Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
February 16, 2024 7:08 AM - Subscribe
[TRAILER] Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) has an uncanny skill at cutting classes and getting away with it. Intending to make one last duck-out before graduation, Ferris calls in sick, "borrows" a Ferrari, and embarks on a one-day journey through the streets of Chicago. On Ferris' trail is high school principal Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), determined to catch him in the act.
Also starring Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jennifer Grey, Cindy Pickett, Lyman Ward, Edie McClurg, Charlie Sheen, Ben Stein, Del Close, Virginia Capers, Richard Edson, Larry Jenkins, Kristy Swanson.
Written, directed, and co-produced by John Hughes for Paramount Pictures. Cinematography by Tak Fujimoto. Edited by Paul Hirsch. Music by Ira Newborn.
82% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
JustWatch listing.
Also starring Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jennifer Grey, Cindy Pickett, Lyman Ward, Edie McClurg, Charlie Sheen, Ben Stein, Del Close, Virginia Capers, Richard Edson, Larry Jenkins, Kristy Swanson.
Written, directed, and co-produced by John Hughes for Paramount Pictures. Cinematography by Tak Fujimoto. Edited by Paul Hirsch. Music by Ira Newborn.
82% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
JustWatch listing.
This is the movie that taught me how odometers work.
posted by Molesome at 7:27 AM on February 16 [5 favorites]
posted by Molesome at 7:27 AM on February 16 [5 favorites]
I came here to say pretty much what DirtyOldTown said. [insert finger pointing up emoji]
posted by mrphancy at 7:31 AM on February 16 [3 favorites]
posted by mrphancy at 7:31 AM on February 16 [3 favorites]
It's a very tight, clever little screenplay, at least on the teen movie level, of the conflict between the "everything is gonna be awesome!" life you daydream for yourself (Ferris's) and, respectively, the nagging hurts and disappointments that may already be in your way (Cameron), the frustration that your carefree life of popularity and endless fun is not coming (Jeanie), and the sad realization that even for a person with some version of that popular kid life, it can't last (Sloane).
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:50 AM on February 16 [8 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:50 AM on February 16 [8 favorites]
I actually met a "Ferris" once, at a youth conference in DC. He was just some average-looking kid from Texas, had an accent, wore a light jacket and khakis. But everyone seemed to gravitate to him. He was first in every line. Even the journalist Eleanor Clift mentioned his charisma at a Q&A.
posted by Stuka at 9:28 AM on February 16
posted by Stuka at 9:28 AM on February 16
There's definitely a read of this movie where he's an entitled affluent white prick who does what he wants without repercussion while other people live in the real world.
Yeah, I think the moralizing turn of millennial culture has been unnecessarily unkind to this movie. Ferris isn't malicious (even if he unintentionally leaves some wreckage in his wake, as these kinds always do), no one is actually looking to this kind of film for literal life lessons, so the critique on that basis just seems...unnecessary.
It's like criticizing The Third Man because Holly Martins gets innocents killed.
posted by praemunire at 9:33 AM on February 16 [2 favorites]
Yeah, I think the moralizing turn of millennial culture has been unnecessarily unkind to this movie. Ferris isn't malicious (even if he unintentionally leaves some wreckage in his wake, as these kinds always do), no one is actually looking to this kind of film for literal life lessons, so the critique on that basis just seems...unnecessary.
It's like criticizing The Third Man because Holly Martins gets innocents killed.
posted by praemunire at 9:33 AM on February 16 [2 favorites]
There's really very little anyone could throw at Ferris that John Hughes didn't already think of and put into the movie coming from his sister Jeannie.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:34 AM on February 16 [4 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:34 AM on February 16 [4 favorites]
It's been somewhat fashionable to revisit a lot of John Hughes' 80s films with a focus on their more problematic elements; I should know, because I've done probably more than my share of that. (Even Molly Ringwald got in on the act.) But the reason why they worked, and still work for a lot of people, is that relatively pure fantasy at the heart of them, that it would be great if you could just have an honest conversation with your peers without all the bullshit of the stereotypical roles that high school society shoved you all into, or that the universe simply wouldn't permit your sixteenth birthday to go uncommemorated, or that it would be pretty great "to move through the world as a teenager if the waves parted for you and the shit didn't stick." (I was a teenager in Chicago not that long before the movie came out, and the waves sure as shit didn't part for me.) It's the impetus behind the most interesting thing about the movie--Cameron and his relationship to Ferris--and the source of the "Tyler Durden" theory about the two. Cameron may even be more privileged than Ferris, but he's still pretty miserable.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:43 AM on February 16 [9 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:43 AM on February 16 [9 favorites]
I always wanted to be as clever as Ferris. I had a mad crush on Mia Sara (and was surprised her career didn't go farther).
