Day 100: Ferris Bueller's Day Off

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

[I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that you expected me to use it as the quote.]

Most of Bueller's likability comes with Matthew Broderick's performance which is quite remarkable. I have yet to see Election in its entirety-always catch it in the middle or the end on TV- but I don't think he's done anything close to this good ever since. In any other movie, Ferris would still make a great character, but maybe a great supporting character. Broderick makes him a worthy and memorable leading player. He's slick but not too slick. Good looking, but not the pussy pretty boy (cough* ZacEfron*cough). Broderick also gives the character a little empathy in a script that's, for the most part, flawless yet doesn't necessarily provide it. John Hughes is particularly known for adding weight to stereotypes, showing that each clique is comprised of actual individuals with actual identities of  their own. The best example of this is clearly The Breakfast Club.

But Ferris Bueller's Day Off is nowhere near that. Ferris, from a character development standpoint, is actually very weak. There's no emotional conflict, no teenage identity crisis. Nothing. Ferris is a guy who knows what he's doing, the implications of what he's doing, and simply doesn't care. If nihilism is a "doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more meaningful aspects of life," then I guess Ferris is Nietzsche-lite. Living life as a work of art, rather than what we see as hard work.

Ferris lives the way we would all want to live. I'm not going to go on too long with this, but Ferris simply lives instead of planning how he will live. His girlfriend and his friend at one point talk about how they're getting ready. What are they going to do? "I don't know." Ferris probably doesn't either, but who cares? "Every once in a while" is everyday to Ferris, so naturally he spends all of his time simply looking around, not wondering about questions he doesn't have answers to. But having said all that, there's a certain probability that a sequel wouldn't be so optimistic.

For a film that relies on the likability of its sole lead, I was surprised at how many solid supporting characters Hughes was able to pack into his film. Ferris' friend, Frye, is hilarious and provides actual emotional support for the film: a signature John Hughes trait. There's Ferris' sister, Jeanie, who's annoying yet not irritating (Broderick married her in real life! I mean, I would have gone with Sloane, who's Ferris' girlfriend). Principle Rooney is a worthy antagonist, but it's Ben Stein, the economics teacher, that steals the show. His signature deadpan is put to good use.

For a movie as innocent as this, it's actually pretty funny. You can't say that about a lot of films. Some stories try to be so innocent that they aren't funny, and some, in their effort to be funny, are simply too raunchy. Yet, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, is the best kind of comedy. It doesn't take itself too seriously-even during Frye's relatively long monologue-and is always fun and on pace. It's also refreshing that it takes place in a city like Chicago. I could take so many stories revolving around NY and LA.

Note: This movie was the tenth highest grossing film in America the year it was released. It made $70 million in the United States circa 1986. In 2009 dollars, that's only $135 million. There were like 20 films that made more than that in 2009. I guess people are going to the movie more often after all. Pretty cool.