Pretty In Pink (1986) Guest Review

This review for the John Hughes Blogathon comes from Rob of Movie Rob. 🙂 Thanks again, Rob! Let’s hear his thoughts on Pretty In Pink…

“We don’t have none of this stuff in the boy’s room! Wait a minute! We don’t got none of this… we don’t got doors on the stalls in the boy’s room, we don’t have, what is this? What’s this? We don’t have a candy machine in the boy’s room!” – Duckie

Number of Times Seen – 1 (12 Mar 2014)

Brief Synopsis – A poor high school girl is pursued romantically by a rich kid and also has a best friend who is in love with her. She must decide between the two.

My Take on it – I can’t even explain why I’ve never gotten around to seeing this one being that I am a big fan of most of John Hughes’ 80’s teen movies.

Because of this blogathon, I was inspired to finally watch it and I must admit that I somewhat regret never having seen this back when I was a teenager myself.

What’s good about that now is that Hughes was so adept at making us feel as if we were a character in the movie whether it meant spending Saturday in detention, taking a day off of school to have fun or even wanting to be part of the popular crowd that watching this movie made me feel as if I was once again back in High school in the 80’s.

I always liked the Molly Ringwald kinda girls and hated the preppy guys so I could relate. I could probably actually compare myself in some ways to Duckie since I was always friendly with a number of girls in my class who I had hoped would eventually turn into something (but never did) and ultimately felt spurned when they would one night talk about how much they hated so and so and then a few days later would be going out with him.

Never could understand that. (still don’t cause none of them ever married those guys)

John Hughes himself was very upset about the fact that the studio forced an ending of the movie on him that he didn’t want. I agree that this ending was not what I had hoped for. This actually lowers this movies rating a bit for me.

The cast for this movie is filled with numerous up and coming young brat packers; Molly Ringwald, Andrew McCarthy, John Cryer, James Spader and Gina Gershon.

Nice cameo by the Diceman, Andrew “Dice” Clay.

Bottom Line – A pretty good Hughes film that once again perfectly captures the high school mood and makes us feel like we are back in time to our teens years. Great cast of brat packers who still are around 30 years later.
Recommended!

Rating – Globe Worthy

John Hughes Movie Quote Of The Day: Pretty In Pink

“His name is Blane? Oh! That’s a major appliance, that’s not a name!”

Pretty In Pink (1986)

Pretty In Pink (1986) Review

Pretty In Pink (1986) by Me! Cinema Parrot Disco finally wrote another review for this blogathon!

Directed by Howard Deutch

Written by John Hughes

Starring:
Molly Ringwald
Harry Dean Stanton
Jon Cryer
Annie Potts
James Spader
Andrew McCarthy
Kate Vernon
Andrew Dice Clay
Kristy Swanson
Alexa Kenin
Dweezil Zappa
Gina Gershon

Plot Synopsis:
Romeo And Juliet. With 80’s Hipsters.

My Opinion:

You all know I love my John Hughes teen films but I’ve never loved Pretty In Pink QUITE to the same degree as The Breakfast Club or Sixteen Candles (my review for that HERE). I re-watched this a few days ago for the first time in years to see if my opinion would change. It didn’t, really, but I still appreciate two of the best characters that John Hughes created (Jon Cryer’s Duckie & Annie Potts’ Iona). And, as usual, some classic quotable lines that Hughes always did so well.

I think the main problem is that I never could fully relate to these characters. The main theme here, “rich vs poor”, isn’t something I really experienced in my extremely tiny Midwest American town. The (three!) families in town who had a bit of money still weren’t exactly rich by big city standards. High school popularity was based, mainly, on things like being good at sports. And I suppose sluttiness. So… I really had no chance at popularity either way. 😉

As for the “original hipster” look of Andie & Duckie’s clothes… Again, I couldn’t relate. I’d like to say I had the balls to dress like that back in high school (well, except for her ugly ass prom dress at the end) but dressing like that in my little farming community would have made me an outcast. Individuality wasn’t considered a good thing! For today’s teenagers, however, I’d want them to watch something like Pretty In Pink & realize that being a “Duckie” really is the way to be. Don’t conform, teeny boppers! Did I just say teeny boppers?? God I’m old…

Molly Ringwald is okay here, even if I can’t fully relate to her. If I had to choose the Hughes Ringwald character I was most like as a teen, it would be the socially awkward Samantha in Sixteen Candles. But at least in this one she’s possibly the strongest character in that she does stand up a bit to the rich bitches (but still gets too silly over a boy). And she’s not an annoying popular snob like in The Breakfast Club (who can relate to that??). But, as mentioned before, it’s Duckie & Iona who really make this a better film overall. Unfortunately, for me, the biggest thing that doesn’t work in Pretty In Pink is the romance.