Yes, Ferris is definitely a well-meaning jerk, but he's the inner imp that does in a way get his humility shoved in his face when he sees what the cost to Cameron will be.
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:22 AM on February 16 [3 favorites]
Yes, Ferris is definitely a well-meaning jerk, but he's the inner imp that does in a way get his humility shoved in his face when he sees what the cost to Cameron will be.
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:22 AM on February 16 [3 favorites]
It's been somewhat fashionable to revisit a lot of John Hughes' 80s films with a focus on their more problematic elements; I should know, because I've done probably more than my share of that.
The gender and race stuff is entirely fair game, but there's a puritan, verging-on-fundie disapproval of any protagonist who is not completely Wholesome and Virtuous that is one of the weirder manifestations of younger millennial/older Gen Z culture. Maybe it's because Gen X used up all the irony and so they didn't have any left over to help them realize that not every text is a literal endorsement of its contents for all purposes.
posted by praemunire at 10:27 AM on February 16 [14 favorites]
The gender and race stuff is entirely fair game, but there's a puritan, verging-on-fundie disapproval of any protagonist who is not completely Wholesome and Virtuous that is one of the weirder manifestations of younger millennial/older Gen Z culture. Maybe it's because Gen X used up all the irony and so they didn't have any left over to help them realize that not every text is a literal endorsement of its contents for all purposes.
posted by praemunire at 10:27 AM on February 16 [14 favorites]
I had a mad crush on Mia Sara (and was surprised her career didn't go farther).
She didn't enjoy acting, so when she had a family, she focused on her poetry instead.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:39 AM on February 16 [8 favorites]
She didn't enjoy acting, so when she had a family, she focused on her poetry instead.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:39 AM on February 16 [8 favorites]
I watched this with my kid a couple of weeks ago. I sold it as, "this teenager is kind of an asshole, but he embarrasses a lot of dumb adults and gets away with it." I hadn't seen it in about 30 years, but I think we both liked it more than we expected, and Cameron's ending actually feels heartbreakingly real.
Ferris is absolutely a privileged dick with zero regard for anyone else, least of all his ostensible best friend, but I think praemunire is right in that he's not actually malicious, just a teenager (read: thoughtless), and him getting away with everything is just a silly power fantasy, which is alright enough for this kind of story.
I don't think younger people are unnecessarily unkind toward John Hughes's movies, though. We can acknowledge that the past is a foreign country while simultaneously acknowledging that we wouldn't want to live there and don't necessarily need to venerate (or even watch movies about) it. That said, there's so much background cruelty in teen movies from the 80s and 90s that this one is practically saccharine in comparison.
Also, young Charlie Sheen? Wow.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:10 PM on February 16 [5 favorites]
Ferris is absolutely a privileged dick with zero regard for anyone else, least of all his ostensible best friend, but I think praemunire is right in that he's not actually malicious, just a teenager (read: thoughtless), and him getting away with everything is just a silly power fantasy, which is alright enough for this kind of story.
I don't think younger people are unnecessarily unkind toward John Hughes's movies, though. We can acknowledge that the past is a foreign country while simultaneously acknowledging that we wouldn't want to live there and don't necessarily need to venerate (or even watch movies about) it. That said, there's so much background cruelty in teen movies from the 80s and 90s that this one is practically saccharine in comparison.
Also, young Charlie Sheen? Wow.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:10 PM on February 16 [5 favorites]
I watched Ferris for the first time in 8th grade and was maaaaaadly in love. Count Ferris, Han Solo, almost every single Christian Slater role, and countless other rebellious, asshole hot dudes of the 80s as part of the reason why I have consistently selected men that are smarmy, slightly jerkish, but just kind enough at the right time throughout my entire life.
