(Ferris Bueller - For President. Seriously…)
CAST: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Jones, Jennifer Grey, Cindy Pickett, Lyman Ward, Charlie Sheen.
DIRECTOR: John Hughes
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and one really awesome slacker genius - straight ahead…
IT’S LIKE THIS: We all know or have known at least one “Ferris Bueller” in our lifetime. You know: a guy who is impossibly clever, funny, charismatic, intelligent, creative, disarming, cute, unpredictable, exciting, and daring - and gets away with murder. My “Ferris Bueller” is my best friend “Forest Whitaker”, who would pull off such Machiavellian shit without so much as breaking a sweat - and have everyone eating out of his hands afterwards. I could only stand at the back of the room, shaking my head while thinking, “Amazing. Fu-cking amazing.” If he could bottle that “X-Factor” and sell it, he’d make a trillion dollars - easy.
The real Ferris Bueller is the hero of our latest review. He looks at lot like Matthew Broderick, and on one particular day, decides to play hookie from school by feigning sickness. The movie helpfully points out the best way to snow your parents into letting you stay home. See below:
Needless to say, Mom and Dad Bueller (Cindy Pickett and Lyman Ward) fall for it like Carrie Bradshaw going for the last half-off pair of sapphire rhinestone-glitter strappy Manolo Blahniks on the sale table. And just like that, our boy Ferris has got 10-12 hours of potentially awesome skating (not literally, although that is an option) ahead of him. He recruits best pal Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck), who (in an ironic twist) is actually sick, and together they snatch Ferris’ gal Sloane Petersen (Mia Sara) outta school - and set their mischievous sights on the Windy City.
Not so fast, though, because Ferris’ two nemeses are hot on this trail to bust his shit wide open: (1) Jeannie Bueller (Jennifer Grey), Ferris’ jealous spiteful sister; and (2) Mr. Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), high school principal/douchebag who has been chasing Ferris for years - and just might nab him now. The chase is on!
THE DUDE (OR DUDETTE) MOST LIKELY TO SAVE THE DAY: Believe it or not, Jeannie. And that’s all I’m going to say. Go, girl. Talk about hidden layers…
EYE CANDY MOST LIKELY TO FIRE UP A WOODY: Everyone in this flick is hot. My special favorite, though, is Alan Ruck - who’s got that sweet nerd thing going….
MOST INTENTIONALLY HILARIOUS SCENE: Oh, where the hell do I start? Ferris stealing Cameron’s dad’s Ferrari? Our trio crashing an art museum? A hoity-toity restaurant? The stock exchange? The Sears Building? A downtown Chicago parade? They’re all winners!
MOST UNINTENTIONALLY HILARIOUS SCENE: Jeannie’s scene with The Actor Who Will Go On To Star On TWO AND A HALF MEN - Then Leave It Abruptly. And the scene at the very end where Jeannie saves Ferris’ ass.
HOTTEST SCENE: Sorry, but I have to go for Ferris‘ shower scene where he… well, I‘m not sure what he‘s doing but he obviously doesn‘t want us to see it. So it has to be naughty!
INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW: Will Ferris, Cameron, and Sloane have a crazy day of illicit fun in the Windy City? Or will someone see them on the street and report them to Rooney? Or will Rooney catch them himself? And what will he do if he does? What about Ferris’ parents? Will they catch on to his schtick? Or will he live to play hookie another day? How will this “day off” end? And the most important question of all: where is that sequel?
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH “FERRIS BUELLER‘S DAY OFF”: If you like youth comedies that are just as clever, funny, quirky, and intelligent as their lead character. If so, you are in for sooooooo much fun.
WHY YOU MAY NOT ENJOY “FERRIS BUELLER‘S DAY OFF”: If you have a hard time sitting through “youth” comedies and prefer “mature” fare. If so, you’re loss…
BUT, SERIOUSLY: Just as smart, funny, irreverent, and unpredictable as its hero, FERRIS BUELLER DAY’S OFF is a one-of-a-kind film. It’s a lot more mature and intelligent than your average teen comedy. Not surprising since its director, John Hughes, was also responsible for THE BREAKFAST CLUB, PRETTY IN PINK, and SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL. While Hughes was also responsible for more juvenile (but still good) fare like SIXTEEN CANDLES and WEIRD SCIENCE, he is also notable for adding surprisingly serious and somber threads to his latter films like the first three mentioned above. FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF is a nice combination of these two categories.
It was crucial to have the right actor play Ferris. You can’t just have someone who’s very handsome, because looks are only skin deep, and Ferris is more than just another cute face. The right actor also has to be boyish, intelligent, funny, creative, subversive, and have the perfect amount of swagger. In casting Matthew Broderick, Hughes found the perfect actor for this unique character. Broderick makes the role his own, and instantly elevates it to iconic status. Broderick as Ferris charms us just as he does everyone onscreen.
He is complemented nicely by Alan Ruck as the far less vibrant, more subdued Cameron Frye. Ruck has an unconventionally handsome face that further helps give Cameron some welcome quirkiness. Ruck also nicely pulls off some semi-dramatic moments later in the film. It really helps that he and Broderick are very believable as best friends - and sell the relationship with their brotherly chemistry. Then there’s Mia Sara, who is just as good as Sloane Petersen, Ferris’ girlfriend who is just as free-wheeling as him. Sara’s slightly-exotic, dark-eyed beauty is a nice match for Broderick’s, and she turns Sloane into a very fresh and welcome “Third Musketeer”.
Of the supporting cast, the most important roles are Mr. Rooney, Ferris’ nemesis, and Jeannie, Ferris’s sister who envies Ferris’ “X-Factor”. Both roles are perfectly cast. Jeffrey Jones makes Rooney hissable, but also somewhat sympathetic - after all, he’s just doing his job (even if he goes to extreme lengths to do it). The result is a fine adversary for the wily and talented Ferris. Jennifer Grey also has some great scenes as Jeannie, and gives her character some unexpected shadings, especially at the very end where she must choose between throwing her brother under the bus - or saving him. She also has a great scene with a “bad boy” played by Charlie Sheen in a hilarious early role. Good work here from both Jones and Grey (and Sheen).
Lyman Ward and Cindy Pickett are suitably clueless as Ferris’ oblivious parents, but in the end, this movie belongs to the titular character himself - and his two partners-in-crime. Their day-long adventures in downtown Chicago are cinematic and comic gold. Whether crashing an art museum, a ritzy restaurant, or huge parade, Ferris, Cameron, and Sloane’s shenanigans are filled with that special energy you get when you’re around some really fun people and have a short amount of time to burn with them. A lot of these scenes, just like the movie they grace, are now iconic. And deservedly so.
Few movies, before or after, capture the power and vibrancy of youth as FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF does. Perhaps it’s just as well that a sequel (Ferris in college or in the workforce) never materialized. Because how do you top this?
In closing, please find below the amusing Super Bowl teaser for this year that had people mistakenly thinking there was a FERRIS BUELLER sequel coming. Ha ha. Go, Ferris:
Oh, and speaking of "special days": HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GIANLUIGI BUFFON! The Juventus keeper turned 34 yesterday! Go, G.G.!
