If ever a movie were crying out for a remake, it was probably not the '80s teen comedy Can't Buy Me Love, a Patrick Dempsey vehicle about a teenage loser who hires the most popular girl in high school to pretend to be his girlfriend. Yet here we are with Love Don't Cost a Thing, a completely gratuitous re-do that's nevertheless harmless enough to be a fun diversion.
Most of the credit has to go to the stars, Nick Cannon and Christina Milian. Cannon takes over the Dempsey role as Alvin Johnson, a nerdy kid who spends most of his time studying and working on his own car engine to compete for an engineering scholarship. He and his group of sidekicks, fellow nerds all, who worship popular hottie Paris Morgan (Milian), head cheerleader and girlfriend of one of those NBA stars who joined the league right out of high school.
When Paris wrecks her mom's car, Alvin leaps to the rescue, spending the hard-earned cash he should be using to build his engine to fix the car. In exchange, Paris agrees to be his pretend girlfriend for two weeks, giving him the perfect in with the in-crowd. This is much to the delight of Alvin's ex-playa dad (a perfectly-cast Steve Harvey) and to the horror of his geek chorus, as their one-time friend sports gangsta threads and hangs with his new homeboys.
Of course, Alvin has to learn to be himself, appreciate the talents he has, and not waste the money he was supposed to spend on his future on becoming popular. Paris, too, learns to be true to herself, and the message, while obvious, is a good one to bring to teens, especially in the urban markets the movie targets. Cannon and Milian have a nice chemistry, and the supporting cast, including Harvey and Saturday Night Live's Kenan Thompson, bring decent comic relief.
This isn't a film that breaks any new ground, and it won't leave a lasting impression on you once you exit the theater, but it's a sweet story with its heart in the right place, and that's saying something for a teen movie these days.