Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Of all the John Hughes teen epics, 1986's FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF seems to have aged the best.  '80s soundtrack notwithstanding, of course.  The celebrated writer/director always observed the timeless themes of popularity, socioeconomic status, dating, and parental relations from the adolescent's point of view with a shrewd but sensitive eye.  FERRIS BUELLER's focus is mainly on that most endurable of teen fantasies - skipping school and getting away with it.  It is mostly played for laughs, eschewing the drama of the aforementioned...except the parent part.  The characters here come from affluent homes.  Popularity at school is only discussed in that Ferris is pretty much the king.  His girlfriend Simone (Mia Sara) is likely Princess of the Exchange Club.  Cameron (Alan Ruck)? Probably not as accepted but he is a friend of Ferris after all.  But this movie doesn't care about that.  It does spend a good bit of time on Cameron's less than warm relationship with his parents.

That's mostly in the latter part of the movie.  It gets pretty heavy.  Some critics felt, too heavy.  They believed that the highly serious moments as Cameron describes his father and um, interacts with said father's prized Ferrari diluted what is mostly a spirited romp through Chicago.  A wish fulfillment joyride of innocent pranks and set pieces designed for "the rest of us", those who would never dare to attempt an outing such as this.  Granted, many students throughout history have successfully skipped school, dodging truant officers (remember them?) as they hung out at a 7-11 or smoked in the park.  I recall sitting in my senior English class, voicing how I wished I could cut class with the skills Ferris exhibits.  "You don't have to go through all of that," offered one of my classmates.

Our hero, wonderfully played by Matthew Broderick, does set into a motion a Rube Goldberg-esque plot to not only stay home from school, but to explore the Windy City in a way probably only those with plenty of free time (and maybe tourists) get to.  Museums, fancy restaurants, Cub games.  But how many of them get to lip sync Wayne Newton and the Beatles on a float during a parade?  It is during this scene that it is clear that the iconic FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF is merely a student's daydream, a musing.  While THE BREAKFAST CLUB and PRETTY IN PINK keep us firmly aware of the very real pain of the teen years, and feel like they could really happen, FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF is a patent fantasy that asks us to remember the bromides that got many of us through.

Outsmarting authority - and poor Principal Rooney (Jeffrey Jones, in a dedicated performance) goes to lengths that, yes, could only exist in a kid's imagination.  Of course he would resort to breaking into Ferris' house to prove he isn't really sick in bed.  Outsmarting your family - parents are clueless (that theme again) and fall for the most rudimentary tactics.  They'll even fail to recognize you when you're right next to them in public!  But then there's Ferris' sister Jeanie (Jennifer Grey), apparently the only one who knows the truth, and who may ultimately hold the key to his fate.  Don't miss the credits and the post credits, so famous it was even spoofed in the original DEADPOOL.