TonyMontana96
(Originally reviewed: 20/03/2017) John Hughes's first directed picture is a mixed bag, some of it works, some of it doesn't, and having already seen well-made films of his like The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink, it just feels like a step down, but I'll give it one thing; it's better than the overrated Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The story here is fairly predictable, and follows the vain of teen films before where its main character is secretly in love with someone who either doesn't know or they cannot have and though this was one of the earlier entries with this story, I still didn't find it mesmerising or anything truly engaging. As for the acting, it's actually adequate, Molly Ringwald (Samantha) play's an unnoticed, fairly average high school student, and she's always likable, occasionally funny and fairly charming, here she gives a solid performance. Anthony Michael Hall play's a freshman with a lot of courage and charisma who tries to improve his status by showing how good he is with women, which he evidently wasn't, but yet again this character was well thought out, Hall himself was likable, and at times amusing and he has some really good sequences, including one where he and Ringwald are having a chat away from the school prom or whatever they call these teen get-together's. Then you have actor's like John Cusack and Joan Cusack here as well, and John Cusack was decent, whereas Joan Cusack's character, in which she plays a cripple was used In bad taste and I was shaking my head at how they would need to include such a character and set of gags; there's plenty of things that are funny, a disabled person isn't one of them.Other character's included, the jock that is interested in the quiet girl played by an okay Justin Henry, and a Chinese character called Long Duk Dong, who was a little too over the top and not really that funny, just like the grandparents in this picture, that were tremendously forgettable, just like some of the other side characters, that include the guy who played Ringwald's little brother, but I think Haviland Morris as Ringwald's best friend (Caroline) and rich, drunken party girl, Ginny played by Blanche Barker were pretty good, and Blanche Barker's portrayal of her character was a lot better than I was expecting after seeing her character being a typical cliché early on, but it's nice to see the character's here develop with the story, the film at least shows some personality If not much in terms of good humour; Which leads me to that point, the jokes are either hit or miss, but when they do hit there worth a chuckle at best most of the time, little more. The soundtrack however is pretty cool and includes some good 80's classics.Hughes's screenplay just feels slightly rushed too, rather than develop a romance of some sort, he opts to just give both Ringwald and Henry's character's a mere one scene where they actually exchange dialogue, and expect us to believe there in love, for which I couldn't' buy, not even for a second, had he spent more time on this part of the picture, the film might have fared better in my opinion. Other thing's that I really didn't like included a sequence near the beginning, when Samantha's (Ringwald) Grandmother feels her breasts while telling her how she's growing up, now this is not realistic I have never known anyone to do such a thing, it's weird and extremely stupid, and definitely not funny, like quite a few jokes here, and for a film that is allegedly a classic, I expected a lot better. Although it was nice to hear The Godfather theme, which was well timed, and there are some jokes I liked such as when a certain character gets there hair trapped in the door, and the girl's, very drunk are deciding what to do and upon cutting her hair off to get her free, the reaction all around was amusing, and the dialogue within that scene was decent, which is another thing that is hit and miss here, but speaking of the previous sequence, it didn't feel like a typically clichéd drunk teens moment, which was a little bit of a relief as well. Hughes's direction is on key, he does have knowledge as well on a teen's life, and what they have to cope with, and doesn't make too much of it unrealistic. Overall the solid performances and chemistry from Ringwald and Hall can't save the picture's deadened love story, where I'm expected to buy that, two people can fall in love over a brief conversation and live happily ever after.
Uriah43
"Samantha Baker" (Molly Ringwald) is excited to turn 16 because she knows her family has something special planned for her. Unfortunately, because her older sister "Ginny" (Blanche Baker) is getting married the next day, everyone has totally forgotten all about Samantha. So as she heads off to school, instead of being happy she has become very depressed. Unfortunately, her day is about to get much, much worse because not only is she being pursued by the biggest geek in school (played by Anthony Michael Hall) but the senior she idolizes named "Jake Ryan" (Michael Schoeffling) doesn't even know she exists. At least that is what she thinks. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a fairly good comedy which suffered unnecessarily from a few crude scenes here and there which, quite frankly, could have easily been left out. But I liked it overall due in large part to the excellent performances by the aforementioned Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall. Likewise, having a gorgeous actress like Haviland Morris (as "Caroline Mulford") certainly didn't hurt in any way either. Be that as it may, while I wouldn't recommend it to a general audience, all things considered I rate this movie as slightly above average.
Sam smith (sam_smithreview)
ms like Sixteen Candles personify what the eighties was all about. And if you were a child of the 80s, you will probably identify with this film a lot more than the now younger generation. The story is simple enough, but it works so well. Molly Ringwald is particularly like able in this, and she is almost irreplaceable in her part. There are heaps of familiar faces, including small parts from many of the present day 'movie stars' i.e John Cusack, Joan Cusack and Jami Gertz. It's kind of doggy though, and when you tell people you watched it their response is usually "Oh My God. That is so OLD." But that's what I like about it. If you want to watch a film that reflects the eighties, forget the nostalgia trips of The Wedding Singer and Romy and Michelle. Hire a true eighties product, such as Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, St Elmo's Fire.... The list goes on and on.
