Classic Review for April
Added 2022-03-30 00:09:53 +0000 UTCI'm going to review Ferris Bueller's Day Off soon, a film that I've always been meaning to get around to in the spring, since it's fitting. Hadn't watched it in a while. What are your opinions on Ferris Bueller as a character, especially in terms of function? I have my own opinions there. I do think that in a remake, Timothee Chalamet would be a great casting choice.
Comments
I never liked the film when I first saw it back in the 1980s. But I should revisit it after all this time.
Brian Wright
2022-03-31 06:24:09 +0000 UTCI agree that it wouldn't solve things for the character. But I do think it would alleviate the issues I have with the performance at least...which I think would be a good thing. I prefer Breakfast Club as well, even if I have issues with it as well. But Ferris Bueller is really surprising how messy it is.
Deepfocuslens
2022-03-30 21:29:00 +0000 UTCAlso, eject the unfunny and pointless characters of Jennifer Grey and Jeffrey Jones.
Wolfman Brandon
2022-03-30 19:02:53 +0000 UTCFor John Hughes movies, I’ve always gravitated towards the Breakfast Club rather than Ferris Bueller’s day off. The characters are a lot more faceted and as I get older I feel like I learn more about how I used to be in high school. That’s not really the case with Ferris Bueller’s character. He doesn’t really have any growth. He’s treated as all-knowing at the beginning and end of the movie. So while I like the movie enough, it’s more for nostalgia than anything else. And Chalamet would be great! Although I’m not really sure it’s the actor that would make the difference in terms of solving those issues I have with the character. I think it would be the writing. I would be very worried about a remake in this day and age given how obsessed we are with nostalgia. They might not be willing to do anything different with the character.
Jackson Littlewood
2022-03-30 08:15:39 +0000 UTCYeah, there’s something to be said about how ridiculous it is that Ferris acts as a catalyst for improvement for Cameron. In a more honest telling of the story, that’s not how it would turn out. People like Ferris tend to step on others in order to get what they want and leave them to deal with the damage. I wish I could remember the girlfriend more than I do, but…I don’t. That probably doesn’t speak highly of how well she’s written. And the sister’s arc of how she comes to not only accept Ferris’s sneaky ways but also help him succeed? Not a positive development at all. The true act of sibling love would be to call him on his bullshit, not perpetuate it. Upon reflection of what you said, maybe Hughes didn’t have the awareness I thought he did about the movie. That was always the fuzziest part of my remembrance anyways. But it does point to the aspect of the film that is the most interesting but also indicative of how hopelessly flawed it is: that the personal character of the protagonist is so very much at odds with how the movie perceives him to be. All in all, I’m not the biggest fan of John Hughes. Although I find some of his movies to be entertaining and rewatchable, particularly The Breakfast Club (I’ll always treasure Ally Sheedy and her weird goth freak character in that movie), I believe him in general to be overrated. The reasons why is a whole different conversation to be had, but one I will bring up: he’s not the best at organically incorporating comedic elements into his movies. There are scenes of bumbling slapstick involving Rooney that seem like they belong in another movie. They don’t mesh with everything else. You can find different examples of this in other films, like those godawful dance montages in Breakfast Club. Very cheesy for a film that’s trying to honestly, realistically reckon with teenagers.
Bennett Oliver
2022-03-30 05:38:07 +0000 UTCThat makes sense 👍🏽definitely makes me wanna revisit it
Jared Angcanan
2022-03-30 04:26:38 +0000 UTCYeah it was definitely intentional. He is a vessel for their self-actualization, and the ideal symbol. But it's not convincing enough for me just from a writing standpoint. Ferris could be likeable and interesting, and still serve the purpose of class clown rebel charmer. I also think he needs to be tested in some form that involves a character like Cameron. i think it would've helped things.
Deepfocuslens
2022-03-30 04:23:50 +0000 UTCThere are also many people that emulate Tony Montana...and you'd think this would be a no-brainer thing to avoid idolizing. Yes Ferris is an ideal. And I think this could've worked with a better script and a better performance. But it just does not click for me. All of the reasons you mentioned apply for me too. His sister absolutely should be bitter about her brother getting away with everything. There's no explanation as to why. He's just...a symbol. Yet she ends up catching the shrapnel and he gets away with things. Yes, his manipulative tactics towards Cameron are the most painful. I also find it interesting that his interactions with the girlfriend are completely robotic and strange. She is simply arm candy for him...yet you do see glimmers of her being an interesting and curious human being, but only when she's with Cameron. I actually don't think the point you make at the end comes across strongly enough. I would have been much more on board with Ferris realizing a cost in the long run. But here he never has that moment of clarity. Everyone else around him does. To me there seems to be a lack of awareness to a degree about Ferris in the script. Of course Ferris serves a function...but the framing of Ferris as the one to show the other characters the way...to me is just unsatisfying. Among many things that are unsatisfying in the film. It's a bit of a strange eperience watching it. Very uneven.
