Aidan At The Movies: March 2015

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it"
Ferris Bueller

Meet high school wiseguy, Ferris Bueller, the most popular kid in school. All the kids adore him. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude. Ferris is the guy you want to hang out with, maybe even the guy you wish you could be. :)

This is the ultimate 80s classic "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". It stars Matthew Broderick (Wargames & The Lion King), Mia Sara, Alan Ruck (Spin City), and Jeffery Jones (Beetlejuice). This movie rocks! I'll tell you why in a couple minutes.

Ferris Bueller cons his parents into letting him to take the day off from school (for the ninth time). He pulls a sneaky, yet clever plan to pull it off (he clues the audience in on his never-fail, fake sick trick). This time he even manages to have his friends at school believe he's dying! (Yeah, right!) But hey, why go to school on a lovely, bright, sunny day? The sky's blue and Ferris is ready for adventure.

Ferris decides to enlist his trusty pal, Cameron Fry and his girlfriend Sloane Peterson to join the fun with him. He also convinces Cameron to let him use his dad's priceless Ferrari. Together they sneak Sloane out of school for the day by pretending to be her father calling in a death in the family.

While all this is going on, Ed Rooney, the inept school principal, is determined to prove that Ferris is not sick. He knows all of Ferris' tricks, or so he thinks. So he determines to find Ferris and catch him red-handed, chasing him all over Chicago. As if that weren't enough, Ferris' sister, Jeanie (Dirty Dancing's Jennifer Grey) is on the case as well. But as Jeanie laments, Ferris always gets away with everything.

Ferris and his friends have lots of fun in the city of Chicago. They go to an art museum, a parade, the Chicago Stock Exchange, Wrigley Field, and to lunch at a fancy restaurant. But what will happen next? Watch the movie and find out. (I will say the end is one of the most hysterical and inventive 'chase scenes' ever!)

Now, I told you I would explain why this movie is awesome. Well, obviously, it's hysterical! In a movie like this, you always have to expect the unexpected and you get it. I won't give any examples or else I'll ruin the point. It's not just funny, it's clever funny. They never go for the cheap joke. But as funny as it is, you also care about the characters. You realize these three friends are facing some big life changes and the wacky day of adventure is a way of delaying the thoughts and decisions they will soon have to face. It's a tight script, well acted, and beautifully filmed. There are no low points, it doesn't drag anywhere, and no matter how absurd Ferris' antics get, you can't help but cheer him on. You gleefully go along for the ride with him all the way. I also like the point that it's an 80s movie. (I know I've been doing 80s movies a lot, but I'll move on to different eras, I promise.)

I also like the way Ferris breaks the fourth wall and talks to the audience. Breaking the fourth wall is one of my favorite gags. (Besides the seeing people's eyes in the dark gag.) It's like a way for the character to share his or her thoughts to the audience. I love the fact that everyone in the whole community cares about Ferris being sick, and is sending him things to make him feel better. Plus it annoys the heck out of his sister and his oblivious, trusting parents never notice any of it, which just makes it funnier.

I could go on all day. But I can't, I have to keep this brief. I give this movie a thumbs up. Oh - and watch the credits - all the credits. Trust me.

PARENTS SHOULD KNOW: The movie is rated PG-13 for sexual and drug references and language. There are two uses of the F word. Lots of 4-lettered words. In one scene, Ferris has a drawing of a nude woman on his computer, it's only shown for a few seconds. There are some kissing scenes. And in one scene, Sloane asks Cameron if he saw her changing into her swimsuit. Cameron said yes, Sloane says that she isn't embarrassed, although we don't see ever anything. There is some brief violence, a little bit of blood, and a duel of wits between Mr. Rooney and a dog.

DID YOU KNOW? : John Hughes wrote the script in just 6 days. The actors who played Ferris' parents, Cindy Pickett and Lyman Ward got married in real life after filming this movie. In the scene when Sloane was distracting Ferris' dad in the taxi cab by laughing, Matthew Broderick helped her by tickling her feet and knees! :) Emilio Estevez (The Breakfast Club & The Mighty Ducks) turned down the role for Cameron. Some of the actresses who were considered the role of Ferris' sister Jeanie were Ally Sheedy (The Breakfast Club), Jodie Foster, Melanie Griffith, Madonna, and Holy Hunter (Elastigirl in Disney's The Incredibles). There was also a deleted scene where Ferris was on a radio talk show. Bits of it were seen in the trailer.