One
of the greatest film directors of the 1980s, legendary coming-of-age teenage
comedy writer-director John Hughes was already making waves in the film
community for his screenwriting work on National
Lampoon’s Vacation and Mr. Mom before
taking a seat in the director’s chair.
Soon to become the undisputed king of the adolescent high school comedy,
Mr. Hughes’ first foray into writing as well as directing began with the still
impressive and massively popular debut Sixteen
Candles. The announcement of a new
and wholly original cinematic voice, Sixteen
Candles represented a departure from the usual rude and crude teen sex
comedies in favor of fully realized characters and a relatable human story.
Simultaneously
a screwball comedy of errors and a heartwarming mixture of drama and romantic
charm, Sixteen Candles follows the
plight of Samantha Baker (Molly Ringwald in a breakthrough role). Depressed over her parents forgetting about
her Sweet Sixteen birthday while her older sister is getting married, Samantha
is a typical teenager fending off dorky freshman Ted (Anthony Michael Hall)
while struggling with her crush on popular senior Jake Ryan (Michael
Schoeffling) with blond bombshell Caroline (Haviland Morris) wrapped around his
finger.
Though
ostensibly about Samantha, Sixteen
Candles also winds up being an ensemble comedy with many cameos and silly
comic asides. Though some gags show
their age like exchange student Long Duk Dong (Gedde Watanabe), others like the
antics of Ted’s fellow cronies Bryce (John Cusack) and Wease (Darren Harris)
remain as funny as ever. While Hughes’
first effort does tend to follow the trajectory of the teen sex comedies which
dominated late 1970s cinema, the approach to the material is endearing,
inviting you to laugh with the characters instead of at them.
Characteristic
of a Hughes production is the soundtrack featuring many popular artists
including but not limited to Frank Sinatra, David Bowie, Stevie Ray Vaughan and
Billy Idol. For years the film on home
video experienced rights issues which altered much of the film’s soundtrack
choices, a conundrum cleared up around 2003.
Coupled with soon-to-be longtime collaborator Ira Newborn’s electronic
score, you can tell your watching a John Hughes film just from the music. Co-produced by eventual Interscope Records
founder Jimmy Iovine, the music to Sixteen
Candles, as with Hughes’ forthcoming productions, is inseparable from the film.
While
not as technically proficient as some of Hughes’ later works including the
dynamic and slick widescreen vistas of Ferris
Bueller’s Day Off, Sixteen Candles for
a first-time effort does feature handsome cinematography thanks to industry
veteran Bobby Byrne (Smokey and the
Bandit). Despite being the only film
lensed for Mr. Hughes, the visual style undoubtedly informed the likes of, say,
Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused
with a colorful visual portrait of the high school setting.
Mostly
though, Sixteen Candles is an actor’s
piece with crucial casting of newcomers Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall. Cut from the same cloth, these two misfits
don’t necessarily fit in with the rest of the high school group. In other hands, these would be throwaway
characters cast aside for the next gross out sex comedy gag, but here they’re
given ample room to reveal themselves as fully fledged characters with human
frailties and wishes for happiness.
Special props must be given to Anthony Michael Hall who plays the
prepubescent dork believably as a real person rather than a caricature. It’s this very attention Hughes pays to the
character which separates him from the usual pack of teen sex comedy filmmakers.
Made
for a meager $6.5 million, the film opened to glowing reviews and became a box
office smash, taking in $23 million before becoming a regular staple on
syndicated TV. To this day, like most
films from John Hughes, Sixteen Candles remains
both immensely popular and a quintessential introduction to the
writer-director’s oeuvre. In what could
have been just another teen sex comedy offering a halfhearted distraction, Sixteen Candles genuinely cares about
its cast of characters and speaks to a whole generation of socially awkward
teenagers still growing up.
While
personally not my favorite Hughes production (that honor goes to Planes, Trains & Automobiles), it’s
one Hell of a debut which instantly cemented his status as one of the most
important comedy film directors of his time, one whose films are still
celebrated and cherished by filmgoers the around the world of all ages.
--Andrew Kotwicki
