The documentary details the journey of a group of young filmmakers who go in search of the reclusive icon, documenting their search through interviews of the people with whom Hughes had worked and fans of his films. Those interviewed include Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Kelly LeBrock, Mia Sara, Alan Ruck, Roger Ebert, and Jim Kerr of the band Simple Minds. Filming began in 2006.Like everybody else of my generation, John Hughes IS the teen movie; in particular thrilling for my particular age in that they take place JUST a few years before our own (eg Anthony Michael Hall in The Breakfast Club, while filmdom makes one seem so much older, would only be three classes ahead of me in high school), which I've found makes for a strange kind of rarified, idyllic nostalgia.
Sometimes when it comes to talks about Hughes I tire of what a "genius" he was at philosophizing and writing inside the teenage mind. I mean I wonder how difficult it is to really write teenage characters-by-number in a clichéd,"gee, didn't high school suck?" kinda way. But then, the credit goes to the person that actually does it. Maybe it seems inevitable to me BECAUSE not only did he do it, but because he did it so well and effortlessly.
One thing this film reminds us as I'm watching is that Hughes' real genius might've been his casting - the teens in his flicks WERE actually believable. Claire was kinda hot but not TOO hot. We all knew nerds like Anthony Michael Hall, we all knew teen curmudgeons like Cameron, and we've all been Duckie. Nobody was too cool, or too good-looking. I can't' imagine being a teenager today and watching the slew of movies/tv where everybody looks like a Victoria's Secret model and seemingly jets between lunches in Manhattan and Paris without any rules or parents even in the periphery while fucking everyone in sight. Too cool for school.
Also while his run of high school teen flicks was great, don't forget what other great films he wrote.
Side Note: interesting tidbit
Principal Richard Vernon is named after Richard Vernon, the actor who played the gentleman in the train compartment scene in A Hard Day's Night (1964). When the principal asks the janitor what he wanted to be when he grew up, the janitor replies that he wanted to be John Lennon.
And can someone get that hot bitch Sloan in a goddam movie???!?!!
1 comment:
Dude, when you figure that only 5 years prior, fuckin' 30-somethings were playing teenagers--oh, Grease, so much to answer for--not only was Hughes' casting on-point age-wise, but as you stated, quite believable, as well.
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