Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.” Ah, wise words from our new young friend, Ferris Bueller. In John Hughes’s 1986 film, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, all Ferris wants to do is take a day and have fun. That is the most simplistic theme the movie has. You can go deeper, but the main takeaway is that it is okay to have fun. That is a motto I have taken to heart. I really loved the film. People consider The Breakfast Club to be Hughes’s best and most important movie. That’s a fine statement to make, but I would personally rank the film number two behind this particular one. The teen characters are instantly relatable, it has a memorable antagonist for the children, and this is basically a thirty-year-old travel guide for Chicago. Just how Woody Allen creates his movies as love letters for New York, this is applicable for John Hughes. A Chicago love letter!

 

Like all of his films, Hughes wrote his own script. Due to possible picketing from the writer’s guild, Hughes wrote a basic first draft that had a beginning and an ending. The middle would be made up as production ensued. The first cut of the film was nearly three hours long, so the rest of the screenplay would be completed in the editing room if that made sense. Hughes, always the adolescent philosopher, wrote a very familiar screenplay. Teens that are relatable and one-dimensional adults who do not believe in the word “fun.” Somehow, these adult antagonists seem to make the history books as the roles to remember. Just as I remember Paul Gleason’s principal role in The Breakfast Club, I certainly remember Jeffrey Jones’s dim-witted Ed Rooney here. Hughes takes time to develop his characters which should come as no surprise.

 

I guess if you were going to commit truancy, you would want to follow in the footsteps of our main hero, Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick). All he wanted to do was take a day off from school. He enlists his best friend Cameron (Alan Ruck) to steal his father’s red Ferrari. The duo, along with Ferris’s girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara), head into Chicago for a day to check out the sites; the architectural landmarks, the art museum, the fancy restaurant, Wrigley Field, and an American-German parade where “Danke Schoen” and “Twist and Shout” might be key songs to remember. Meanwhile, Principal Ed Rooney (Jeffrey Jones) is hellbent in capturing Ferris. He might have an ally in Ferris’s moody but really pretty sister Jeanie Bueller (Jennifer Grey).

 

Hughes always wanted Matthew Broderick as Ferris. Broderick possesses a charm that is not seen in many modern actors. After watching the film, you could obviously see why Broderick and only him was cast in the lead role. Broderick had a close friendship with Alan Ruck which led to great chemistry between the actors. Despite being 29, Ruck did make a believable high school student. He was excellent and captured the true feelings of a high school student not wanting to go to school. Mia Sara is beautiful, but she wasn’t given much to do. Molly Ringwald wanted to play this role, but Hughes cautioned her for good reason apparently. Yes, Ed Rooney is a one-dimensional, child-hating character but my gosh is Jeffrey Jones ever memorable. I love the scene where the dogs sic him and is forced to ride a bus. Hehe. Jennifer Grey is fantastic! Finally, a shoutout goes to Ben Stein and his monotonous lecture on economics.

 

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is a wholesome, incredibly fun film. There is nothing mean-spirited to see. It is all about teens wanting to have a good time. If I were to be truant, this is how I would want my day to go. The other theme is Ferris wanting to lift the spirits of his best friend from his materialistic father. A more subtle theme, but I appreciate it. This is one of those movies that is wholesome, but also incredibly funny. I laughed too many times to count and that is a rarity. Great performances and great fun add up to John Hughes’s best film. Yes, I rank it higher than The Breakfast Club.

 

My Grade: A