both my husband and i when we were watching it i was watching it again he had not seen say anything which surprised me the white dress was gorgeous but when she when she arrived at the school i was i mean at the school i'm sorry at the party i was just like oh my god she's so overdressed with the flower in her hair yeah but he didn't you know there's no way he cared there's just no way he cared how great was that party scene oh it was amazing it felt like I was watching it almost like an Altman movie it's like there was just random moments happening there wasn't a real narrative they're not even together at the. It reminded me of parties.
I don't know what parties are like now, but it reminded me of parties back then where you just go and go off to whatever room or your clique and just, all right, see you later. I'll be with these people over here.
Yeah. I loved, you know what I loved about that party was the how responsible the kid the the the the kids were this the party goers they had a was a key master right where one person would not allow anybody to drive I I thought that was so responsible and so it made me feel better about like why didn't people do this, know so and that was part of part of the whole the charm of it like he people saw lloyd dobler as a responsible person you know someone they could count on to not to help them not make the wrong decisions right and imagining diane looking at lloyd from that of view.
I'd forgotten that they aren't even together for most of the party because he's the key master. But it's so cute, they keep checking in with each other.
Yeah. Well, he keeps checking in with her.
Right. And it was just silly because she could have just walked over and stood next to him as he was the key master, but whatever, fine, fine.
But I feel like one of the things I tell my clients is I say, a woman's going to notice everything, great and small. And so don't be on all the time in terms of having to be witty and amazing, but just be aware that

little things make a big difference. And so I imagine Diane noticed how he kept checking in with her, which was sweet.
And there was that incredible moment later when he says, oh, don't watch out for that broken glass. The glass.
And she just said, oh, finally a gentleman who's thinking of me first. And I just thought all these little moments that kind of allow us to in storytelling language they it's showing not telling which I love as a movie fan to add to that when Lloyd Lloyd was checking in on her and this is like this may have been a well it's the director and writer the same but in one moment um Lloyd was checking in on her and she's by herself and she turned to the camera and kind of cringed and rolled her eyes and I thought he lost her.
Like we, both my husband and I were like, oh no, he's sort of like stalking, stalker, getting stalker vibes again. But then the next scene was with Corey, the Liv Tyler character, Lily, excuse me, Lily Tyler character.
And Lily Tyler is talking about Lloyd to her. You're so lucky.
And that's when Diane says, he's so sweet, he checks up on me. Look.
And they turn around and sure enough, he's there so it also helps when like somebody else talks you up yep new category wing wingman or wingwoman award absolutely love that uh yeah i love lily taylor we're gonna get to her in a second because i'm a huge fan of her in this movie uh next category next award did they make kissery where we talk about their kissing chemistry actually you're welcome i would love to hear your point of view on kissing and rom-coms and what can go right or wrong but it wasn't the first time they kissed it kind of melted me it was when they said good night at the end of that first night in the in the morning and they don't kiss but they hug oh that Oh, that little hug. It was so sweet and innocent.
She like threw herself into him. That just melted me.
Yeah. Yeah.
Talk about a rom-com moment that I've had that kind of moment happen a couple of times in real life and wow. Um, so it wasn't even their first kiss that I, that stood out to me, although their chemistry was,

I think, very, you know, pretty above average. It was just that sweet way they kind of fell into each other's arms and like, and it was just, wow, they really like each other.
It was just, it was so innocent. Yeah.
I agree. I love that hug.
It was, I don't think I've ever seen that

since then.

It was just a hug.

She was hooked.