Deepfocuslens
2022-03-30 02:20:32 +0000 UTCHe’s something of a Gen-X icon in that he’s always trying to find a way to do as little as possible, to mess around rather than take on responsibility. As I remember it, the movie presents him as an ideal to aspire to, a life force of charm and a carefree attitude. All due respect to Matthew Broderick though, who I feel to be underrated in general, but I was never really that taken with Ferris—and the movie—as much as other people. I find him to be annoyingly self-absorbed. I never liked how he pressured and manipulated his best bud Cameron into doing what he wanted him to do. I understood his sister’s resentment of him. Why the hell should he get to do whatever he wants while everyone else has to go to work or school? But from I remember, I think John Hughes knows all this, and I give him credit for it. He made the movie knowing that Ferris is living out the best years of his life, and that it will cost him in the long run. Could be wrong about that last part though. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the movie. But anyways, there are too many people, consciously or not, who model themselves after Ferris, with his narcissistic self-satisfaction and what-me-worry? attitude. You can find a good number of them on YouTube. David Dobrik comes to mind.
Bennett Oliver
2022-03-30 02:10:54 +0000 UTCI'm glad to see someone agrees. He is a bore, and a manipulator. That can work for sure but...this film is too much on his side, without much explanation, and then remains on that level with no waivering. And I find it unsatisfying. Would've been far more interesting had he been a little more humanized, and not always right. Give Cameron and him more of a dynamic. Bring out the feeling of growing up between them. And you can do all of this, while still maintaining the mentor-figure status for Ferris
Deepfocuslens
2022-03-30 01:54:31 +0000 UTCIt’s been 10 years since I’ve watched, so maybe I’d feel the same now that I’m not a kid lol. But idk dude, the class clown is a fundamentally self-glorifying and shallow position, so maybe that was intentional? Maybe he’s a comedic or ironic red herring to the self-actualization of Cameron and Jeanie? Part of why I like their stories is because they felt like a nice surprise on the first watch.
Jared Angcanan
2022-03-30 01:51:33 +0000 UTCSee, I tend to agree that Ferris is more a function than a character. A symbol of a certain mythos, but does not exist in a realistic way in this particular world. I think the angle could've worked where Ferris is the mentor for Cameron in. Tyler Durden sort of way. But...Tyler Durden works because he is exposed to reveal something more. Ferris is just...a glorified guy who manipulates his friends into taking major risks, getting blamed for it, while he gets the credit. And often there's this framing where it's supposed to be for the characters own good. Nah man...For me it's unsatisfying.
Deepfocuslens
2022-03-30 01:44:17 +0000 UTCInteresting. I don't like Ferris as a character at all. I find him completely unlikeable and uninteresting. Deadpool worked because he had an actual arc, and flaws, and obstacles he had to overcome. Ferris is really just there to be glorified while everyone around him has moments of self-actualization, but he ends up getting the credit.
Deepfocuslens
2022-03-30 01:41:30 +0000 UTCChalamet would be interesting, but I would love to see Gaten Matarazzo take a shot at the role. He’s got that infectiously happy screen presence that Ferris would need. He also played Gavroche on stage, so that self-confident charisma would be in his wheelhouse.
Jared Angcanan
2022-03-30 01:12:39 +0000 UTCI always appreciated that, like a lot of 4th-Wall-breaking characters, he is both the clown and the ringleader of the movie, but on top of all that he’s showing us a behind-the-scenes look at this crazy show he’s putting on for us. This flavor of meta-comedy feels closer to Fleabag than Deadpool (his story feels way more tame compared to Fleabag tho) I think the personal approach is why FBDO resonates with people.
Jared Angcanan
2022-03-30 01:11:07 +0000 UTCI generally agree with the idea that Ferris functions as a foil to Cameron being popular, having a beautiful girlfriend, and constantly getting away with things. Cameron wishes he could be him but is pretty much a loner outside of being friends with Ferris and Sloane, and is clearly suffering from depression. He also functions similarly to Tyler Durden in terms of personifying the person he wish he could be and ultimately motivating Cameron to take control of his life (obviously to a more positive extent than what happens in Fight Club). With that being said I don't agree with the fan theory that Ferris isn't a real character, within the world of the film he clearly is.
Stephen
2022-03-30 00:58:10 +0000 UTCI saw it for the first time a few years back in a revival theater and I was the only one in the crowd who wasn't laughing. Ferris was such a pretentious bore. I hate those movies that try to make a manipulative jackass into the lovable hero. Also, the jokes were so broad and predictable like a tv sitcom. The movie should've been about Cameron who was so much more natural and relatable.
Wolfman Brandon
2022-03-30 00:45:55 +0000 UTC
