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Corniest of the John Hughes teen angst flicks?

posted 16 years ago by VanessaJLutz
10 replies | jump to latest

Is that why this is the last teen movie JH wrote before moving onto the whole Home Alone, Curly Sue, etc family fare?

All of his teen films have elements of cheesiness but this one takes the cake. I mean C'mon!!! This dude is gonna blow his life savings on a pair of earrings for some chick? Gimme a break! Keith seemed more responsible than that to me. And the line when they are in the museum and he says to Amanda "Shhh. This is my church." makes chunks rise in my throat every time. GAAAAAAYYYY!!

Don't get me wrong, I still like it but there are some things that when I watch it as an adult now that really make me cringe. All in all, this is my least favorite of SIxteen Candles, Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty in Pink, et. al.

I'd beg for some forgiveness but begging's not my business.

[–] soggybottom 16 years ago

Good post Vanessa.

Blowing his life savings on earrings always made me cringe too. It really didn't go along with the character at all, and then his explanation to his father didn't make any sense either.

So I finally came to conclusion (after many viewings) that the fancy car, the restaurant, the earrings, and the picture in the museum all combined to show that he really wanted to impress the "uptown girl" just once--to prove that he was capable of doing it.

And he also wanted to not let Hardy Jenn push him around any longer, and I guess that he thought that if he could win over Hardy's chick and display her on his arm as he walked into Hardy's party, that would really show him that he was for real, and it would be worth all of the money that he lost.

I wish that they would've had a scene where he and Watts explained better what the point of blowing all that money was (maybe there WAS a scene, and it got cut out?)

As for the "This is my church" line, yeah it's a little corny, but I didn't mind it so much. I think that they were just trying to show us how he was tired of getting picked on by everybody, and it was nice to have a secret-getaway place where he could go to and escape for a while. So that part kinda made sense to me.

[–] rebecca32602 16 years ago

There is actually a website for the movie, it has script changes and deleted scenes that you can read. It even has an alternate script to download. Maybe that explains the scenes that didn't quite make sense.
www.somekindofwonderful.org

One roller skate covered in Thousand Island dressing

[–] pbl1 16 years ago

so what! its not that the final cut of the film didn't/doesn't make sense, its that it just doesn't work as a movie. seeing what they didn't put in doesn't make the movie any better.

What the $%*& is a Chinese Downhill?!?

[–] Jeffff-Winston 12 years ago

The two of you totally miss the point of so many things here.

The earrings was NOT out of character for keith at all. Keith is different, he does his won thing, always has, yet he is confronted with a dad who wont listen to him about not going to college. Yet keith also seems to be the one who has in the past honored his fathers wishes. Talking to his dad, either hasnt happenned, or will not work, This is whown with the Guidance councello when she tells the dad that keith wants to go to art schools and the dad shoots that idea down.

Keith takes his money and buys something that is NON RETURNABLE ( you can not return expensive earrings once they have been worn) knowing that his dadwill find out and he can finally make the point that he isnt going to college.

The only thing keith spendt a lot of money on the date was for the Dinner. He borrowed a fancy car from work, watts drove, and the art gallery and the Hollywood bowl were free through his "connections" He started off at the restaurant to basically say that "yeah I can take you to a fancy restaurant in a fancy car, but there was no real substance to it until they had the fight at the restaurant.

Amanda was a girl with no self esteem who seemed to have everything else. keith was the guy who seemed to have nothing, but had high self esteem. He was genuinely interested in Amanda for who she was not how good she looked on his arm ( As Amanda points out this is what men want from her)

While it may seem like an insane gesture on its own, the speech he gives when giving them to her shows that someone can care for her, see the real her, and that she can feel a little stronger about herself. He wanted her to feel like she doesnt have to be so submissive to everyone.

So no, sorry, none of this was out of character for him.

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] paperline 14 years ago

I agree. This is my least favourite John Hughes film, sad to say I even have a least favourite. The ending was the corniest for me. It was probably good then, but now it just seems dated and cliché. And I guess I just didn't enjoy this movie as a whole. I didn't feel the chemistry from the characters. But Eric Stoltz was really handsome in this.

[–] thug4life 12 years ago

IMO the cheesiest John hughes movie would be the breakfast club. One scene that comes to mind that's terribly cringey is the scene after they smoke dope and there acting stupid and dancing around, then when Emilio estevez breaks the glass door. IMO time has not been great to that movie.

[–] P_e_n_n_y_L_a_n_e 12 years ago

YES thug4life, agreed! Breakfast Club is really cheesy and so dated now. I remember thinking it was so cool back when it was released, and now it is so dated.

This movie has some cringe-worthy bits, but I think it holds up better than Breakfast Club or Pretty In Pink.

[–] jostockjessica 12 years ago

The fact that you called something gay when what you really meant was lame or stupid, made me dismiss everything you said.
Plus, as I said to another person who mentioned the earrings. I really don't think that was about blowing money on a girl. Keith was feeling pressured by his dad to go to college for business. The cash just made it feel that much more real, close and official. I think being reckless with his money was just a way to piss his dad off and subconsciously break away from this perpetual future his dad was laying out for him.
I mean if he didn't blow the cash, his dad would have never really heard his idea on college, and maybe he wouldn't have realized his true feelings for watts, which I personally think happened because he finally moved past everything his focus was on in the beginning. IE his dad, college, and beating the bully/scoring with Amanda.
Plus I like that quote. I call my music room my church, it's just a phrase. Just my opinion.

[–] AJRoss-308-487285 10 years ago

I think I might agree with you. Pretty in Pink was quite corny too, but at least the ending was somewhat more realistic. Sixteen Candles was corny but at least it had some funny moments. I personally find The Breakfast Club the most overrated John Hughes movie (not worst, but most overrated) but at least it was touching and somewhat realistic.
But this movie was extremely poorly executed and cheesy, my alternate ending to this movie is that he doesn't choose Amanda or Watts, he takes the earrings back to the jeweller and chooses to focus on college. At least that would have been realistic and take more risks than the ending we got.

I'll trade you my t-shirt for a grilled cheese!