“Some Kind of Wonderful?” Is that the one with the great song and the nerdy guy with the funny hair? If you pose this question to someone remotely familiar with the movies of John Hughes, this is likely the reaction you’ll get. But the answer is no, it’s not “Pretty in Pink,” but Hughes’ seminal “Some Kind of Wonderful.” The film was released February 27, 1987 (the same day as “Nightmare on Elm Street 3,” and exactly one year after “Pretty in Pink”). There are certainly a lot of reviews for the film; so without beating a dead horse, I will just tell you some quick plot points and why I love the movie.
After Hughes wrote the screenplay, he hired Howard Deutch (Director, “Pretty in Pink”) to helm the film. Working with the original script (funnier and more in line with “Ferris Beuhler’s Day Off“), Deutch cast Mary Stuart Masterson as Watts but was having problems casting the rest of the film and decided to walk away. Hughes then hired Martha Coolidge (“Valley Girls,” “Real Genius”) to take his place. Under Coolidge, the cast was set: Eric Stoltz as Keith, Kim Delaney as Amanda Jones, Kyle MacLachlan as Hardy, and Maddie Corman as Laura. The screenplay was darkened, and took on a more serious note.
However, a disagreement on the film’s music caused Hughes to replace Coolidge with Deutch yet again. By the first reading of the script, things were unwinding between the new actors and Deutch. Deutch did not recognize the script, and he hadn’t hired the actors. This led to conflict, with ultimately Delaney and MacLachlan being fired and replaced by Lea Thompson and Craig Scheffer. Thompson, who had initially auditioned and turned down the role, had a change or heart, fearing a lack of work in her future after the disastrous “Howard the Duck.” Elias Koteas signed on as Duncan, and his excellent performance really makes the movie what it is.
“Wonderful” tells the timeless story of kids from the poor side dealing with rich kids in a suburban, Middle Class high school. The main character is Keith Nelson. “I like art, I work at a gas station, my best friend is a tomboy,” he states. “These things don’t fly to well in the American high school.” His best friend is the tomboy drummer Watts. In the film we see none of Watts’ family, and it seems her home life is pretty bad. Amanda Jones is also from the wrong side of the tracks, but because of her good looks and her boyfriend Hardy, she is accepted amongst the popular kids.
Films in this setting always ride the same moral story, “that you should follow your heart, regardless of what your friends, your parents, or your teachers advise,” states Robert C. Bulman states in his book, “Hollywood Goes to High School.” In “Wonderful,” we follow Keith as he does just this. The tag line to the thirty-second trailer for the film states, “What they found in each other was the courage to find themselves.” The plot carries the familiar love triangle as Keith sets out to win Amanda over while enlisting help from Watts, who is secretly in love with him.
There are a number of reasons why I love this movie, the biggest an undying love of the ‘80s time period that “Wonderful” captures so well. As a member of Generation X, kids in high school looked and acted just like this. The tell-tale signs of the era are all there: muscle cars in the school parking lot, kids smoking cigarettes on school grounds, riding ten speeds, jean jackets, acid washed jeans, and stereos to play vinyl. There is a reference to Russia, and a giant blow dryer; and finally the most important aspect of the time, sport coats. Sport coats are the number one sign you are watching an ‘80s teen movie. “Wonderful” has you covered like a Brooks Brothers suit jacket in this department.
The music of “Wonderful” is fantastic. Hughes was known to write scenes simply to go along with the music, a skill followed nearly twenty years later by Josh Schwartz when he penned the teenage dramedy “The O.C.” The opening sequence is cut to Propoganda’s “Abuse,” the perfect opening to a film for the MTV generation. It feels like a music video, with quick, rapid cuts. This is followed by another great sequence, with the characters getting ready for the night of the big date, scored to The Rolling Stones “Amanda Jones.” This, plus the editing skill brought by the great Bud Smith, along with Deutch, contribute to make a spectacularly shot film. Smith, who edited “The Karate Kid” and “Flashdance” clearly understood the importance of music, underscored by Deutch, who produced movie trailers before becoming a director himself. The end result is fantastic.
The soundtrack to “Wonderful” is one of the best of the decade. It doesn’t carry heavyweights like “Pretty in Pink” with the likes of Suzanne Vega, INXS, The Smiths, and New Order. Rather, it’s made up of indie bands picked by Hughes, often placing the artists on his own label through MCA just to give them a chance. The best track on the album is Furniture’s “Brilliant Mind;” it’s a great song and leads the way. The March Violets appear in the film playing “Turn to the Sky” and cover “The Rolling Stones’ “Amanda Jones.” And Lick The Tins do an amazing cover of “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” which was recommended by Mary Stuart Masterson. I can’t recommend the soundtrack enough.
“Some Kind of Wonderful” was the final teenage high school movie Hughes ever made; perhaps its biggest tragedy is that it’s unknown to so many. Unlike his more popular romps (“Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club”), “Wonderful” is not set in Illinois and doesn’t features stars from his other films. The film is set in Los Angeles, and we get to see the amazing Hollywood Bowl as a location for one of the film’s scenes. If you’re a fan of film locations like me, you’ll get a kick out of the fact that the exact spot the final scene was filmed in 1986 looks the same today in 2013.
“Some Kind of Wonderful” is well-told, well cast, has a terrific soundtrack and the positive, uplifting ending “Pretty in Pink” should have had. It reinforces the idea that if you stay true to yourself and stand up for who you are, you will win in the end. Hughes painted teenagers with a different brush, making their problems (love, rejection, popularity) important, seminal, and real. Teenagers watching the film today for the first time will find the settings to be different, but what the characters experience will doubtless ring true to life. If you are an old Generation X’r who has never seen it, you should give it a shot. It’s never too late to be inspired.
“The theme of possibility is one that middle-aged American do not want to abandon. Anything is considered possible in our individualistic culture,” Bulman states in his book. I think this sums up why so many of us love these movies – they remind us to forget what is, to think what could be, and to never stop dreaming.
– by Todd Hebert
