An unkempt, joyful adolescent spirit powers Hughes’ work, and it’s perhaps best on display – there is little plot to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986); what compels you is the triptych of relationships between Ferris, Sloane, and Cameron.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is, simply put, one of the most iconic coming-of-age movies ever made. It’s yet another landmark hit from the mind of John Hughes —and, surprisingly, one of the quickest to come to him, as he wrote the screenplay in less than a week. The story is simple: Ferris (Matthew Broderick) is your typical high-school slacker, electing to skip school for the day to take in the sights of Chicago with his timid best friend Cameron (Alan Ruck) and perfectly-suited girlfriend, Sloane (Mia Sara).
Part of why so many identify with Hughes’ characters seems to come from them being his focus rather than the plot itself: “I know how the movie begins, I know how it ends – I don’t even know the rest, but that doesn’t seem to matter. It’s not the events that are important; it’s the characters going through the events.” – Ferris Bueller: John Hughes and Speedwriting (2007). Everyone has those memories where nothing of particular substance or consequence happened, but who you were with made something memorable. That’s precisely what drives Ferris Bueller.
This adventure would be inconsequential for Ferris; he needs his best friend and girlfriend by his side because they make him happy, above all else. Over the course of a day, Ferris tests the boundaries of his loving friendship with Cameron, pushing him into new experiences and challenging his comfort zone. Broderick and Ruck play off one another so well that it feels like John Hughes just took two best friends off the street and spent the day recording them together.
The trio’s adventures through Chicago are intentionally aimless, driven by nothing but a sense of adventure and curiosity, pulling them through eccentric parades and beguiling art galleries. This turned out to be a (re-)coming-of-age for Hughes, as he stated, “I wanted to capture as much of Chicago as possible, not just the architecture and the landscape, but the spirit” (Hughes Takes Time Off From Teen Films, Chicago Sun-Times).
An unkempt, joyful adolescent spirit powers Hughes’ work, and it’s perhaps best on display here – there is little plot to Ferris Bueller; what compels you is the triptych of relationships between Ferris, Sloane, and Cameron. There are traits to each person that you can link to a friend you know or perhaps even yourself.
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