Pretty in Pink (and my failed attempts at humor)

The 80's were an amazing decade, from the music and video games all the way to the style and movies. Unfortunately, I was born a decade too late but this doesn't mean I've missed out on any of the fun.  My iPod, not a walkman, shuffles from "The Future's so Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades," to "We're Not Gonna Take It."  I was always player two growing up, the hardships of being the youngest, but I can still kick your ass at Super Mario Brothers and finish the game in under 10 minutes. I never understood modern fashion and have always ideally wanted to return to the "crazed" style of the prior generation.  And most importantly, my dvd shelf is filled with the John Hughes discography: I learned how to skip school from Ferris, I was a member of the Breakfast Club (Ally Sheedy), and everyone forgot my 16th birthday (the last one is a lie, I was the only one that forgot).

Now I was going to review Breakfast Club, and maybe one day I still will, but I decided that would be cliched since every tween who just discovered cinema believe that they "own" that movie.  Instead I turn to another favorite I believe is an underrated classic, Pretty in Pink.

So many high schoolers want their lives to turn out like a Disney Princess movie where they live happily ever after, all the power to them, I was the girl who watched any Molly Ringwald movie and wanted to be her, like the makeover scene in Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink was my favorite.  I watched this dvd so many times that the case had a permanent residence on top of the dvd player.  I have since grown out of my 80's phase, but Pretty in Pink and most importantly, Ducky, still holds a special place in my heart.

Molly Ringwald, Andie, is a girl who lives on the wrong side of the tracks, her famiy is poor and, John Hugh classic theme of parents, an unemployed father who relies on Andie for everything.  Her best friend is the crazy Ducky, John Cryer, who is secretly in love with her.  Suddenly Andie sparks the interest of rich boy, Blane, Andrew McCarthy.  Andie doesn't think she's good enough for Blane whose friends don't think Andie is good enough for him.  It is a simple plot but the emotion that is packed into the script and the actors' performances make this movie a classic.  Friendships, relationships, family, and money are all brought to question.

If you are familiar with any of John Hughes' work you may notice that Pretty in Pink is quite different.  This is because John Hughes is simply the writer while Howard Deutch was director. This was the first movie that Deutch directed and it is still my favorite, while he does have a couple other movies that I rather liked.  The movie has the feel of most other 80's movies, simple sets, a party scene, and rebellious teens, everything you could hope for.

There is not much I can say in terms of the actual production of the movie other than I loved the entirety of it.  It was simple, and simple is one of the many reasons I love 80's movies.  (That and the music numbers and there is a musical number where Ducky lip syncs "Try a Little Tenderness.")  The character development in this movie also makes it amazing, I cared a great deal as to what would happen to them, no so much Andie, she was whiny, but more Ducky.  It is not often a secondary character carries so much power but Ducky accomplishes this.

Most comically in this movie is the fashions.  Usually I am capable of overlooking the styles I find in 80's movies, hell any decade movie, but this one is especially haunting since it is one of the major plot points.  A characteristic of Andie is her ability to create outfits.  The title of the movie refers to the pink dress that Andie creates from another pink dress.  Now this is just my humble opinion (and mind you I mentioned my inability to understand fashion earlier, and you just thought I was rambling) the dress she destroyed to create a dress was better than the monstrosity we get as a result, in fact all the outfit she wears throughout this movie were awful.  (Sincerely, 2013.)  But if you can overlook this quality, which you should cause how could they know in 1986 what would be fashionable now, though I doubt this as ever fashionable.  I would continue this rant but I don't want to become a fashion blog.

If you happened to make it through that last paragraph, congrats.  Overall, this movie is amazing and I understand why teenage me loved it so much.  If you are a fan of sappy movies or 80's cinema you'll probably love it as well.  Also it's really good if you're having a date night you want to end by getting laid, seriously it will probably work or just lie and tell her you love her, one is certainly faster than the other.

I keep getting sidetracked, wow this post sucks.  WATCH THIS MOVIE.