Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Back in the early '80s, not many people knew who John Hughes was.

Oh sure, he was a writer for "National Lampoon" magazine and had written for movies both big (National Lampoon's Vacation, Mr. Mom), small (Nate and Hayes) and barely worth mentioning (National Lampoon's Class Reunion). Yet from these semi-humble beginnings, he became best-known for writing and directing the most poignant and funny films of that decade about teenagers. Starting with Sixteen Candles, Hughes' trademarks for the genre were teens that actually talked about their problems and the easily-recognizable types (geeks, jocks, etc.) that became more than stereotypes and ended up as real as most of the teens that watched these movies. He continued this tradition by writing and/or directing films like The Breakfast Club, Weird Science and Pretty In Pink.

It came as no big surprise that Hughes stayed the course in 1986 when he wrote, produced and directed a film about a high school senior who spent a day cutting school.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off had a disarmingly simple premise, no more nor less complicated than its title. But what set it apart is the fact that this idea became a springboard from which leapt the most honest observations and the most ridiculous circumstances. Not that the last part's a complaint, but it did foreshadow what direction Hughes' career was going to take in the following decade.

Growing up, everyone knew a kid like Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick); the one who could get away with murder and never got caught, a legend for the underclassmen and a thorn in the grown-ups' sides. For Ferris, it's not all that easy, since he has an incredibly determined dean/principal (Jeffery Jones) dogging his every move and trying to catch him in the act of skipping his ninth (or tenth, maybe) day of school this year.

But there's more to it than just enjoying a beautiful sunny day in downtown Chicago for Ferris; he also wants to help his hangdog friend (Alan Ruck) earn some self-respect in a home life where his father loves his antique car more than him. And then there's the matter of his girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara), an underclassmen of incredible beauty whom he'll probably never see again after he graduates. For Ferris, this is a do-or-die situation to help those he cares about and to give them a day that they'll always remember.

I especially like the way that Ferris will break from the action and address the audience as to his inner thoughts. This is as old a plot device as when Groucho Marx did it in Animal Crackers. But Broderick, a Broadway-trained actor, is suited to asides and makes an earnest teen (though he was in his mid-20s when he played Ferris), even when describing in great detail how to fake out your parents to get a day off from school.

Of course, as in all of Hughes' movies, the grown-ups are incredibly shallow and dense. Ferris' parents (Cindy Pickett, Lyman Ward) are oblivious to his finagling of the school system and just love him as any parent should love their child. The teachers are all in school just to teach and get through the day; most memorably so is Ben Stein as a monotone economics teacher. Even Principal/Dean Ed Rooney and his secretary (Edie McClurg) are the main buffoons in this piece; when one's not making goofy speeches, the other is performing slapstick ballets of embarrassment and/or pain. But just a minute: in the eyes of every teenager, aren't all grown-ups either an empty suit or a graceless clown? After all, it's the student who is wiser than their teacher. So Hughes isn't being obsequious; he's just telling it the way that any teenager feels it is.

And then we get to Ferris' younger sister (Jennifer Grey), a queen "b" who can't stand it that her older brother gets away with everything and has yet to be caught. Anyone with siblings of a certain age difference can certainly identify with that sentiment. Any family without sibling rivalry is a dysfunctional one. But even though her role is pretty much thankless and superfluous, Grey does a very good job.

So Hughes is observant of the family dynamic as well as the school dynamic. But as a director he also gives a bright, cartoony look to the escapades of Ferris, Cameron and Sloane; from Chicago Art Institute to Wrigley Field to Sears Tower to big downtown American/German Day parade, everything is treated like a carefully-shaded character study and sprightly Chicago travelogue, with time for a big muscial number that combines The Beatles, Wayne Newton and a German oompah band. Oh yes; we're talking about a sentimental slant to an age in life where most kids are worried about their complexion, what others think of them and how uncool they are themselves (even in youth we're centered on self-image). That's the whole message of Ferris: forget about yourself; have fun - life's short.

But is Ferris Bueller's Day Off a good movie, even with all the artistic conceit and tomfooley? Yes, and simply because of the fact that Hughes realizes the Ages of Man advance all too quickly. "Youth is wasted on the young", says George Bernard Shaw, but not so says Ferris Bueller: he realizes that youth is the only time in life you can stop and smell the roses, enjoy a sunny day, spend time with your friends doing nothing in particular and debate what life beyond high school can (and should) be. After that, the magic and opportunity of youth is gone and, more or less, it's all downhill from there. Hughes celebrates the carpe diem mentality, and so does Ferris.

And so should you, while it's still early enough to do so. Not every person celebrates that magic that is life, and fewer movies do, either.

So while the sun is shining and the grass is green, seize the Day.