Pretty in Pink [I Love the 80's Edition]

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Note: In the following joint review, both John and Dean provide their opinions of the movie, with John also writing up the Video, Audio, Extras, and Parting Thoughts.

The Film According to John:
There is nothing new in the story of a rich kid falling for a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, but when John Hughes writes it, you know people are going to sit up and take notice. This was especially so a couple of decades ago when Hughes practically owned the 80's comedy-drama scene with movies like "Mr. Mom," "National Lampoon's Vacation," "Sixteen Candles," "The Breakfast Club," "Weird Science," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Planes, Trains & Automobiles," and "Uncle Buck."

Paramount, ever to know a good thing when they see it, have released the romantic teen comedy "Pretty in Pink" in several different editions over the years, this latest one being a part of their "I Love the 80's" collection. Although the 1986 motion picture gets new packaging and comes with a CD of 80s' music, it is, otherwise, a bare-bones edition.

With "Pretty in Pink" Hughes teamed up with director Howard Deutch in the first of three films that Deutch would direct from a Hughes script and the first-ever big-screen film Deutch would make in his career after doing a series of music videos. Deutch would go on to do "Some Kind of Wonderful" (1987) and "The Great Outdoors" (1988) with Hughes, both of them better films.

The plot of "Pretty in Pink" is older than "Romeo and Juliet" and shows us little that we don't anticipate, yet it manages to capture the heart, which makes up for a lot of other deficiencies.

Molly Ringwald, who had already done "Sixteen Candles" and "The Breakfast Club" for Hughes, plays teenager Andie Walsh, one of her high school's have-nots. Her father has been out of regular work since the mother walked on them several years earlier. And as a senior she's experiencing boy trouble, so there's nothing new in that department. Andrew McCarthy plays Blane McDonnagh, a "richie," one of the school's affluent kids. His family expects him to associate only with people of his own class and eventually to marry someone as well off as they are. He falls for Andie, and the plot begins.

Here's the thing: If we only had these two people falling in love, they're so nice and so lovable, we wouldn't have a story. So Hughes has to contrive a conflict for them, and it isn't much. On the one side, we've got a dorky young man, Phil "Duckie" Dale (John Cryer), following Andie everywhere, hopelessly in love with her; and on the other side we've got Blane's best friend, Steff (James Spader), trying to poison Blane's mind against Andie.

And, really, that's about it. But like all of Hughes's stories, the details are in the characterizations, not only the main characters but the supporting players as well. Ringwald holds the movie together, of course. She's not a raving, ravishing beauty as are so many young starlets; rather, she's cute without being glamorous. More important, she is able to break the viewer's heart. When she tells Blane, "I don't want you to see where I live," it's one of the film's most touching moments. And when the ending comes, predictable or not, we're with her all the way. McCarthy has a more problematic role because we're never entirely sure about him or his motives. He seems nice enough, and we're rooting for him, but will he turn out to be as big a loser as the rest of his rich friends?

The secondary characters are delights. John Cryer could have simply been annoying in the over-the-top role of Andie's childhood friend and devoted admirer, yet he, too, grows on the audience and makes us proud of him. Plus, he's the only person in the film who made me laugh. Can't beat that. Then there's the dean of character actors, Harry Dean Stanton, as the father. Who'da thunk? After seeing him play so many sneaky, quirky, goofy, sometimes downright undesirable characters, here we see him play one of the most charming, most engaging guys on Earth. It's nice to see. Then, Spader plays his patented snake in the grass; no surprises there. And Annie Potts plays Andie's older, if not particularly wiser, friend in a part that seems like a throwaway.

Also in the cast in minor roles we find Andrew Dice Clay, Gina Gershon, Dweezil Zappa, and Kristy Swanson before audiences recognized their names as well they do today.

Yes, the film has heart and eventually wins the day, but it's an uphill battle with stereotypes and clichés every inch of the way. All of the girls in Andie's school, rich or poor, are slim, white, and beautiful. With the possible exception of Blane, all of the high school's "richies" are horrible people, ready and willing to humiliate any poorer student. Likewise, the poorer students are ready and willing to punch out any rich kid if they get the chance. With the exception of Andie's dad, parents don't exist. To ensure that we know Andie is poor, she dresses like Annie Hall and drives a beat-up old Volkswagen Karmann Ghia (pink). Ironically, the fact that she has a car at all and an answering machine and at least three boys chasing after her tend to lessen our sympathy for her. The two rich kids, Blane and Steff, drive a BMW and a Porsche respectively. In addition, it's 1986 and computers are still using DOS operating systems, yet Blane is able to send two photographs to Andie via computer, and they pop up on the screen almost instantly. I couldn't have done that in 1986. (I can barely do it today.)

Anyway, as I say, Andie and Blane seem so right for each other, it's a wonder the movie developed any conflict at all. Nevertheless, it does, and "Pretty in Pink" manages in the end to turn in a winning performance. It's a lightweight, teenage romantic comedy with a lot more emphasis on the romance than on the comedy, which is probably exactly what its female audience wanted at the time and what most of us probably want today.

John's film rating: 6/10

The Film According to Dean:

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