After their first date, Diane Court tells Lloyd Dobler she likes him because he's "basic." She regrets calling him that, but it really is the best word to describe the underachieving kickboxer -- as well as what makes Say Anything... such a beautiful film. It's Cameron Crowe's most basic, humble piece of work to date -- and still his best.

The premise is pretty simple: Lloyd (John Cusack), a slacker, has a crush on the valedictorian, Diane (Ione Skye). They go out. They fall for each other. They face some challenges because they just graduated. Now that doesn't sound very interesting at all, but it's John Cusack who saves this movie from being a pile of cheese. As Lloyd, he delivers perhaps the most believable performance ever of a high school idiot who thinks he knows what love is. And we love him for that -- still, 20 years later.

Who couldn't relate with Lloyd and Diane (at some point in our lives)? They're young, innocent, ripe with romance. They kiss in the rain. They write each other love notes. They make love in the backseat. The famous scene where Lloyd holds a boom box above his head sums it up perfectly: This is a movie about all the stupid stuff we did when we were young and didn't care.

We don't care what Lloyd and Diane do, either, because they're such damn fine people. On a sidewalk, Lloyd kicks away a pile of glass so Diane doesn't step on it. How could anyone not like this guy? As for Diane, she's a volunteer at a retirement home, a total sweetheart without a single negative thing to say. We really want their relationship to work out because, heck, this is the relationship we all wish we had, and these are people we wish we could be.

Of course, you know there's going to be a break up, because otherwise this wouldn't be much of a movie. In romantic comedies that's usually our least favorite part, but in Say Anything's case it's the best chunk of the film. It's the most raw, juiciest portion, like the center of a good steak.

To digress from film for a moment -- in literature, it was around the late 19th century that authors realized character psychology was far more interesting than plot (because every story had already been told). And Crowe's true brilliance shines in his characters, such as Lloyd Dobler, Jerry Maguire, and Russell Hammond. What's really puzzling is this is the same director that made Vanilla Sky -- which sits near the top of my list of most disappointing films of all time. That film is 1 percent character and 99 percent plot -- and boy, is the story God awful. His last film Elizabethtown is horrible for similar reasons.

What happened to Crowe? Where are our heartbroken kickboxers, has-been sport agents, and budding rock-and-roll journalists? We miss them.

There's a key line in Say Anything that Diane delivers in her graduation speech: "I have glimpsed our future. And all I can say is... go back."

Let's hope Crowe heeds her advice.

The 20th Anniversary Blu-ray disc includes commentary track from cast and crew, a look back at the film, interviews and making-of featurettes, plus copious deleted and alternate footage.