Movie Review: Ferris Bueller's Day Off
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What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this movie has surprising amounts
of "bad" (listing toward inappropriate) language and thus isn't
for younger kids. Also, it's about skipping school. So you
might want to get a word in about not trying this at home.
Ferris lies, shows off, and steals a car. It's a little
disconcerting that he never faces any consequences -- even Bart
Simpson usually has to take responsibility. Mostly, the movie
glorifies defiance of authority. Sure, it's a little edgy, but
teens can handle it.
Families can discuss how people defy authority. Do your kids understand the difference between Ferris's fantasy presentation and what would really happen if they did what he did? The filmmakers justify the hero's attitude as a healthy response to self-centered, dumb, and materialistic adults. Do you agree? A good question would be whether the carefree Ferris is going to be any better when he grows up. If he grows up.
Common Sense Media Review
In 1966 a British feature called
Alfie made a sensation over the ease in which its
anti-hero, a London gigolo (played by
Michael
Caine then, and by
Jude
Law in the 2004 remake) with barely any recognizable morals
or conscience, talked straight to the viewing audience
throughout. Thus did he make himself palatable, even charming,
as he lied and cheated.
You can put the much fluffier teen comedy FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF in a similar league. Here the Alfie male is Ferris Bueller (played with irresistible magnetism by Matthew Broderick), a smooth and cheerfully-dishonest high-school con-artist who gets everything he wants throughout the film, playing petty con games and slacking off. Today he wants a break from classroom drudgery to have fun in Chicago.
Faking illness, Bueller is left in bed by his clueless parents to "recover." Once they're gone he springs to action and explains his "seize the day" philosophy to you, as he phones his much-more hardworking (and, thus, downcast and depressed) friend and classmate Cameron ( Alan Ruck) to play hooky along with him. They also snag Ferris' girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara) from her school by impersonating an adult guardian. The trio, driving Cameron's dad's treasured 1961 Ferrari convertible, hit the town. Sunny Chicago -- hometown, by the way, of filmmaker John Hughes -- is uncommonly full of parades, carnivals, and ball games for their pleasure. If this is a weekday, what must the Windy City's weekends be like?
It's not the first time Ferris has played this trick, and a grim school faculty member ( Jeffrey Jones) pursues, as eager to catch Bueller as Wile E. Coyote wants the Road Runner. Ferris' kid sister ( Jennifer Grey) also resents her older brother getting away with such antics constantly, and tries to rat him out. But, despite a few close scrapes, Ferris triumphs.
It's both a key to this movie's popularity, and a little disquieting, that Ferris never faces any consequences. Even Bart Simpson usually has to take responsibility -- and as for Alfie, there's no indication the filmmakers approve his lifestyle. But Hughes justifies Ferris as a healthy response to self-centered and materialistic adults like Cameron's father. In the end it's poor Cameron who's going to take a fall for the gang, but even he looks forward to the opportunity to defy his (unseen) old man, accused of valuing the Ferrari more than the son. A good question, though, would be whether carefree Ferris will be any better when he grows up. If he grows up.
Back when this premiered in 1986, the clever Bueller was a refreshing change from a too-common movie image of teenage boys as sex- and drug-crazed dolts on the run from mad slashers. John Hughes made his reputation creating quirky young characters with rich inner lives and realistic personal concerns. The flip side of that is that his scripts leaned heavily to what film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel rightly diagnosed as the smart kids/dumb parents syndrome. You don't have to be as bright as Ferris Bueller to see how young viewers would patronize movies that show them as savvy and resourceful, outsmarting uncool authorities, moms, and dads at every turn. Exuberant and stacked hopelessly in favor of its chatty title character, Ferris Bueller's Day Off is both the most enjoyable and the smarmiest of the trend.
Families who enjoy this movie might also enjoy The Breakfast Club , also directed by John Hughes, Fast Times at Ridgemont High , and Some Kind of Wonderful .
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
