September First Friday: Back to School Movie Night
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” No, it was not Confucius that said that. It was that sage of sages, Ferris Bueller, as played (unforgettably, most would argue) by Matthew Broderick.
Sandwiched in between PRETTY IN PINK and SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL, screenwriter John Hughes told a different kind of high school story in FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF, which became the biggest box office hit of his directorial career, grossing just over $70 million in 1986 (that was more than the combined takes of THE BREAKFAST CLUB and WEIRD SCIENCE, his two previous films). Instead of focusing on teenage cliques or young lovers from two different worlds, Hughes instead turned his attention to something nearly everyone does at one time or another: playing hooky. And nobody played it better than Ferris.
Breaking the “fourth wall” was a big idea in the mid-1980s — Tom Stoppard’s characters were doing it on Broadway in plays like THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND and Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis did it multiple times in episodes of MOONLIGHTING — and Ferris frequently tells his story directly to us throughout the movie. And what a tale it is, involving a snotty sister (Jennifer Grey), a borderline-deranged principal (Jeffrey Jones), a scared-of-everything best friend named Cameron (Alan Ruck), a lovely and up-for-anything girlfriend named Sloane (Mia Sara), a stolen Ferrari, a parade, a memorable appearance by Charlie Sheen (only a few months before PLATOON would make him a star), a near-comatose teacher (Ben Stein) who keeps droning “Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?”, a severly stuck-up waiter who wails “I weep for the future!” and so much more. While FERRIS BUELLER is much rowdier and goofier than THE BREAKFAST CLUB and PRETTY IN PINK, underneath it all is the same general message: The best part of high school is getting out of it. Even if it’s only for one crazy, unforgettable day. (James Sanford)
Rated PG -13 / 1986 / Running time 1 hour 43 minutes
