Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Movie Review (television aesthetics)
No commentsBy Nicky Michael
One of a handful of films which epitomizes the 1980s decade, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off captured the imagination of high school kids all across America as they dreamt of mimicking the title character’s ability to manipulate the authority figures in his life. Written and directed by John Hughes, the brains behind The Breakfast Club (1985) and numerous other 1980’s cult classics, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off launched Matthew Broderick’s acting career into another dimension. In fact, Broderick garnered a Golden Globe nomination for his outstanding performance. It’s a nomination more than worthy of mention, because it’s the strength of the Ferris Bueller character that made this film such a smash hit.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off follows a day in the life of high school senior Ferris Bueller. Nearing graduation, he’s intent on living his life to the fullest (although preferably outside the confines of school). So Ferris takes a planned day of vacation with his girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara), and after a little coaxing, his best friend Cameron (Alan Ruck) joins them. Against Cameron’s better judgment, the three drive his father’s prized Ferrari into the windy city of Chicago for a day of fine dining, baseball, museums, and spontaneous fun. Meanwhile, Ferris may have successfully fooled his parents into believing he’s deathly ill, but high school principal Ed Rooney (Jeffrey Jones) and Ferris’s jealous sister Jeanie (Jennifer Grey) are not so easy. Intent on shattering his golden boy image, each one is hot on his trail, anxious to expose his web of deceit once and for all.
With a number of hilarious scenes, such as Cameron’s feeble attempt to reverse the mileage on his father’s Ferrari, the film earns its reputation as an elite classic of the 80’s, on par with hits like Back To The Future (1985), The Breakfast Club (1985), and Weird Science (1985). The film does have its off-the-wall moments, such as when Ferris takes over a parade and starts singing while thousands of spectators engage in synchronized dancing. You wouldn’t see such a sequence in a contemporary film, and like similar scenes from The Blues Brothers, it tends to date the film. But the strength of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is not its timeless humor, but the likeability of Ferris Bueller himself. Ferris is a cool guy. He doesn’t put anyone down, but only looks for the best in people. More importantly, he manipulates his parents into thinking he’s the perfect embodiment of innocence while he skips school and goes joyriding! Every child of the 80’s wanted to be Ferris Bueller, and the wide appeal of his life philosophy is timeless, which is why the film continues to enjoy success with each new generation.
Further solidifying the movie’s status as a landmark of its decade is the soundtrack, which is certainly one of the more diverse and interesting of its time. Where else can you find The Beatles, Wayne Newton, the theme to Star Wars, and the 80’s classic ‘Oh Yeah’ by Yello all wrapped up into one movie which moves seamlessly from one scene to the next? Throw in a few future Hollywood stars in Kristy Swanson, Ben Stein, and Charlie Sheen (who stayed awake for over two days so he could achieve the desired drugged out expression for his character), and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off transforms into the quintessential cult classic. Even after two decades, this film is just as entertaining as when it first premiered.
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Let’s Review The Movie Wedding Crashers
By Darrin Lowe
One of the funniest and most outrageous comedies of 2005, Wedding Crashers will have you falling out of your chair with laughter. Directed by the underrated David Dobkin, the film features now veteran Hollywood funny men Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn in their first film together as the central headliners. TV writers Steve Faber and Bob Fisher author the screenplay, a breakout hit for both, that has to be considered one of the best written comedies of the year. Of course, it helps to have the perfect comic duo delivering the lines, and Wedding Crashers offers just that. The onscreen personas of Vaughn and Wilson compliment each other extremely well, providing a flux between the laid back approach of Wilson and the fast talking banter of Vaughn.
Wedding Crashers follows the lives of two business partners and best friends, John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy Grey (Vince Vaughn). Making their living as divorce counselors, they often mediate between warring couples. But in reality, neither man is married himself. They are, however, loyally dedicated to a set of principles: the wedding crasher rules. Adhering to a specific set of intricately engineered rules for crashing weddings, John and Jeremy share a common passion for wedding receptions and carefree bridesmaids.
When the new wedding season arrives, the two set out in earnest to schmooze with relatives, deliver masterful toasts, and conquer as many beautiful women as possible. No race, religion, or social caste is left untouched by their elite wedding crashing skills. But as the wedding season comes to a close with the ultimate crescendo, the wedding of Treasury Secretary William Cleary’s (Christopher Walken) daughter, the duo’s perfectly laid plans go awry. While chasing after the Secretary’s remaining two daughters, Claire (Rachel McAdams) and Gloria (Isla Fisher), the unthinkable occurs. John breaks a rule by harboring genuine feelings for Claire. Things are further exacerbated when John breaks another rule and accepts an invitation to spend the weekend with the Cleary family so he can get closer to Claire. Masquerading as distant relatives, John must fend off the advances of Claire’s mother Kathleen (Jane Seymour) while also attempting to eliminate Claire’s pompous boyfriend Zach (Bradley Cooper). Meanwhile, Jeremy is tortured by an extended weekend with the clingy and borderline insane Gloria and her crazy brother Todd (Keir O’Donnell). As John gets closer to falling in love with Claire, Zach gets closer to blowing the lid off their wedding crasher conspiracy…
Utterly hilarious in every way, Wedding Crashers features some of the funniest movie scenes of 2005. A brief appearance by Will Ferrell who plays the role of Chazz Reinhold, one of the original wedding crashers, makes the film doubly hilarious. Apparently, Chazz has discovered that grieving women at funerals are easier to pick up than bridesmaids. So, of course, he turns to funeral crashing. The comic sequence where Vince Vaughn gets demolished playing football is ancient slapstick, but hilarious nonetheless. Isla Fisher can be annoying at times, but her character is so ridiculously insane that it become funny to watch her after a while, and some of the pick-up lines and wedding crasher techniques are just as entertaining. Overall, Wedding Crashers is a film you’ll probably want to watch more than once. If anything, just to catch the laughs you missed the first time around…
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Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 4:30 pm and is filed under television. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
