Andie Walsh (Molly Ringwald) is a teenager that comes from a lower-class background. Her father struggles to get motivated enough for full-time employment, whilst she works casually at the TRAX record store, putting aside small amounts for clothes from the thrift shop and creating pink ensembles for very little money.
She has a crush on one of the rich kids, Blane McDonough (Andrew McCarthy), who seems a lot more sensitive than his friends. Her best friend "Duckie" (Jon Cryer) jokes around about being in love with her to cover up his true feelings and the whole story starts to lead up to the prom, with the question being, who would Andie go with? Or would she even go, after the poor way that she had been treated around school.
This film has all the scenarios that teens often face as they're growing up; Crushes, discrimination, fights and of course the all important prom. Whilst there's plenty of Hughe's usual sense of humour, it comes through these lovable and believable characters. Take this scene for instance, where Duckie sings along to Otis Redding in the TRAX store. I find this really sums up his character. He's playful and funny, whilst covering up his love for Andie, and so we can easily sympathise with him, and this really comes down to Cryer's memorable performance. The same goes for Ringwald and McCarthy as well as Harry Dean Stanton (who plays Andie's dad, Jack), and then on the antagonist side, you have James Spader playing Blane's arrogant friend Steff, which he does with his usual laid-back but eccentric style. For me, it's these performances that make the characters and the characters that make the movie.
Like most of Hughes' films that we've explored this month, Pretty in Pink has a soundtrack full of 80s hits that always seem to perfectly frame that teenage outlook that he's aiming for, whilst keeping the film light-hearted and entertaining. This may be timid compared to Ferris Bueller or other of Hughes films, but it is no less of a classic.
No comments:
Post a Comment