Ferris Bueller's Day Off
(1986)
|
Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) is a tricky but harmless fast-talker. But he knows how to have fun, which is exactly what he sets out to do when he feigns illness and talks his parents into letting him stay home from school. The perpetually lucky Ferris enlists his hypochondriac best friend, Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck), into springing his girlfriend, Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara), from class, and the three embark on a raucous downtown Chicago adventure. From Wrigley Field to the Art Institute of Chicago to a Polish pride parade, Ferris and his friends make the most of their day off. But Ferris, Sloane, and Cameron might not get away with playing hooky. Ferris's sister, Jeanie (Jennifer Grey), is determined to prove that Ferris is faking sick and make him pay for it, and the bumbling school dean, Ed Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), is sure that Ferris is pulling a fast one. Another classic from writer-director John Hughes (SIXTEEN CANDLES, THE BREAKFAST CLUB), this film features a star turn from Broderick as the charismatic Ferris. Watch for Charlie Sheen as the juvenile delinquent in the police station and comedian Louie Anderson in a brief appearance as a flower deliveryman. |
Matthew Broderick — worshipped by students, scourge of teachers — decides to play truant and whisks reluctant chum Alan Ruck and girlfriend Mia Sara off to the big city for an adventure; meanwhile, uptight dean of students Jeffrey Jones is determined to catch him in the act. It's a simple story, but this remains the most fully rounded of writer/director John Hughes's teen comedies, although once again it's marred slightly by Hughes's familiar undercurrent of sentimentality. Broderick is remarkably likeable as the arrogant, spoilt brat, Ruck is excellent as his melancholy friend and Jones almost steals the show as he suffers the humiliations that would later be heaped upon the burglars in the Hughes-scripted blockbuster Home Alone. The film also provides early outings for Jennifer Grey (Dirty Dancing) and Charlie Sheen.
Halliwell's Film Guide
Aimless it is, and juvenile, but people have found pleasing things in it.