Review of Ferris Bueller`s Day Off

Introduction

Can you imagine trying to pitch Ferris Bueller`s Day Off to studio executives today? "Well, it`s about a kid, who decides to play truant from school one day." They`ll be betting on distance, elevation, damage, and number of bounces as they toss you out of the building. But a story about one kid`s temporary escape from the system became one of the most iconic pieces of cinema from the mid-eighties. Before the fifties, the teenager had yet to be invented, and bright tousle-haired and freckle-inflicted kids miraculously transformed into sensible members of society overnight with nary a pimple or tantrum, then the teen rebellion occurred, and with James Dean and Marlon Brando came the devils of sex, drugs etcetera etcetera. But you can only have so many suicidal drag races, before the death toll begins to mount, and credibility vanishes. So the eighties saw cinema get a little closer to reality, and in place of the rebellious teen, came the disaffected teen. Middle class, smart, savvy and able to outwit anyone over the age of nineteen, these teens showed their anti-establishment tendencies in far more profitable ways. The master of these movies was undoubtedly John Hughes, and the apex of his career was Ferris Bueller`s Day Off. If you were a kid in the eighties, you know this film…

It`s his final year of High School and with graduation, college beckons as does the probability of losing touch with his friends, so Ferris Bueller decides one shiny spring Chicago day to ditch school, and with his best friend Cameron Frye and girlfriend Sloane Peterson go wild in the big city. Naturally Ferris doesn`t want his school record affected, so it`s time to fake a little illness, and use his technical know-how to bamboozle the Dean of Students Ed Rooney. But when sister Jeanie sees her parents twisted around her brother`s finger once more, she vows to expose her brother once and for all. Meanwhile Rooney is also tired of being played for a fool by Ferris, and decides to personally catch the miscreant in the act and take him own a peg or two. Ferris is determined to show Sloane and the hypochondriac Cameron a good time, and to do that he needs a decent set of wheels, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California, Cameron`s dad`s 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California to be precise.

Video

A 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer presents this film in a very good light. The image is clear and colourful throughout with only a few minor flecks and the merest hint of grain making their presence felt. I noticed a little moiré on certain eighties fabrics, indeed the only visually harsh thing about this film would be a couple of fashions better off forgotten.

Audio

You get a choice of soundtracks for Ferris Bueller`s Day Off, the DD 5.1 English track is supplemented by DD 2.0 Surround tracks in French, Italian, German and Spanish. It`s a fairly front-focussed dialogue heavy affair, but the surrounds do kick in from time to time, especially with the excellent music and of course for that rumbling Ferrari engine. Innumerable subtitle tracks abound.

Features

A landmark movie like this deserves heap loads of extras, but this is an early Paramount disc. You`ll just have to settle for the commentary. Did I say commentary? I usually mean trailer, but Paramount provides an unprecedented commentary track here from writer and director John Hughes. It`s presented in DD 2.0 Surround and subtitled in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. It`s an interesting track, as John Hughes goes into some depth regarding the making of, the cast and the story. Excellent.

Conclusion

Ferris Bueller is one of those cinematic demarcations. People of a certain age, mine most probably, know this film to be a high point of eighties cinema. We lived through the decade of greed, the affluent middle class and the yuppie phenomenon. We get where this film is coming from and we are comfortable with the vernacular. Most everyone else is wondering what the fuss is about. Today`s teens are no longer disaffected, they don`t need to define themselves in relation to adults, they are empowered, and they slay vampires. Older people are scratching their heads wondering, "He`s talking to the camera, why`s he talking to the camera?" probably.

Ferris Bueller has dated. For a film so firmly entrenched in the eighties not to do so would have been a miracle frankly, and on paper the appeal of white affluent teenagers whose only problem is which car Daddy`s going to buy for them would be limited. But Ferris Bueller transcends all that to become a rites of passage comedy that is still pitch perfect. John Hughes has his three protagonists let loose on Chicago having all kinds of fun, as Ferris Bueller blags his way unashamedly into unlikely situations making fools of authority figures. Pursuing him are his two nemeses, his sister and Dean Rooney. His sister has that jealous rage that is all too understanding among siblings, but it`s the character of Rooney that really shines in this film. Pompous, arrogant and completely out of his depth in the world outside the school campus, his vendetta against Ferris Bueller leads him into all kinds of trouble. There is also a gem of a relationship between him and his secretary.

The fourth wall disintegrates early on in the film as Ferris often talks directly to camera. It`s a wonderful device for exposition, as it provides valuable insight into the characters from Ferris` viewpoint. It gives this film a depth that it would otherwise lack. Ferris is the Superman of this piece and his ability to solely address the audience directly is indicative of his powers. That is with the exception of a classic baleful look by Rooney at the end of the picture.

This film succeeds most of all in its casting. Matthew Broderick is perfectly cast as the cocksure Ferris Bueller, and he carries of the part with apparent ease. My favourite performance has to be Alan Ruck as Cameron, and he creates a quirky yet charming hypochondriac. It`s hard to believe that he was thirty when he played the part. Mia Sara is elegant as Sloane, but it`s Jeffrey Jones as the manic Ed Rooney who is the star of the film. His comic timing is impeccable. Jennifer Grey inches towards ignition as she slow burns as Jeanie until she encounters an unusual guru in the shape of Charlie Sheen.

I`ve always wished for a sequel. Fifteen years on and I would envisage Ferris Bueller as divorced with two kids, working in an office somewhere with a manager from hell, with society having finally ground that arrogance away. I`d like to see that Ferris try to sneak a day off work. It would be good to see the other characters too. I bet Cameron would be the CEO of a major NASDAQ company though. But I digress.

Ferris Bueller`s Day Off is filled with classic moments and memorable lines from beginning to end. Like many similar films of the period it has the obligatory song and dance number in the middle, but there is something about Matthew Broderick miming to Twist and Shout in the middle of Chicago that is uplifting rather than inappropriate. This is a film that is rewarding from the first frame till after the end credits have rolled, and as you can guess it`s certainly one of my favourites. The disc isn`t too bad either. The transfer`s good, and while it may be sparse on extras, the commentary is appreciated. One final thought… "SAVE FERRIS!"