The color palate alone in the very first scene of “Pretty in Pink” will make you smile with nostalgia and yearn for a life in the 1980s. Released in 1986, “Pretty in Pink” is another era driven coming of age piece from the maestro of all things teen and 80s – John Hughes.
What’s funny is that when the film was made, the intent wasn’t to embody a great decade; it was simply to put forth a entertaining movie. Now, nearly 30 years later, it holds up as if its intent all along was a time capsule filled with 80s mystique and a happy obsession with yesteryear.
Leading the cast is 80s alum Molly Ringwald. Though just 18 at the time, Ringwald is a perfect representation of the character she playing – an overly eccentric and peculiar sort, in a time when the word hipster meant nothing and ranked even lower on the standard scale of high school coolness.
As high school senior Andie Walsh, Ringwald demonstrates a true talent for acting. Not only does her quirky nature seep through on the outside of the character, her maturity and kindness come through with effortless ease as well.
Andie has a close and loving relationship with her father Jack (Harry Dean Stanton), who’s out of work and down on his luck, still reeling in depression from when Andie’s mother deserted the family many years ago. The interactions between Andie and her father are deep and heart felt, and both actors showcase a wide range of talent in delivering their lines.
Just when the opening scene with the two appears to be getting too heavy on the serious side, Jack reminds us that this is a quintessential 80s movie when he asks Andie the all important question and catalyst for the entire film. “Have you been asked to the prom?”
Opposite Ringwald is Andrew McCarthy, another veteran of 80s cinema. McCarthy plays Blane McDonough, the typical popular student, pockets filled with his parents fortune but nonetheless has a crush on the impoverished Andie.
While Ringwald is perfect in her role, McCarthy has never seemed to me to be the type of actor that can pull off a member of high school elite.
The character is deeper than a simple popular jock, as his pursuit of Andie is genuine, but McCarthy still comes across as a bit out of place. You wait for Blane to have alterior motives in his quest for Andie but they never come. Blane just likes her and that’s all there is to it.
Equally miscast though entertaining in every way is James Spader as Blanes best friend Steff McKee. Steff is even more popular and rich than Blane, but lacks any sense of kindness or decency, and as a result is a great antagonist for the story.
Spader is a great actor and has a penchant for playing dubious characters. But at 26 years old, and dressed in alabaster suit coats and unbuttoned shirts exposing hordes of chest hair, he comes across more like a Miami Vice villain than a bullish high school kid.
Andie’s best friend is the nerdy and whimsical Duckie (Jon Cryer of TV’s Two and a Half Men). Unlike other best friends of the opposite sex who crush and lament their desires in subtle secrecy, constructing mix tapes and seeting over the inevitable crush on the popular boy, Duckie is flamboyant and extroverted in his affections for Andie.
Duckie also brings a comical element to his otherwise pathetic character, and complete confidence in the face of all women. “I can work out a deal where either one of you could be pregnant by the holidays.” He offers to a pair of attractive girls in the school hallway, seconds before one of them slaps his face.
The 80s are represented perfectly with obsolete concepts such as a New Wave music store where Andie works, aptly named TRAX and managed by her friend Lona (Annie Potts of “Ghostbusters“).
The standard 80s fashion of outlandish and tacky clothing and characters wearing black sunglasses inside and on cloudy days are of course present as well. Even comedian Andrew Dice Clay makes a cameo as a nightclub bouncer.
Hughes also includes typical high school culture, house parties with a turnout that would make a Jay Z rap video seem docile, and the deep cliques that control the halls and corners of life for teenagers.
One scene has Blane bringing Andie to a popular clique party with his rich and cool friends gawking in dismay at Andie as though she’s stark naked and riding on an ostrich.
While the story is a bit flat and the characters a touch predictable, you can’t watch “Pretty in Pink” and not thirst for the era.
by – Matt Christopher
