8 Things a Cameron Crowe Movie Always Has

In Aloha, Bradley Cooper's character is at a professional and personal crossroads, caught between his old career and his new one, and likewise, between an ex and a new love interest. Cameron Crowe's films always feature a male protagonist with as many issues. He may be unsure about his future, as in Say Anything; he may be grieving, as in We Bought a Zoo and Elizabethtown; maybe he just lost his job, like in Jerry Maguire and Elizabethtown; and maybe he's not even sure of his identity, like in Vanilla Sky. Either way, this guy is in no shape to take on a relationship.

But somehow that's exactly what the soulful male protagonist at a crossroads gets: someone to love! There is aways a romance of some sort in a Cameron Crowe film, and often, the love interest is out of his reach. Say Anything's Diane Court (Ione Skye) is the archetype for this, but she's also the rare example where the guy gets the ungettable girl. In later Crowe films, he never gets her (Almost Famous), or he dates her and then loses her (Vanilla Sky, Jerry Maguire, Elizabethtown).

Don't feel bad for the Crowe hero who doesn't get his dream girl — that guy always gets someone better: the girl he was not expecting to fall for. Maybe she's just some co-worker he never noticed (Jerry Maguire), a quirky flight attendant (Elizabethtown), or maybe she works at his, you know, zoo (We Bought a Zoo). Emma Stone's character, assigned to be a guide of sorts for Cooper's character in Aloha, is the latest, perfect example of this.

Did I mention that every one of these love interests, attainable or not, is breathtakingly gorgeous? I know it's Hollywood, but damn, Crowe's guys do really well for themselves.

Ever since Diane gave Lloyd a pen and Dorothy completed Jerry, Crowe has been making us swoon. And speaking of Crowe's skillful writing . . .

"Show me the money!" — Jerry Maguire
"I gave her my heart, she gave me a pen." — Say Anything
"I am a golden god!" — Almost Famous
"We bought a zoo!" — We Bought a Zoo

Crowe writes pithy dialogue meant to be repeated. Jerry Maguire is endlessly quotable, for better or worse, and Say Anything has all the things you wish boys would have said to you in high school.

From Dorothy's son, Ray, in Jerry Maguire to Ben's daughter, Rosie, in We Bought a Zoo, Crowe has a soft spot for young, adorable actors. The tradition is continued with Rachel McAdams's photogenic kids in Aloha.

Crowe has great instincts for music (or perhaps it's the fact that he's married to Heart's Nancy Wilson), and there are always iconic music moments in his movies. Chief among them are Almost Famous's "Tiny Dancer" sing-along, Lloyd Dobler's gut-wrenching boombox moment, and in Aloha, a special Hall & Oates treat.