I did try a rewatch, and unlike Better Off Dead, Ferris doesn't retain his charm like Lloyd did as I aged. But I do still have fond memories of sitting around a card table with a group of girls, carefully puff painting "SAVE FERRIS" onto a tee-shirt. We thought we were so cool.
posted by teleri025 at 12:52 PM on February 16 [3 favorites]
I did try a rewatch, and unlike Better Off Dead, Ferris doesn't retain his charm like Lloyd did as I aged. But I do still have fond memories of sitting around a card table with a group of girls, carefully puff painting "SAVE FERRIS" onto a tee-shirt. We thought we were so cool.
posted by teleri025 at 12:52 PM on February 16 [3 favorites]
The John Hughes movies always left me feeling alienated despite being pretty much who he made his movies for and about, mostly because of the gender stuff. Girls were all so girly. So much makeup, so tidy, the outfits, the maturity.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:00 PM on February 16
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:00 PM on February 16
My main problem with this movie is that I still don't believe Ferris was a Cabaret Voltaire fan.
posted by talking leaf at 4:55 PM on February 16 [9 favorites]
posted by talking leaf at 4:55 PM on February 16 [9 favorites]
there's a puritan, verging-on-fundie disapproval of any protagonist who is not completely Wholesome and Virtuous that is one of the weirder manifestations of younger millennial/older Gen Z culture
I'd been giving Ferris the side eye since waaay before it was fashionable, but it was mostly because of a few people who took him far too seriously. It's just a fun, silly movie, enjoyable for those virtues. I've described him as Eddie Haskell with rich parents, and a world that thinks he's adorable. That kind of universe is just amusing to ponder, let alone see it fleshed out a bit on the big screen in the 80s. So it's kind of amusing, and maybe a little distressing, to see younger folks (including plenty here on MeFi), who are ready to call out even the most ridiculous of fictional creations that had a moment back in the day.
The movie itself is a fun, well made fantasy that's not nearly as shitty or cringy as some other teen movies of the era that gained traction among my peer group. I'd say that's pretty much a win.
posted by 2N2222 at 7:27 PM on February 16 [1 favorite]
I'd been giving Ferris the side eye since waaay before it was fashionable, but it was mostly because of a few people who took him far too seriously. It's just a fun, silly movie, enjoyable for those virtues. I've described him as Eddie Haskell with rich parents, and a world that thinks he's adorable. That kind of universe is just amusing to ponder, let alone see it fleshed out a bit on the big screen in the 80s. So it's kind of amusing, and maybe a little distressing, to see younger folks (including plenty here on MeFi), who are ready to call out even the most ridiculous of fictional creations that had a moment back in the day.
The movie itself is a fun, well made fantasy that's not nearly as shitty or cringy as some other teen movies of the era that gained traction among my peer group. I'd say that's pretty much a win.
posted by 2N2222 at 7:27 PM on February 16 [1 favorite]
I loved this as a kid but it didn't hold up for me on rewatch. Once I read about the Fight Club theory, I enjoyed this movie a lot more.
posted by kokaku at 4:26 AM on February 18
posted by kokaku at 4:26 AM on February 18
The complement to the Fight Club theory is Sys Rq’s theory here on MetaFilter, that the movie is about Ferris imagining a last day with his deceased friend Cameron.
posted by mbrubeck at 2:24 PM on February 19 [1 favorite]
posted by mbrubeck at 2:24 PM on February 19 [1 favorite]
This was one of the movies my friends and I would watch when we couldn't think of anything else we wanted to watch, so I've seen it a ton. I love it in a "pure joy" sort of way - every performance is excellent, the youthful shenanigans are just the sine qua non of youthful shenaniganry, and the fantasy of having (mostly) pulled it off and humiliated that absolute prick of a dean is delicious when you're a teen.
I also just genuinely loved the character of Cameron, loved the realism of having him actually kinda hate his alleged best friend, loved his not wanting to get out of bed and his "let my Cameron go" song, just found him incredibly charming and adorable.
It's wild Alan Ruck was almost 30. I don't believe Matthew Broderick as a high schooler (or frankly Mia Sara although she actually was 18) but I totally believed Alan Ruck and was shocked how much older he was.
posted by potrzebie at 4:10 PM on February 19
I also just genuinely loved the character of Cameron, loved the realism of having him actually kinda hate his alleged best friend, loved his not wanting to get out of bed and his "let my Cameron go" song, just found him incredibly charming and adorable.
It's wild Alan Ruck was almost 30. I don't believe Matthew Broderick as a high schooler (or frankly Mia Sara although she actually was 18) but I totally believed Alan Ruck and was shocked how much older he was.
posted by potrzebie at 4:10 PM on February 19
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But I think it's really a fantasy about being cool, without having to be the captain of the football team or a rich kid. It's about how great it would be to move through the world as a teenager if the waves parted for you and the shit didn't stick. Because damn being a real teen is all no one letting you through. It's all shit sticking.
It's silly but it's a delight.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:11 AM on February 16 [29 favorites]