Review of Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) by Stevenf — 21 Mar 2013

John Hughes introduces us to another character stuck inside his head,the teenage dynamo Ferris Bueller.

Bueller, played by Matthew Broderick, decides to create an elaborate hoax out of one of the oldest pastimes of the generation, skipping school. But what sets this film part as another teen movie is not the premise of the film, but the actual character of Bueller and is influence on his little entourage of classmates and is entire school who hear about his 'illness'.

Ferris orchestrates several ways so as his day off goes smoothly, dummy in the bed, recorded message for the doorbell etc, but a persistent school principal (Jeffrey Jones) may just wreck that.

The day really consists of various places that Ferris has clearly wanted to visit, and a very memorable scene at a parade, which is just too enjoyable.

Alan Ruck also stars as the worrying and depressive Cameron, Ferris' best friend but someone who has issues with his parents. Mia Sara plays Sloane, Ferris' girlfriend, who Ferris manages to get out of school.

The movie has all the vintage touches of Hughes, the in-your-face cinematography and the exaggerated moments of simple scenarios with pounding music to signify the scene.

Ferris continuously speaks directly to the camera, this is quite clever in that we see the influence and effect that he has on the other characters and the bigger, overall picture of what is being told, he is narrating the insecurities that teens face in their everyday lives, and what it means to be free, and also the simple case of not having everything doesn't necessarily make him unhappy.

What I feel took the film down though was Hughes excessive use of his dramatised camera techniques, they just become annoying and didn't suit the style of the film at all, and the film could have benefited greatly without them.

The message within the film does do the whole feature justice though, dealing with problems head on and looking out for your friends couldn't be more heartfelt in this film. Something as simple as freedom for the youth couldn't be more important, and Matthew Broderick has the perfect face and charm to put across that message. Certainly not an amazing film, but the agenda that the film has is one of the upmost importance and is a nice deterrent from the typical teen films that we are now accustomed to, if you don't stop for a while and admire it, you might just miss it.