I mean… Andrew McCarthy?? Reaaaaaally? I’ve never understood having a thing for him. Give me Jake Ryan any day! Plus Ringwald & McCarthy just have zero chemistry here. Unlike with Duckie. So… Okay – everyone knows the ending to this but I still feel like I shouldn’t come right out & say it. But I think it’s pretty widely known that most people weren’t happy with the ending. Well, that’s why Hughes went on to make (the Pretty In Pink remake, basically) Some Kind Of Wonderful which I think isn’t quite as good of a film but I still prefer in many ways. I’ll review that next week. As for Pretty In Pink, I do still like it A LOT as it’s typical of the Hughes way of writing that I loved so much but the overall story & the romance just don’t quite speak to me in the way they did in his other teen films. Oh, and great use of things like New Order. As always, John Hughes knew how to choose the right music for his movies!

My Rating: 8/10

Pretty In Pink (1986) Guest Review

This review for the John Hughes Blogathon comes from Kim of Tranquil Dreams. Thanks for being a part of this blogathon, Kim! Let’s see what she thought of Pretty In Pink. 🙂

Pretty in Pink (1986)

Director: Howard Deutch

Writer: John Hughes

Cast: Molly Ringwald, Jon Cryer, Andrew McCarthy, Harry Dean Stanton, Annie Potts, James Spader

Andie Walsh (Molly Ringwald) is a poor girl living with her father (Harry Dean Stanton), a man that dwells in the past and won’t accept the fact that his wife has left him. She is smart, gets good grades and works at a records store for an eccentric owner, Iona (Annie Potts). The school she goes to is above her level in society and for this, she is usually made fun of along with her childhood friend, Duckie (Jon Cryer). Duckie has had the longest crush on her but is scared to express his feelings, however, when she starts falling for a rich guy called Blane (Andrew McCarthy), he feels betrayed. However, Blane and Andie are also encountered by problems of their own on a social level and to find a balance to be accepted in each other’s world.

I’m going to confess right here and now that I’m a total newbie to John Hughes. Although, I mean I knew about his movies before I knew about him. Home Alone was kind of my thing when I was a kid and probably for the rest of the kids in my generation. But, full on John Hughes writing and all, I have to admit, Table 9 Mutant is the one who woke me up to it by first introducing me to Sixteen Candles and the very awesome Jake Ryan. So, Pretty in Pink seemed like the good choice to review for her John Hughes Blogathon.

Enough of my rambling, Pretty in Pink is a fun movie. Its not quite so well-written as Sixteen Candles if I had to put them next to each other but its still a good watch. The story is somewhat of an 80s version of a Cinderella story with a twist. Despite that, it targets also the social differences between class and money. For that, it deserves a lot of praise.

What really works for me in this has to be the characters though. Molly Ringwald is awesome in her role as Andie Walsh. After watching her in Sixteen Candles and this one, there is undeniably something very special about her as a young actress. She captures this really nice charm in all her characters. At the same time, the guys in this are pretty great also. Jon Cryer plays Duckie, Andie’s best friend who has this massive crush on her. He is that dorky, nerdy, weird/awkward boy that does all these silly things but never gets the girl but somehow, he’s funny and supportive and that makes me want to cheer for him even though I knew the other guy would get the girl. The other guy is Blane, played by Andrew McCarthy. I spent a good bit of the first part when he appears thinking if I thought he was cute. Something about the way he looks at Andie that makes me really adore him. Its because of that, it builds the chemistry between him and Andie’s relationship.

Pretty in Pink is not the best John Hughes movie but it definitely has some lovable characters (or even relate to). Its a nice take on the poor girl meeting the rich boy and going through all the difficulties not step mother related but rather the bigger realistic issue of friends and social class. I’d still say its worth the watch and I’d totally recommend it 🙂