486. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

Starring: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara

Director: John Hughes

Running Time: 103 mins

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is an American film about a high school student who takes a day off school after pretending to be ill, and despite suspicions from the head that he may be bunking, he is determined to have as much fun and do as much as possible in one day.

This film is the epitome of fun. It’s a ridiculous, clichéd and cheesy plot, and yet it has such good comedy that it’s always hugely entertaining to watch. Not only that, there is a degree of tension and unpredictability in the story, as well as brilliant performances from all the actors as their charming characters.

I’m not a huge fan of this completely overdone and cheesy format: a guy has the day to himself, and has to pack everything in before his parents get home and find him out. I find that these films are largely unbelievably predictable in both their plot and the nature of their comedy, which is a real disappointment.

However, this film couldn’t be further from that trend. This is a fast-paced story that throws jokes at you every minute, and they’re not at all annoying, predictable or repetitive, but original, enjoyable and good fun.

One of the main plus points of this film is the character of Ferris Bueller. He represents the rebel in all of us, not particularly criminal, but wants to just get out there and enjoy living life, rather than following all of the boring rules at high school, and that makes him immediately easy to relate to, and the fact that you can do that means you can’t help but support him from the very start.

Also, the pacing and consistency of the fun in the story is invaluable to making it a whole lot more enjoyable. In a similar film like Risky Business, you get an initially fun and fast story, which eventually falls into the trap of being overly emotional and/or slow.

However, in this you get fun, fast comedy right from the start, there’s no point at which the characters take a step back and look at themselves, they’re having fun at every step of the way, meaning that there’s a consistently enjoyable atmosphere throughout, avoiding any of the sappy, overly cheesy elements that it could so easily include.

The majority of the film is just complete recklessness on the part of every character, even the adults, and that gives it an all-round very friendly tone, only increasing its enjoyability.

It ends with a typical “get back home before mum does” chase scene, but because of the crazy nature of the film so far, it’s actually quite unpredictable and strangely exciting to watch, as well as being hilarious, so that proves that it’s not just a two-dimensional comedy, but has a solid story.

Overall, I’ll give this an 8.3, because a hugely fun, hilarious, consistent and often exciting tale that would delight anyone to watch.