And I don't think I've ever seen that since then. Like, it's just a hug where she was hooked.
And because their first kiss was awkward. It was like after her driving, he was helping her learn how to drive, and they kind of kissed.
You're right. It was a little awkward, wasn't it? It was just like pecks, like Woody Woodpeody woodpecker and so the next but the next scene there was one of my favorite where they were kissing in the rain and um oh that was just so beautiful like just visually beautiful and romantic and not a care in the world um so yeah for the first the hug was great the first kiss not so good but that you know obviously it got better what about when you're making a movie pull back the curtain for us if you can okay in terms of getting a really good kiss any do's and don'ts that you have to help your actors achieve i don't know what that what that's like to make a movie uh what's it like trying to get that great kiss happen on on the screen so i directed a movie called free lunch and this was with all seventh graders and uh you that one is on amazon prime as well and i had there was a a kiss that had to happen and it was in the middle of a dance and um they're seventh graders and so but these two kids connell um connor william barrett and jovie lee such professionals but it was covid around that it was uh it was like 2021 post covid right up so we still had to follow all these protocols and so we were outside and we made this outside area look like we were inside but behind the cameras were no lie probably about 65 people watching parents who were there there are other kids who were there and connor leans in and he's like can you make them all go away and i said connor that would take so long just just they're not here and it doesn't have to be you don't have to hold it for long just enough for us to capture it and they And they were so nervous.
And so really, in that moment, we couldn't clear the stage fast enough because of time. And so we just had to make them as comfortable as we could in that moment.
And they did great. And they did great.
And nobody oohed and awed, which really helpful, because that would have been the end of us. But I think that it's like really creating a comfortable, even for adults, a comfortable set.
You know? And now what I actually love for more, you know, this isn't really in rom-coms, but, for example, Divorce Bait is a comedy, and it's a little bit more of a raunch comedy, like in the spirit of Girls Trip. And there were moments where it was alluded to, you know, things that were intimate.
And so I love that we now have the intimacy coordinators, you know, that there's rules. And I, as a woman, appreciate it so much.
and I i when we didn't have like an official before that we would have women in the in the room and i would be in the room and if i was just producer so um yeah that's what happens behind the scenes just really making people feel comfortable yeah step by step cute oh. I can't imagine being seventh grader with all those people watching me.
Oh, my goodness. They did a great job.
And they had to do it, I think, they had to do five takes maximum. And every time I would say, okay, we need to get one more time, both of them would give me the evil eye.
Are you kidding me? So cute. cute okay next category is the no one talks like this in real life award oh my gosh it's a little tricky because cameron crow movies are so naturalistic and it's hard to find that that sounds like a movie for me what stood out was um again back to the gas and sip when the guy when lloyd's been dumped and one of the one of his pal says we're gonna find you a hot-lipped babe nobody talks like that i i was alive in the late 80s nobody was so hot hot hot-lipped babe that was the one moment that didn't sound like believable dialogue to me did anything jump out to you so the one that jumped out to me was the scene at the party where Lloyd's outside and the counselor comes to

the party. Oh, B.B outside and the counselor comes to the party bb new earth yeah yeah and uh and so the counselor gets out of the and she goes to this party like that to me was unbelievable right and she sits there and they talk about like what are you going to do with your life lloyd everybody told me it Everybody told us what their career choice was going to be.
And it just seemed a little expository for me. That's like the only writing critique I had that really stood out.
Like, number one, why would anybody invite adults to this party? Why is the 30-year-old counselor at this party with a bunch of 18-year-olds? Correct. Yeah, that was the only thing.
Gotcha. Just because I had to find something.
But you're right. That's weird.
What is it? The sip and go? Gas and sip. Yeah, gas and sip.
Find you a hot-lipped babe. And then, oh, man.
How about this? So, B.B. Neuwirth, who plays Lilith on Frasier.
Yeah. I'm sorry, on Cheers and guest star there on Frasier in a movie with Frasier's dad.
Oh, man. Parallel universes.
Who knows? Okay. Next category, the Judy Greer Award.
For the side character who deserves their own movie.

For me, this is an easy choice.

I think Lily Taylor as Corey is incredible.

The song she sings, the heartbroken song she sings about the guy who ended it with her.

I think she's a scene stealer.

The whole movie about her writing bitter love songs, her finding love, I would love to see a movie about Corey, Lily Taylor. Absolutely.
And that song, Joe Lies, Joe Lies and Cries, must be made into a single. Joe Lies.
What a scumbag he is, that character. Oh my gosh, so hard.
But the fact that he's even in there, the fact that we get to meet him and see what a douchebag he is yeah and again it'd been so long since i'd seen this until recently for your chat with me today that i i wasn't i wasn't sure what was going to happen i'd forgotten and i was waiting for her to collapse into his arms instead she's like yeah you're not good enough for me yeah yes yeah i love i love her in that. Yeah.
Okay. Next, we have another category I just made up, so it's okay if you're not ready for this one.
I just was thinking of some fun things to talk about. This is called the Oscar Doesn't Go To Award for overacting.
It's just a small moment. This is when an actor just dials it up to an 11 and isn't necessary.
It's when Jeremy Piven is freaking out at the party and about the keys or whatever he's yelling about. And that's the moment when Lloyd has to say, you must chill, you must chill.
But Piven dials that way up to 11. Other than that, I felt like everybody was really grounded and totally believable.
That was the moment where I thought, okay, dial it down there, Jeremy. Yeah, I would have to say I agree.
I totally agree. The first time was really funny, and then it was a little much.
But I still, again, I appreciated there was these characters in the 90s movies that, like, there, I don't know, what was the movie? Another John Cusack movie where there was this kid that was running around asking John Cusack's character, I think it's One Crazy Summer for $2. And the kid would just be on a fight.
I want my $2. $2.
Yes. I forget the name of it, but I know exactly what you mean.
Is it One Crosby Summer? I think it's a different name, but I know exactly the movie. Better Off Dead.
Thank you. Nailed it.
Yes. Better Off Dead.
And it's just these random little moments, and I think that this was one of them. It really made me think like, oh, this is those quirky moments,

