Coming February 23rd of this year a select few of John Hughes most legendary movies are being packed together in a cheap five movie collection. “She’s Having a Baby”, “Pretty in Pink”, “Some Kind of Wonderful”, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and lastly “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” are a few of the greats they have decided to throw into this bundle.
I listed these in the order I watched them in, but also so that I would be saving two of the more famous classics for the end to see how John Hughes’s perspective and talent molded over the years.
Starting off with “She’s Having a Baby” this movie starring Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth McGovern and Alec Baldwin is about a young man named Jake Briggs (Kevin Bacon) committing to the big jump off point in life, marriage. Kristy Briggs (Elizabeth McGovern) and the rest of her family are a little uneasy about the marriage and all assume Jake will get cold feet. Meanwhile outside the church Jake’s best friend David McDonald (Alec Baldwin) is giving him the talk about the major choice he is about to make, and whether or not he should go through with it. This movie shows a family learning to love their new in-law and getting used to a whole different style life. Also the struggles of bringing a child into this world as well, and just how much that can mean to people, and change their lives completely. It also shows how people need to be weary of those closest to them, and to make sure you surround yourself with people who really want what is best for you in your life.
Next up “Pretty in Pink” starring the famous Molly Ringwald playing Andie, who got her fame from John Hughes’s other massively popular cult classic, “The Breakfast Club”. Harry Dean Stanton, Andrew McCarthy and Jon Cryer also star alongside Ms.Ringwald. “Pretty in Pink” is about a young artistic girl Andie who’s best friends are an eccentric fashion store owner named Iona (Annie Potts), and a spunky, wild light hearted boy named Duckie (Jon Cryer). The story follows Andie finding her way within the classic stereotypical high school clicks, and the parody between the rich and poor kids. For her being able to find love is even difficult when a preppy rich boy named Blane falls for her, even though his friends massively disapprove. Together Blane played by Andrew McCarthy and Andie must break through the cultural norms of their society together to find the happiness they both truly deserve in life. Leading to a resolution unexpected and pushing the boundaries of the world they live.
“Some Kind of Wonderful” stars Eric Stoltz as Keith Nelson, Mary Masterson as Watts and Lea Thompson as Amanda Jones. Within this story is an interesting love complex that pushes Keith Nelson to make a choice between his tomboy best friend Watts, and the potential love of his life Amanda. The story mostly follows Keith Nelson and his struggle to balance the women in his life, but also follows Watts and her struggles to fit into the world being a tomboy who gets made fun of for not being a “girly, girl”. All the while Amanda’s life is also in disarray as she cannot seem to find comfort fitting in with the rich upper class society of the high school hierarchy while being from a middle class to poor family. This movie portrays the struggles that women go through whether they cannot live their life the way want to and be who they want to be. Or that they cannot escape from their life situation and past, where nothing you do can change the course of your future. “Some Kind of Wonderful” does an amazing job of letting people understand that their confidence in themselves is what truly matters most, and to live your life the way you want to, but not at the cost of other people’s misery.
Oh who doesn’t know about “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, well if you don’t I’m going to give you the short and sweet version of this cult classic, because everyone should see this one. John Hughes really went for it all in this one and hit the nail on the head. Matthew Broderick as Ferris is trying to convince to his best friend Cameron played by Alan Ruck to skip school with him and his girlfriend Mia Sara as Sloan Peterson. Cameron’s parents are harsh to say the least and do not let him do much of anything outside the box, and if he does he usually gets punished. So for Ferris trying to convince Cameron to play hooky along with him was not an easy feat but it happened, and they got Sloan out of school as well. This begins an epic ridiculous journey throughout Chicago while whipping a $3 million dollar Ferrari California 250 Gt, which now goes for over $10 million dollars nowadays. Ferris is just trying to make the most of the time he has left in high school, and see’s this as an opportunity for Cameron to break out of his parental grasp and truly be himself before heading off to college. This movie is an absolute party and one of the greatest comedic stories of all time that captures so many different perspectives, cultural activities and art into one film.
Lastly “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” one of the last late and great John Candy movies that will stand the test of time. With Steve Martin as Neal Page who is just trying to get home from New York to Chicago for Thanksgiving and John Candy as Del Griffith as the one trying to help him get there, the two begin a relationship far from boring. This is a story about compassion, camaraderie and friendship, but not always starting out that way. Del is an interesting type of man who seems to talk too much, acts like a slob and is overall a little disorganized with how he handles his life. While Neal is almost the exact opposite wanting peace, quiet and structure while he struggles with Del to get home. You watch as Del’s soft sweet and comforting personality melts away at Neal’s stubborn, humbuggery roots. Also how sometimes you never know how good you have something or how much you really like someone until it, or they, are gone. John Hughes shows us that we should be more accepting of others in our lives, and that sometimes just because things may not go our way, just keep on moving forward and everything will fall into place.
