Picking up the torch relinquished by John Hughes at decade’s end as a serio-comic chronicler of young adults’ hearts and souls, Crowe made a lilting directorial debut from his own original screenplay. Off-the-beaten-path John Cusack woos the smartest girl in class, Ione Skye, but their deepening relationship is met with disapproval by her dad John Mahoney. With memorable musical interjections from Lili Taylor.