John Hughes Movie: Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." - That is Ferris Bueller's final message as he talks down the camera to the audience (apart from that the movie is over go home of course) and boy, does John Hughes stress that point in this fantastic cultural classic from the 1980s.

From sneaking off with Ferraris, to singing "Twist and Shout" at the Von Steuben Day parade, Ferris and his friends have a day off that they are unlikely to forget and that we the audience are certain to remember.

The legacy of this film comes down to several elements that combine to make this epic pop-piece. The main characters, Ferris, his sister Jeanie, his girlfriend Sloane and his socially awkward friend Cameron are all perfectly relatable to teenagers as well as to adults looking back on their teen years. Hughes has such a talent for these entertaining yet subtly touching teen movies, that it's no wonder that they are the films that people remember him for.

Apart from the believable main cast, the majority of other characters are overblown caricatures that prove endlessly amusing. Ed Rooney, his incompetent secretary Grace, the monotonous economics teacher and most of the other high-school students, are all likely to remind us of tiresome people that we have encountered in the past, that we currently work with, or that we're likely to meet in the future, which makes their satiric portrayals all the funnier.

The look of the film is one of it's defining features, with lots of active camera movement, close-ups and the odd use of stylised slow-motion, the film has a sense of liveliness that can only be achieved through the sequences that build up Ferris's packed day. Though it's the script which not only lays the foundations for this tale, but ultimately brings it all together. Even without the memorable characters and engaging events, the film would still stand strong thanks to it's plethora of memorable phrases. I don't know about you but for every tedious early-morning role call in High School, I couldn't help but mime: Bueller?... Bueller?... Bueller?  

The soundtrack is unforgettable too. If it's not Love Missile F1-11, then it's Oh Yeah playing. It's full of classic 80s music that is utilised so well by Hughes in the musical sequences that it's impossible to sperate the film from the soudtrack, or indeed imagining one existing without the other. Even the most severe critics of catchy synthesised songs and rocking power ballads could learn to love them through this film.

At the end of the day, Ferris is every bit the righteous dude that he's made out to be. But the film is not just about Ferris, in many ways it's a reflection of life. Whether you're young or old, it's not just a film about the hijinks that teenagers can get up to, it's a reminder that we all have so much life left to live. If we just put in a little effort, every day could be as unforgettable as this.