Director John Hughes: Today's JD Salinger

Ferris Bueller is a hilarious movie.

But the hero is a prick. He just HAS to have his buddy's dad's car for a joyride, knowing he's gonna get his buddy in trouble.

Then Cameron ruins the car and acts like he's gonna confront daddy, and actually thinks daddy will do something besides beat him wuthin an inch of his life before he finishes the first sentence.

Hughes had his moments, made som movies that I still watch whenever they're on. But man, he had such a rosy, '80s view of stuff.

 

The Breakfast Club and Sallinger are equally overrated.

 

Throwdown!

 

Salinger probably is overrated; Franny and Zooey was the best thing he wrote, not Catcher in the Rye.

 

He would not be in my top 20 of American authors.

 

No, Piotr, you're seeing it all wrong. Bueller's action liberate his friend. Teach him a life lesson on standing up for himself, taking chances, living life without fear.

Or it set up the sequel, "Morris Frye's 25 to Life Stretch"...

 

Agreed. He was a prolific short story writer, but Catcher in the Rye was his only real novel (though the aforementioned Franny and Zooey were later combined into one).

 

I love his work.

 

Great post. I loved most of Hughes' movies, but as Bubbler says, they don't age too well and they're all just a bit too tidy. I mean, Cameron kicking the car out of the garage was a dark, dark scene...yet two minutes later he's smiling and believing all will be well. No. No it will not.

I don't doubt this generation of younger filmmakers worships Hughes, but I much prefer the subtle "realness" of a Freaks and Geeks (hi Simon!) to anything Hughes did. Hughes never would have ended F&G with Lindsay running off to join the Dead. She would have gone to math camp.

 

Whatever.

Hughes has had massive impact.

 

Sure, but without Hughes there is no Freaks and Geeks, I'm pretty sure.

Uncle Buck and PT&A is great... every time I watch them.

 

I don't know about that. Maybe I just suck, but I never saw F&G as a Hughes homage, or felt that it was inspired by Hughes. That could be due to my overwhelming mancrush on Apatow.

Most of Hughes' work had some sort of paint by numbers feel to it...it was still really good and enjoyable, but fairly predictable. I don't feel that with Apatow. Yeah, there's certain themes in all he does, but he still throws curveballs at us once in a while.