'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' (1986), 80s at Its Best

Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) is a popular high school senior who decides to skip another day of school by faking an illness to his parents, Katie (Cindy Pickett) Tom (Lyman Ward). He persuades his best friend, Cameron (Alan Ruck), who is home with a legitimate illness, to join him and together they get his girlfriend, Sloane (Mia Sara), out of school to spend the day in Chicago before parting ways to different colleges. Making a big event out of everything, Ferris convinces Cameron to allow them to use his father's 1961 Ferrari.

Within a few hours, Ferris has the entire high school student body believing he is on his deathbed and word leaks out to the public and everyone is collecting money to save him. Two people do not believe him -- his sister, Jeanie (Jennifer Grey), who is jealous of Ferris getting everything he wants, and his high school principal, Edward Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), who is on a mission to catch Ferris being truant and make him fail the school year.

"Ferris Bueller's Day Off" is a fun movie from the 80s that really takes all of us children of the era back to our more innocent times when we were carefree and without adult responsibilities. I never saw the movie in the 80s but I have always heard good things and I decided to finally watch it this month. It is about what I expected and was entertained throughout the entire film, not only because of the humor but also because everything about the movie reminded me of my childhood and all of the clothes, hair, cars, and technology of the time.

One thing that makes this film unique is that the character of Ferris occasionally talks directly to the audience. In theater, I believe this is called breaking the fourth wall and it really makes the audience feel like a part of the movie, as if we are in on a secret. Broderick does a great job of pulling us into his own world and mindset.

"Ferris Bueller's Day Off" was directed and written by John Hughes who previously worked on other popular 80s films such as "European Vacation" (1985) and "The Breakfast Club" (1985). Even before I researched this movie, it did feel like "The Breakfast Club," only a little more fun and the serious undertones are only there if you look closely and try to block out some of the humor.

The story is quite simple but, with a runtime of 103 minutes, the movie never becomes boring, so it just goes to show you that even the most simple of ideas can be expanded into long and entertaining adventures. John Hughes seems to have had a knack for bringing out many different levels of plots within stories that take place within a short period of time. When I was younger, it seemed like I could do so many things each day that only seems mind-boggling now that I am older -- this movie brings back memories of those days gone by.

The overall story is one that many young people in the 80s or any time period for that matter have done or dreamed of doing -- that is skipping school to go on an adventure all around town, especially in an expensive car like the Ferrari Ferris borrows from Cameron's father without his permission. "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" takes it a step further by skipping school in their senior year for one final tryst before parting ways for college.

If you analyze "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" on deeper levels, you will also see many other things going on. One of the most obvious things is that Cameron learns to not cower to his father and the world in general. An important thing to realize about Ferris is that, while he seems to be a popular and smart-alecky troublemaker (the latter mostly to his sister and his principal), he really is a nice guy who doesn't want to hurt anyone and acts as the catalyst in many of the characters' actions and emotions throughout the movie.

I believe the principal is out to get Ferris because he was probably unpopular in school and is trying to enact revenge through Ferris' downfall. The principal is annoying but adds a bit more hilarity to Ferris' actions and makes us root all the more for Ferris to thwart the principal's numerous ways to catch him being truant.

It was really interesting to see some of the contraptions and setups that Ferris put together to create the illusion that he was a home and sick in bed. He connected his intercom system to a prerecorded message of him saying that he is sick and unable to come to the door that was pretty ingenious. He also rigged up a rope to his bedroom door that would lift up a dummy in his bed to make it look like he was turning when someone would be at the door.

"Ferris Bueller's Day Off" is rated PG 13 and pretty much safe for viewers of all ages. I don't recall any bad language or nudity. It's just a fun movie that makes you laugh and think at the same time without being too philosophical -- just the right balance of both without forcing itself on us. It's just an overall good-feel movie.

The music is a throwback to the 80s with some older stuff occasionally. One of the most fun moments of the movie is when Ferris jumps on the parade float and sings "Twist and Shout," which is so much fun that it makes you almost want to get up and dance like all of the people in the movie.

The acting is good for what it is and anything more would be overkill and ruin the carefree attitude of the movie. Matthew Broderick does a great job as Ferris and most of the other actors and actresses had to follow his lead. Alan Ruck plays a great sidekick who complements Broderick's character and Mia Sara is not really too memorable to me. Cindy Pickett and Lyman Ward play Ferris' parents but are more props than anything else.

I am not a big fan of Jeffrey Jones but he pulls off a pretty good role as the high school principal out to get Ferris. There is a bit of slapstick humor when his character, some of it brought out more by Edie McClurg, who plays Grace, his snarky secretary at the high school.

To be honest, I did not even realize Jennifer Grey was playing Ferris' sister until after the movie ended. I had just got done watching her on "Dancing with the Stars" and thought I would have recognized her but she was 20 years younger and it was before her plastic surgery. She does a fine job of being the jealous sister who has a change of heart by the end of the movie. Much of her change of heart occurred at the jail when she meets a young guy at the police station played by a young Charlie Sheen, which was a fun surprise.

"Ferris Bueller's Day Off" is not a movie that depends on big special-effects or anything like that. It is a movie that is supposed to be a fictionalized version of something that could really occur to anyone without much fantasizing. This is what makes the movie so good because it helps us to relate to our own lives and how we should take time off every now and then to enjoy it.

It is not a heavy-thinking movie but does make you think after it has ended. "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" will leave you with a smile and fond memories of your childhood. If you have not seen it yet or are a big Matthew Broderick fan, I highly recommend this movie to you.

Rating: 4/5

Renting a Ferrari car was too expensive, so the crew made three fakes with fiberglass bodies.

Charlie Sheen stayed awake for over 48 hours to produce his drugged-looking state.

Many of the license plates of vehicles are abbreviations of John Hughes film titles including Katie - VCTN ("National Lampoon's Vacation" (1983), Jeannie - TBC ("The Breakfast Club" (1985), Tom - MMOM ("Mr. Mom" (1983), and Rooney - 4FBDO ("Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986).

Anthony Michael Hall rejected the role of Ferris Bueller to not be typecast.

Rob Lowe, John Cusack, Jim Carrey, Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr. and Michael J. Fox were all considered for the role of Ferris Bueller.

Quotes

Ferris: Hey, Cameron. You realize if we played by the rules right now we'd be in gym?

Cameron: Ferris Bueller, you're my hero.

Ferris: Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

Source: Wikipedia