these quirky characters that just have a presence for like 15 seconds

and then they're gone.

Right.

The genre swap award for possible other names for this movie

if it was remade in different genres.

Let me throw a couple ideas at you.

Okay.

Horror movie.

I know you said anything last summer.

Yes.

Throwing it out there.

Or Nightmare on Dobbler Street.

Oh, that's a good one.

I wouldn't mind seeing that.

Or Cinemax After Dark.

Lay Anything.

Oh.

Starring Deep Lloyd.

Oh, goodness.

You went there. Mine for the Cinemax after Dark was Moan Anything.
Ooh. There you go.
There you go. Terrible.
Terrible. Oh, my goodness.
All right. Next, the tear-jerking trophy.
I think we already talked about this, the moment that really got your heart. Well, maybe you have another one for this.
For me, it was that sweet little non-kiss hug at the end of their first date that we already talked about. That teared me up a little bit.
And then just the moment when they're holding hands and about to fly off into the great unknown in the airplane in the very last scene. That got me.
I didn't actually choke up, but I could feel the heart strings being tugged. What moment tugged most of your heartstrings? The moment where after she breaks up with him and she hands him the pen.
Oh, of course. It's raining once again.
So it was really juxtaposing the kiss in the rain for me. He's on the phone with his sister in the phone booth.
and he says, you know, she gave me a pen.

I gave her my heart, and she gave me a pen. Like, even now, I'm affected by that.
Like, it was tearjerker. I felt so bad for him, you know.
Yeah. It was such a beautiful.
It takes you back to whoever your first breakup was, the first time you were broken up with. For me, it was Angie in college.
And I remember I just slept on a cot in my apartment for two weeks, never talking to anybody, thinking, well, life is over for me. I'll never find love again.
And come to think of it, yeah, that's probably how Lloyd feltoyd felt yeah okay um happily ever after or happily never after in other words what's the over under on how long these two last they're so young i mean they're going off to london so i suppose it'll last as long as she's there in london uh but i can't see it going uh more than more than the duration of her... 20s.
Yeah. Basically, as long as they're in London, they have a shot.
But they're kids. They're basically each other's first loves.
So they're going to look back on each other as each other's first true loves. But I think it's got six months max.
Oh, six months. Wow.
Okay i'll keep it till like the end of their 20s

you really think there's a long term longer term chance yeah well i i mean i i don't know i i have i'm of the i'm a believer in that you in your 20s you should go out and date as much as you can and get you know, get things, you know, get that out of your system, you know, kiss a frog or two. And then in your 30s, that's when you can start really thinking about marriage and stuff like that.
So I just, I gave him just a little more than, I mean, a lot more than you did, but I mean, if they were, I think he would, he would want to marry her, but I think she would eventually get bored. Okay.
You know, I don't know. But you know what, but there's that, there's another moment in the movie where, and I forget the exact quote, but he basically says, no matter what happens, I had the time with her I had.
And I feel like he's always going to have Diane Court as something to feel confident about. I tell my clients that.
If it ends with a woman you were really into, I try to encourage them to say, okay, well, she wasn't the one long-term, but that means you're capable of a wonderful woman in your life. And it won't be her, maybe forever, but that means you can find somebody fantastic.
So hopefully think i think you're right i think diane will end it with lloyd eventually and lloyd is smart enough and resilient enough to say okay this happened for me not to me let me find somebody who's even better for me agreed that's my hope anyway two final categories uh the grand gesture award here's my question for you about this since we already pretty much talked about the boombox moment this iconic grand gesture that that's arguably more famous in the movie itself if you back your younger self your younger younger singer single self if a man was standing outside of your home with a boombox what song would you want him to be playing with the boom box oh man or would you prefer it to be you mentioned the uh the um trio of singers right the trio i mean not that i prefer it but what i mean any any uh i used to be into r&. Okay.
And so I don't, it's so R&B love songs back then, like Keith Sweat, you know, um, Johnny Gale. Okay.
Any of those really romantic, um, songs that they sang, um, would really tug at my heart strings. It was just, it's so nostalgic for for me but so any of those songs on a boombox would be fun great i love it for me if a woman were ever going to do that to me i'm a musical theater nerd so give me suddenly seymour okay you're so funny i'm a sucker for musical theater okay last category last big question

