745. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Running Time: 102 minutes
Directed By: John Hughes
Written By: John Hughes
Main Cast: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Jones, Jennifer Grey
Click here to view the trailer

"BUELLER...BUELLER...BUELLER?"

Before taking my time off from the blog, I had one film left to watch, one film left before I could make my sixth TOP 20 list and how fitting that the film be the taking off of someone else - Ferris Bueller. That sounded kind of stupid, but I'm gonna' go with it.

Ferris Bueller (Broderick) is sick! Actually, he's not, but his parents think he is and that's what he wants them to think as he plays a good old fashioned case of hooky. In Ferris' case, hooky is more of an art form, as he sets up tape players, programs his piano to make vomit noises and places a lifesize, wooden dummy in his bed to throw off his parents, just in case they come snooping. You see, Ferris is a senior in high school and before he, his friend Cameron (Ruck) and his girlfriend Sloane (Sara) part ways, he wants to have one last hurrah with them - a day they can all remember for as long as they live. So, Ferris convinces his friend Cameron to sneak out his father's Ferrari and the two pick up Sloane from school, making Dean of Students Ed Rooney (Jones) believe that her grandmother has died. The trio spend a day doing all sorts of things, including visiting a museum, conning their way into a classy restaurant, going to a baseball game and taking part in a parade. However, Ed Rooney isn't buying Ferris' sick story and plans to catch him in the act, even going so far as to show up at his house.

When I was a kid, I missed a lot of school and more often than not it was by playing hooky, much like Ferris Bueller. Sure, I didn't go to the extremes he did, but I did have overprotective mother who didn't take any chances at the slightest utterance of me possibly being sick. I think we've all probably ditched school at one time in our life. We were all school age at some point and we've all had those circumstances come up where we just couldn't go to school that day, because either we just didn't feel like it or we had someplace better to be. Therefore, I think we can all relate to "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and watch it, all the while flashing back to our own teenage years. In John Hughes' movies it's the teenagers that matter and while they have lines, the parents kind of play the part of Charlie Brown's mother, unable to grasp the plight of the high-schooler, just there for a visual aid. I wonder if John Hughes had bad parents growing up, because there always seem to be bad parents in his scripts, ones that never seem to show up. In "Ferris Bueller" it's Cameron's father and in "The Breakfast Club", there are several less than savory parental figures mentioned.

"Ferris Bueller's Day Off" isn't quite AS GOOD as "The Breakfast Club", but as mentioned, it's something we can all relate to and I think it's a little easier to enjoy than "The Breakfast Club". It's more accessible, more quotable and has a more universal humor. The primary cast do a fine job, but I particularly like Alan Ruck, who was 30-years-old at the time this was made, playing a high-school senior. Years later, Ruck would go on to play Stuart on "Spin City" - a semi-popular sitcom that I used to enjoy.

RATING: 7/10  Well another one hundred movies dropped in the bucket, four hundred to go! I can't say for sure when I'll be back to present the new TOP 20 list. It probably won't be tonight and maybe not even tomorrow. Check back sometime at the beginning or middle of the week, as I owe my wife a little bit of my time, after she's allowed me to watch all these movies.

MOVIES WATCHED: 601
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 400

December 2, 2012  12:51am