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Better Off Dead (1985)
IMDb listing
Film grade: A

	© 1985 A&M Films / All Rights Reserved

When was the last time you saw a teen comedy this good? Or, more importantly, when was the last time you saw a performance as good as Cusack's in a teen comedy? This film is a comedic classic, and Cusack is the reason why. He plays aimless, frustrated Lane Myer, a high schooler who just got dumped by his girlfriend. Seeing his life as now worthless, he considers ending it all, until he meets a new girl. There are tons of great moments — the paperboy, the ski slope, snorting snow ("Everybody wants some") — but credit goes to Cusack for holding it all together. As a young actor, he was way ahead of his time — going for laughs with his subtle charm and sarcastic disposition instead of using toilet humor and stupid sex jokes. It didn't occur to me how good Cusack is in this movie until I watched it again recently. He emotes the understated wit of a young Bill Murray (a compliment of the highest order).

Best line: "Gee, I'm real sorry your mom blew up, Ricky."

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True Colors (1991)
IMDb listing
Film grade: B-

	© 1991 Paramount Pictures / All Rights Reserved

Cusack plays Peter Burton, an ambitious but unscrupulous law school student. James Spader plays his best friend, a fellow student who, unlike Burton, is an honest, ethical-to-a-fault crusader. The film follows the two out of law school and into the real world — Spader takes a job with the Justice Department, while Cusack maneuvers his way into politics. Whadaya know? Their careers ultimately intersect. The movie isn't really that good, despite a talented cast and great acting, and chemistry from both leading men. It's great, however, to watch Cusack sink his teeth into a bad guy character for a change. He absolutely nails the part of the slimy, yet charming, politician while adding another dimension of guilt and loneliness under the surface. It's one thing to play an over-the-top villain, but it's entirely something else to make him human and sympathetic as well. Cusack pulls it off with ease.

Best line: "We may not always get what we want, we may not always get what we need, just so long as we don't get what we deserve."

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High Fidelity (2000)
IMDb listing
Film grade: A-

	© 2000 Touchstone Pictures / All Rights Reserved

I've read the book. If you think there's anybody else out there that could have played Rob Gordon, you're suspect. If you think there's someone out there that could have done a better job than Cusack, then you brain leaked out of your ear during deep sleep and no one's told you yet. Find your brain, see the movie. Cusack does it all (except gunfights and explosions). As Gordon, Cusack is a record store owner struggling with love and relationships after his latest breakup. It's a testament to the actor's charisma that he can play a character so glib, so pretentious and so utterly lost and still remain incredibly appealing and entertaining. Film monologues are usually annoying and unnecessary but in "High Fidelity" Cusack, with the camera all to himself, creates the best moments of the movie. The romance, the wit, the sincerity, the sadness, the haughtiness — it's all there. I don't care what the Golden Globes thought this year. Cusack knocked the competition off the stage in this romantic-comedic role, and I can't wait to see him do it again.

Best line: "How does a regular guy like me become the number one lover man?"

< 2 >
Say Anything (1989)
IMDb listing
Film grade: A

	©: 1989 20th Century Fox / All Rights Reserved

While reviewing this movie again, it amazed me how easily Cusack engaged the audience with the indelible character of Lloyd Dobler. Cusack never appears as if he's consciously trying to get a laugh or a smile or a heart-tug. He effortlessly communicates Dobler's confusion and melancholy, as in the scene where Dobler gives the classic dinner table diatribe about his plans for the future ("I don't want to sell anything..."). In this romantic comedy, Cusack redefines the role of a romantic leading man by stripping away the toughness and traditional good looks of that convention. Dobler is simply an ordinary guy who wants to be extraordinary at one thing — loving Diane (Ione Skye), the girl of his dreams. Praise goes to Cameron Crowe, that master of simple, heartfelt dialogue, for making a great "boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy tries to get girl back" story. But without Cusack's impeccable performance, the movie wouldn't be half as good. "Say Anything" is another example of Cusack's subtle, less-is-more style completely dominating an entire film.

Best line: "I'm looking for a dare-to-be-great situation."

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Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
IMDb listing
Film grade: A+

	© 1997 Caravan Pictures / All Rights Reserved

This is the ultimate Cusack movie, a classic black comedy that combines the best of the actor's skills. Before this film I had wondered if Cusack could successfully showcase his brooding, subtle nature in dramatic roles with the frantic, edgy humor from his comedies. In "Grosse Pointe Blank" he brings the two sides together, playing a hit man returning to his hometown for a high school reunion. It would be easy to screw up an idea like this, but director George Armitage and Cusack, who also co-produced, crafted a great film, making Blank comically vulnerable and withdrawn but at the same time shrewd and playful. The scenes with Alan Arkin, who brilliantly plays Blank's unwilling psychiatrist, are classic. Cusack also gets to display his sincerity and emotion with Minnie Driver as his former high school girlfriend, and he flexes his physical chops as well in a few superb action scenes. It's his most appealing character and his best role to date.

Best line (too many to choose from, but here's one): "I just honestly don't know what I have in common with those people anymore. I mean, what am I going to say ? 'I killed the president of Paraguay with a fork. How have you been?'"

And if this were a top ten list I'd tell you to also check out "The Grifters," "Being John Malkovich," "Eight Men Out," "Pushing Tin," and "Con Air."