Ferris Bueller's Day Off

I had always thought this was the one 80s teen comedy not written and directed by John Hughes, but of course it is. Perhaps it was because it doesn't contain any of his usual cast, or that it feels markedly different from them. Perhaps the absence of Michael J. Fox disturbed me (he was considered for the role, but apparently Matthew Broderick was always the first choice). I think Broderick is key here. Talking to the camera, and his wry, adult humour sets this film apart from Hughes' other films (although of course his teenagers are all very adult). This is also a different movie in that the main character doesn't change. Ferris Bueller undergoes no emotional journey in this film. Instead, he is the foil, the catalyst, for the journey that his best friend Cameron goes on. Cameron is the one who is ill, and who doesn't want to go anywhere or do anything. Cameron is the one who stares at the little girl in the painting by Seurat. Cameron is the one who is at first terrified of his parents, then confident in meeting them. All the while in the background, as is typical, we are aware that this is their last year in school, and one of the last chances that they'll have to be together (the influence on Superbad is notable). Ferris changes Cameron, but doesn't change himself. Even his sister Jeanie develops, but not the main character. It is in fact a mish-mash of John Hughes' films, and lacks any real narrative drive. It isn't actually as good as his earlier work in this sense, and yet somehow it surpasses them. It contains that magic element, which might be Broderick, the music, or some great lines, that makes it culturally significant, and unavoidably great fun.