what is this movie's biggest love lesson i thought about this as i was watching it and to me this movie just hit me in the in the strongest way like a like a sledgehammer in a great way when Lily Taylor's Corey says to Lloyd,

so Diana's broken up with him, and he's, you know, he's upset, and he's trying to decide how to play it, you know, should I do this, should I do that, should I play it cool, and Lily Taylor just says something so powerful, she says, look, the world is full of guys, don't be a guy, be a man, And basically, she's saying to him, you know, she's dealing with a lot of stuff.

Her dad's issues with the law um empathy give her space don't play games just be a man not a guy and i thought oh my god what an amazing lesson from this movie be a be a man not a guy that's that was my biggest love lesson what are you talking about like why do you have to be like this because i'm a guy i have pride you're not a guy i am no no the world is full of guys be a man don't be a guy yeah no i i love that i didn't even think of that i feel like um you know in the beginning scene they say're having that conversation, and then they discuss what's a scam.

Lloyd says, what's a scam?

Corey says, going out as friends.

DC says, no, it's not.

The scam is lusting.

And then Lloyd and Corey say, then what's a date?

Prearranged with the possibility for love. And then Corey says, Corey say then what's a date pre-arranged with the possibility for love and then Corey says yes well then what's love and so I feel like there's a whole moving answer is just that and for me it's like uh when it comes to love you just have to take a chance and to what you're saying I think with Lloyd it was even if it was 16

weeks he was willing to be with her and that was his sole purpose and then he'd worry about um 16 you know past the 16 weeks when it came right well the cliche it's a cliche but I think it's true better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Right.
Well, the cliche, it's a cliche, but I think it's true. Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
Right. And he will always have had her in his life and vice versa if it doesn't last long term.
And hey, by now he's probably a champion kickboxer. Right.
You know, with some of wiping kids. Wonderful.
Christina, thank you so much for being here. This was a blast.
Well, thank you for having me. And I'd want to let everybody know that Say a Little Prayer is coming out on Amazon Prime and Apple TV on Valentine's Day.
and so it could be a Galentine's or a Valentine's Day event for you. Yep.
But please enjoy it. It's directed by Patrick Perez Vidauri, written by Nancy De Los Santos, and led, produced by yours truly.
And the very funny Chris Kattan is in it from SNl fame he's great and tatanka means um we have a telenovela royalty and angelica maria yeah for those of you out there who whose parents watched telenovelas growing up okay and there's just again there's so many moments in the movie that are just fun and charming and sweet. And also as a, again, as a man who coaches men and dating, there's lots of little tips that are sort of buried in the movie.
You know, how to, how to start a conversation with a woman in an art museum. Or say a little prayer.
There's an actual prayer that they say to St. Anthony and it is how they all find love.
So when in doubt light a candle. And what's next for you in movies? Any projects you can tell us about that are coming down the road? Yeah, so I currently I'm writing I'm writing a horror.
Yeah, I'm going to deliver that. And then I wrote a romantic comedy.
It's a teen comedy. And actually I really have John Cusack in mind and Molly Ringwald.
And so that is something that we're going to try to get funding for this year and pack it. But I wrote a teen comedy that harkens back to the 90s, the movies of the 90s.
So count me in. My focus will be this year.
Count me in. Well, Christina Nava, thank you so much for being on the How to Get a Girlfriend podcast, talking about one of your favorite rom-coms.
Thank you for listening, by the way. I know you have a million podcasts out there you can be listening to.
Thanks for spending some time today with Christina and myself. And don't forget, just like Lloyd Dobler learned with Diane Court, your dream girlfriend, she's out there and she's going to love you, but she's going to have to meet the real authentic you so go out there take those romantic risks like lloyd had to take and be authentic and

carpe datum seize the date till next time