Review of Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) by Berringer C — 24 Jan 2019

Let's be honest . . . who here didn't try to play hooky at least once over the course of their academic career? Ferris Bueller happens to be king of the fake sick day and, using his ninth phony day off this semester, decides to show his hypochondriac friend Cameron and level-headed girlfriend Sloane the time of their lives. From admiring paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago to commandeering a parade float to perform in front of an almost magically absurd crowd - all while bending the laws of coincidence - this will be one day our three teenage heroes never forget.

John Hughes is the ultimate progenitor of exploring teen angst in cinema and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" is just one more in a string of classic comedies (including the oft-overlooked "Sixteen Candles" and the legendary malcontent manifesto "The Breakfast Club") that stood head-and-shoulders above their contemporaries. Hughes was note-perfect at writing incisive dialogue suited to the varied styles of his teenage protagonists while penetrating the very heart of human nature at the same time. It helps that Hughes always had stellar casts to work with.

The fourth-wall-breaking performance of Matthew Broderick is one of the best the Eighties ever saw and Broderick's on screen chemistry with Alan Ruck is convincing enough to make the viewer believe these two have been playing off of each other since kindergarten. Jeffrey Jones is a deliciously devilish amalgamation of high school principles while Jennifer Grey does her part as Bueller's sister who simply wants to escape the shadow of her spotlight-stealing brother and find a little recognition of her own. Even Charlie Sheen is on point doing his best Judd Nelson impersonation. "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" is a great example of the kind of heartwarming mischievousness from a more innocent age that we will probably never witness again on the silver screen.