Rating: Summary: An overlooked classic Review: this movie is often overlooked when discussing John Hughes films. I think it shows true teen angst better than any other movie, including the Breakfast Club. It is funy, smart, romantic and suprising. Watch it again.
Rating: Summary: SURPRISING SOPHISTICATION FOR A HIGH SCHOOL FLICK Review: This film is ahead of its time if you consider when it was created. You have skinheads, celtic music (at the end credits) and tomboy (or if you prefer butch) chick long before these things made it out into the mainstream. Remember that this film was released in 1987!The film owes a lot to its screenplay that must have been written by someone who knew exactly what was going on, to a point where the screenplay is lost on casting director. Thus, for instance, the characters live in the area of Southern California near the Mexican border and they even speak of living in "sectors" which is border patrol lingo for different areas. The characters' backgrounds are very believable with a neglected tomboy of a drummer that is punked out and the solid working class hero Keith with artistic talents, one can not help but wonder if Keith was meant to be a Chicano artist from a solid Mexican American family working in a garage and spraypainting murals as his genuine artistic activity. The opening shot of the film points in that direction because it shows Keith crossing over some heavy duty railroad tracks and that has a double significance, first as the right vs wrong side of the "tracks" in a small town, but also signifying the border region between the US and Mexico. The film suffers from casting adults as teenagers, and still more is lost when the casting directr misses out on the cultural idiom. Skinheads are barely recognizable and none of them wear suspenders. The drummer girl, who is apparently a punk rocker, if you look at the walls in her room, has no tattoos or real piercings, and does not look punk. Also, it is a bit odd to hear relatively flat chested Mary Stuard Masterson worrying about sagging breasts, which sounds like a heavy set person's affliction and which would really not be out of character when you consider her pigging out on takeout food and hanging out at Keith's garage because she has no place to go and no family to eat dinner with. Unfortunately none of this screenplay realism made it into the film since it was cast with mainstream actors who only interpreted acting a punk, skinhead or a working class hero, but did not look the part. The film is a great romantic comedy with an dynamite opening sequence (Too bad THAT music did not make it onto the soundtrack!), but then its starts straining the bounds of believability with its fairy tale like qualities, which fail as a source of satire. The perfect date takes a good piece of the film is almost unbearable to watch. Putting the girl waiting in the wings as a chauffeur on a date is a great pun, but it's so corny, that it's painful to see. The actors do a tremedous job, Eric Stoltz giving credence to romantic obssession, something that only Eric Stoltz had been able to do with grace. Mary Stuart Masterson is great as the social outcast with a heart of gold, interaction between them being the best part of the film. The films dialogue is excellent, even in comparison with serious acting films beyond existential dramas with high school as the arena and everyone being a teenager. It loses a star for a few glitches, but it's the best film of its type to come out of the eighties.
Rating: Summary: The Ultimate Feel Good Movie! Review: This was one of the cutest movies you will ever see. Eric Stotz was a place forever in my top actors as a result of this movie. He plays the kid who gets to date the girl who he has a crush on. He practices with another girl for the big date. She secretly has a crush on him also. He goes on his dream date. He and his dream girl show up at a party where the evil source in this movie confronts her and him. He is saved by a street gang thar he was in detention with. The ending is spectacular. This movie has it all. Good music,a good plot,good actors,everything. Buy this video and you will wear it out watching it.
Rating: Summary: THE LAST GREAT 80'S MOVIE! Review: I can say it is great that the 80's went out with a bang thanks in part to this awesome movie. Although in hollywood it seems that only the popular, rich,kids deserve screentime. It is great that John Hughes decided to abandon that cliche' and go with a story about two underdogs one who is so smitten with the popular lead (Lea Thompson of Caroline in the city, Back to the future fame) as the popular girl who is the object of Eric Stolz's affection. The second lead is played by the amazing, versatile, actress Mary Stuart Masterson. The morale of this movie is that you have all you need and you dont even realize it. It is a great movie and surprisely not too dated.
