A classic comedy.
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Who would have ever thought I would find a movie that centers around an (admittedly ingenious) slacker that breaks the fourth wall and converses directly with the audience entertaining. The problem is that Matthew Broderick as the titular Ferris Bueller is just so damned affable that you can´t help but fall in love with him. He´s the kind of kid that everyone wanted to have as a friend in high school, despite being an utter deviant. As John said in his review of the original DVD, when Ferris cuts school he does it right.
He´s missed eight days of school during the course of his senior year and Ferris is determined to make his ninth one to remember. After faking out his parents, Ferris has to concoct a plan to spring his best girl, Sloane (Mia Sara), and live it up in the Windy City. To do so, Ferris needs his best friend, who also happens to be (legitimately) missing school due to illness, Cameron (Alan Ruck). You see, Ferris is without transport and he relies on his pal to get about. And they do it in style, in Cameron´s father´s pretty red car. I don´t know what particular kind it is, but again, it sure is pretty.
Ferris and his crew do, indeed, make the most of their time together. They scam their way into a snooty restaurant, scale the Sears Tower, catch a Cubs game, and interlope on a parade. But it´s not all roses as there are forces conspiring to bring Ferris to justice, including the school principal Rooney (Jeffery Jones) and Ferris´s jealous sister Jeannie (Jennifer Grey). Their misadventures in attempting to catch him in the act of skipping school account for about a third of the movie. Similarly Ferris has some near-misses with his mother and father out in the city.
Most of the film is a series of climactic vignettes that feature Ferris plying his trade, namely conning people, and having a good time. They are linked by an overarching narrative that tells the story of the day. In the end, this is the story of a day, one which Ferris is determined to make the best.
The movie´s three leads have a wonderful dynamic that makes this film an absolute pleasure to watch. The subtext about this being the group´s last chance to really cut loose before they spread out for college becomes heartbreaking when you realize how much they mean to one another. These characters grow nicely through the course of the movie. Cameron starts to understand that his existence isn´t nearly as horrible as he thinks and learns to adapt to the pressures of life. Sloane learns what it means to love and Ferris what it means to be a true friend. They may not be life-altering adjustments but they are wonderful beats.
I honestly wonder what happened to these characters after this film concluded; it is a sign of just how compelling they are. We spend a nice amount of time with them; just enough to fall in love with Ferris and his motley crew. "Ferris Bueller´s Day Off" is a wonderful, and somewhat timeless movie that addresses issues of teen anxiety (about growing up and growing old) and dealing with life. And to cap it all off, in case I haven´t focused on it, it´s insanely funny and infinitely quotable.
"Ferris Bueller´s Day Off" is a seminal 80´s film and one of the funniest, most heartfelt movies to come out of the period. Watch, and enjoy.
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