Pretty in Pink

You're ashamed to go out with me. Andie Walsh (Molly Ringwald) is different to most kids at school. Being solely raised by her unemployed father, Jack (Harry Dean Stanton), and dressing in hand made clothes, she's very much from the wrong side of the tracks. It's tough in school as Andie and her pals are looked down on by the more wealthy students who make up the majority of the student body. With the prom on the horizon, Andie is feeling a little more bluer than normal, but hope comes in the form of Blane McDonough (Andrew McCarthy), a so called rich kid, who in spite of peer pressure asks Andie to the prom. This is something that alienates Andie and Blane from their so called friends. As it turned out, "Pretty In Pink" was another in the line of John Hughes films that really hit the mark with the teenagers of the time. In fact it's fair to say it impacted with almost everyone who had suffered a less than straight forward climb through some angsty teenage years. It's not a perfect piece by any stretch of the imagination, for at times it's twee and at others a little trite, it is nevertheless a finely crafted piece that deals with teen perils and the ugliness of class division. Unfortunately the class divide is something that rarely gets associated with the pic, because focus tends to be drawn to the love story at its heart. Which is a shame, because although audience expectation will undoubtedly be met in that department, Hughes has plotted it nicely to make a valid point. There is also the real notable thread of the single parent here, where the single parent is a man and a man who is unable to break free of the escalating distress caused by the break up of his marriage to Andie's mother. The two best serious scenes in the film both involve the father/daughter axis, where both Ringwald and H.D. Stanton are simply terrific. Comedy relief comes in the form of Andie's best pals, Duckie (Jon Cryer our hero) and Iona (Annie Potts), with both characters neatly inserted into the structure of the piece. While the direction from Howard Deutch is careful and brings about reality based performances from the predominantly youthful cast. Containing a kicking 1980s soundtrack from the likes of "New Order", "Echo And The Bunnymen", "Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark" and "The Psychedelic Furs", "Pretty In Pink" is a special movie on the CV of John Hughes. It will not be special to all comers, but for many, myself included, it strikes a mighty chord, one that was first heard back in the 1980's and for sure can still be heard today. 8/10

Enjoyable enough teen rom-com from writer John Hughes, though, and this only after my first viewing, not a favorite of mine of his. Still, for the most part I liked the core cast and thought it had its moments. However, this is near the bottom of John Hughes' brilliant career in the 1980s. **3.5/5**

The opening bars of the Psychedelic Furs' song are probably all that really lingers in the memory from this teenage romance; that and the cracking rendition of "Try a Little Tenderness" by the star of the film Jon Cryer's lovelorn "Duckie". The thrust of the plot revolves around the eccentric outsider "Andie" (Molly Ringwald) and her burgeoning romance with posh boy "Blane" (Andrew McCarthy) much to the chagrin of his odious pal "Steff" (James Spader). Now the latter man tried it on with her, but was given short shrift and so is now pretty disdainful of her to the rather drippy and spineless "Blane". Will they manage to get it all sorted out before prom (where we hear what has to be the 24" version of OMD's "If You Leave" accompanied by some dancing that, well, just doesn't work!)? Cryer steals the film really, and along with the soundtrack of predominately British hits from the 1980s helps to deliver an amiable degree of nostalgia. It's still worth a watch, but it really has lost much of it's lustre now and shows just how little actual acting talent was around at the time - very much style and songs over substance