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I've been meaning to check out Ferris Bueller's Day Off since I saw the musical scene in Easy A but, for a reason or another — the latest being the idiotic idea to watch Step Brothers — I kept putting it off.
The film follows a day in the life of Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick), a popular high school student who gets away with everything. On this particular day, he fakes sick to take a day off from school and enjoy Chicago with his best friend, Cameron (Alan Ruck), and his girlfriend, Sloane (Mia Sara), while trying to outwit Ed Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), the suspicious school principal who wants to prove Ferris is not sick, and his sister, Jeanie (Jennifer Grey), who is sick of her brother getting away with his tricks all the time.
The plot is incredibly simple and predictable and yet it's still quite entertaining and fun to follow Ferris and his friends as they do their tricks to get/do what they want. Unfortunately, the subplots don't work at all. The one involving the school principal doesn't really belong to the film as it's nothing but lazy and unfunny slapstick and it's also quite annoying; the one involving Ferris's sister isn't particularly compelling.
The characters aren't that great either as they lack depth, proper development and likeability, starting from Ferris Bueller who is probably one of the most obnoxious (leading) characters I've seen on screen to Ferris's bland, bull girlfriend, Sloane. The only likeable and interesting character is Cameron as he struggles with standing up to his father but unfortunately, he's treated poorly.
John Hughes's poor screenplay, however, is not the aspect of Ferris Bueller's Day Off that bothered me the most, the acting is, or rather the cast. I guess Matthew Broderick is one of those actors you either like or hate, because so many people love him but I just can't with him. Anyways, his performance is average, and so are the others.
Hughes's direction is not that great either, the biggest issues being his decision of having Ferris speaking directly to the camera, and therefore to the audience, which feels quite uncomfortable and disrupts the flow of the film.
Thankfully, the slapstick in the principal subplot isn't the only source of humour in the film. Although it's not laughing-out-loud funny, there's still plenty of humour in the film and overall it works well.
The characters aren't that great either as they lack depth, proper development and likeability, starting from Ferris Bueller who is probably one of the most obnoxious (leading) characters I've seen on screen to Ferris's bland, bull girlfriend, Sloane. The only likeable and interesting character is Cameron as he struggles with standing up to his father but unfortunately, he's treated poorly.
John Hughes's poor screenplay, however, is not the aspect of Ferris Bueller's Day Off that bothered me the most, the acting is, or rather the cast. I guess Matthew Broderick is one of those actors you either like or hate, because so many people love him but I just can't with him. Anyways, his performance is average, and so are the others.
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| Paramount Pictures |
Thankfully, the slapstick in the principal subplot isn't the only source of humour in the film. Although it's not laughing-out-loud funny, there's still plenty of humour in the film and overall it works well.
I kind of enjoyed this one more than I thought I would, I only watched it for the first time a couple of years ago. So many scenes were familiar to me, it's crazy how many other movies and shows make reference to it!
ReplyDeleteMost John Hughes films are often mentioned in other movies but I’ve never seen scenes from this one 😐
DeleteI actually really enjoy this film and don't mind Broderick even though he is annoying and I want to trip him. I liked the story with the principal and always liked Jeffrey Jones until he got arrested for child porn and trying to get a 17 yr old boy to pose nude for photos.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with you on this one as I love this movie. To me, I always read it as a coming of age story for Cameron, though, not Ferris. Ferris is a jerk, through and through, but Cameron has the more interesting character arc. BTW, I just found out about the Jeffrey Jones thing, myself. That does put a damper on things.
ReplyDeleteCameron was by far the most interesting character but unfortunately the film doesn’t focus on him (enough).
DeleteBuhaha....:-). Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is a brilliant “feel good” movie. Ferris is young, spoiled, privileged and popular. The thing is - he knows it. And he knows that popularity won’t last, privilege won’t last, being spoiled won’t last, and youth sure as heck won’t last. So seize the day while you can, live life to the fullest, don’t be afraid and have some fun while you live. Life does move pretty fast. We should all look around and notice it more. This is a fun, silly movie that always picks up my spirit when I watch it.
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