Review of Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) by Jake M — 31 Aug 2014

While many film-goers of the 80s generation fondly remember "The Breakfast Club" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (and for good reasons), my favorite film from the pen of John Hughes is "Some Kind of Wonderful.

" The story felt just like high school felt, with all the painful doubts and growth of one's teenage years, and the film's credibility is greatly enhanced by the excellent performances of all the principle cast members (Masterson, Stoltz, Thompson, Sheffer, and Koteas). The class tensions of the 1980s crop up as real obstacles for the characters to deal with (especially Thompson -- buying in, or selling out?). And how can you beat that great opening theme by the late, lamented Propaganda? Best of all, unlike that humiliating scene in "The Breakfast Club" in which Ally Sheedy's outsider character conforms to stifling beauty norms (she was so cool until then!), none of the characters in "Some Kind of Wonderful" betray their integrity. And that makes those characters ones you WANT to identify with, I think. All in all, an underrated gem of a film.