Review of Pretty in Pink (1986) by Kendal K — 15 Oct 2015
Pretty in Pink perhaps illustrates why I hate the teen movie genre. The main characters act like immature brats who know nothing about the world outside high school romance, and if you hated Jon Cryer's character in Two and a Half Men before seeing this, his character in this film is no better.
Some have referred to this film as essentially the Brat Pack take on Cinderella, but such an assessment couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, if it is Cinderella, then it's passed through a typically obnoxious John Hughes filter.
The writing is quite hackneyed, but then again, what more could I expect from a typical 80's teen movie? In this regard, the film's main problem is that the characters are very unconvincing. I fail to see how a rich boy would even be remotely interested in a poor girl like the one played by Molly Ringwald (to be fair, pretty much everyone went after her back in the day).
To be fair, the film does have good production values and an even better selection of music, but that doesn't make up for a teen "comedy" with no laughs whatsoever. If it was funny back then, then it must have aged terribly, like most films of the genre.
The teen movie itself may as well be a leprous neanderthal limping as it clings hopelessly to life, as illustrated unfailingly by not only this movie, but also John Hughes' many copycats. To be fair, there are films like it that are actually good, but this film is little more than a badly aged and embarrassingly dated relic the 80's.
This review of Pretty in Pink (1986) was written by Kendal K on 15 Oct 2015.
Pretty in Pink has generally received positive reviews.
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