Rating: Summary: Top 5 80¿s Teen Drama w/ Strong Performances Review: I consider this one of the top five best teen movies of the 80's [Can't Buy Me Love, Breakfast Club, 16 Candles, Weird Science]. Additionally, I think it tops its sibling film, Pretty in Pink. The story of an obvious, unrequited love in the face of obsession is an old one. Producer Hughes has visited it often before and after, but the sincerity and heart-felt depth of the performances here makes this a special realization. Tomboy Watts, played by the luminous Mary Stuart Masterson, pines away secretly for her shy, artistic, mechanic best friend Keith [Eric Stoltz]. Stoltz in turn lusts after the school beauty Amanda Jones [Lea Thompson]. Villainy of different degrees is provided by Amanda's snobbish friends, and her current beau the devilish Hardy Jenss [Craig Sheffer giving us a taste of his upcoming Nightbreed persona.] I've always had a soft spot for the Hughes villains; and Hardy as the Corvette driving, Miami Vice homage-ing, cheating, boyfriend stands up well against the languid lizard-like cool of James Spader in Pretty in Pink. Support for Keith is provided by his dad, younger sisters, and a batch of new friends found in the depths of school detention. The movie revolves around Keith's courting of Amanda, and how Watts must stand idly by while her devotion is deflected. It becomes even more heart breaking to observe her chauffeuring the two on their big date; sobbing as she watches the two kiss in the light of an abandoned concert venue. Resolution comes at the party, to Charlie Sexton's Beat So Lonely. Hardy and Keith square off with the results one might expect. As this film ages, after 13 years [!], I continue to enjoy the interplay between the main characters when I see it. There really isn't a weak performance all the way around. As another reviewer mentioned, this is ultimately a sweet, reaffirming movie.
Rating: Summary: Right in there with Sixteen Candles and the Breakfast Club ! Review: A definite teen classic. Before teen movies became lustful sexfests like "American Pie," Generation X-ers had a handful of teen epics that could be related to. It's definitely a feel-good movie and the acting is wonderful. As cheesy as some scenes might be, the overall effect overcomes the cheese-meter. An introspective artist, a pretty rich girl and a smart-mouthed tom-boy look for love in all the wrong places until the end. Petty people become deep, true loves find one another... not exactly reality, but a great flick none-the-less. Perhaps it's nostalgia that puts this film in my personal 5-star category, but when I watch it as a full-fledged adult, I'm not looking back and thinking, "boy was this flick stupid... I can't believe I liked it." Instead, I feel like I'm seeing it again for the first time. It's easy to get emotionally involved with these teens whose parents don't quite get the idea (as hard as some of them might try) of what's going on in their kids' lives. Reminiscent of "Pretty in Pink", all things work out in the end. This film didn't do as well in theaters as it could have because of the unconventional (read: weird) trailers that advertised the film. You just see bluejeans and a drummer hitting drums... I basically saw this film only because Eric Stoltz was in it... but I ended up adoring the film in spite of the cheesy trailer that promised nothing of substance. Gen-Y folks might find this a bit too bubble-gum, but if you're in your early 30s to late 20s and you haven't seen this film, it's your duty to see it. :-) If you're a bit younger, give it a try. It may not be as "sophisticated" as films seem to be today, but it was right on target when it was released. For parents, this film is safe to show to young teens. There is no nudity or sexual inuendo. There is a kissing scene that might cause you to have to fan yourself, but it's a kiss and not heavy petting or anything. There is language, but not above or beyond what can be heard on "NYPD Blue." The film shows the values in true friendships, self-sacrifice, and true love based on sacrifice - not on sex, beauty or money. Relationships between parents and their children and between siblings is also explored in the film. Because of this, it actually has an underlying moral theme that is so lacking in films targeted to teens today.
Rating: Summary: Best kiss! Review: Eric Stoltz, Mary Stuart Masterson and Lea Thompson were all fabulous in this movie. John Hughes managed to capture the reality of young love. He was able to show that sometimes it pays to wait for the right one and often it's who we least expect. The "practice" kiss between Stoltz and Masterson was one of the best kissing scenes ever! The music was timed perfectly....I get a rush every time I see it! This was one of Hughes' best movies!
Rating: Summary: the sweetest movie ever! Review: i really love this flick. its perfect. i have the biggest crush on eric stoltz because of this movie. the soundtrack is also really great. get them both! eric tries hard to get an impossible girl and the whole time his best friend wants to get with him. its just so sweet and everyone needs to see it.
Rating: Summary: classic 80s teenage movie Review: As a person addicted to '80s movies, this is a classic---love, geeks, preps, etc. The "practice" kissing scene between Keith (Eric Stolz) and Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson) is worth buying the movie alone. Whose heart doesn't skip a few beats when you watch that kind of kiss! It's a perfect movie for all us John Hughes' fans.
Rating: Summary: Simply Beautiful Review: A simple movie but captures the heart of many. It brings back the laughters and tears of those highschool days, but it is more than a highschool movie. If you have seen this movie before, you may remember Amanda(Thompson) said to Keith(Stoltz) that she rather be alone than be together for the wrong reason. Guess there is something to learn from this 1986's teenage movie! Of course, how can one forget about Watts(Masterson)when she stole the first kiss of Keith, with the background music of "She Loves Me"? No matter how old you are, you will be able to find pieces of your life in this movie.
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