User Reviews

"Pretty In Pink" features a winning lead performance, but it's undermined by an awful supporting character that caused the film to be a muddle.

The plot: in a socially divided high school, pretty but poor girl "Andie" (Molly Ringwald) falls for rich boy "Blane" (Andrew McCarthy) much to the consternation of her best friend "Duckie" (Jon Cryer) who wants to be more than just friends. Blane asks Andie to the prom. Andie is over-the-moon and Duckie is crestfallen. However, Blane gets cold-feet when his snake-in-the-grass "friend," "Steff" (James Spader), tells him that Andie's low income status makes her an unfit girlfriend, but in reality he's just jealous because Andie rejected him. Spineless Blane wilts under the pressure and jilts Andie. Heartbroken yet defiant, she attends the prom by herself in a homemade pink dress.

There she's met by her true Prince Charming and one whom she should have recognized as such long ago- Duckie. They join hands on the dance floor and kiss passionately turning their platonic relationship into a romantic one as OMD's "If You Leave" plays while the credits roll.

Wait. That's not how "Pretty in Pink" ends! Well, that's how it was intended to end and how it was initially filmed. Yet, preview audiences hated that ending. They just could not abide Andie ending-up with Duckie. Panicked the studio ordered a redo of the ending. So, it was reshot on the fly with Andrew McCarthy wearing a wig because he had cut-off his "Blane" hairdo for another role. So, Blane quickly apologizes for being a gutless weasel, Andie quickly and inexplicably accepts that apology, and Duckie is quickly kicked into the friendzone presumably for good. That slap-dash ending just makes a muddle of the entire film, but still it's better than Andie ending-up with Duckie.

What went wrong? Well, the character of Duckie went wrong. Poorly written, directed and acted. It was intended for the audience to go: "Oh, poor Duckie! He's just so sweet, funny, and quirky. He's so nice to Andie and loves her so much. How could she not know?" Yet, that's not how it worked in execution. Instead Duckie comes across as an obnoxious dweeb and one of the most of irritating and annoying in film history. An example: Duckie's extended lip-sync and dance sequence to Otis Reading's "Try a Little Tenderness" was supposed to make him endearing, but what audiences really wanted to do was to hit him with a shovel to make him stop that cringe-embarrassing scene. And when Duckie doesn't act like an obnoxious dweeb? Then he's a petulant jerk- a seething ball of envy and resentment who can't stand to see a friend happy if it doesn't involve him. He's Steff except without the Miami Vice wardrobe and James Spader's sneer. In 21st century parlance, Duckie is a "Nice Guy." Like many so-called "Nice Guys," he isn't very nice. The creators failed to understand that just because Duckie was "nice" didn't mean he was entitled to Andie's romantic affections. That's why the character failed so miserably and why the original ending didn't work.

As annoying and awful as Duckie is, "Pretty in Pink" does have some commendable stuff. First is Molly Ringwald. For a few years in the mid-80's, Miss Ringwald was America's sweetheart and this movie made at the pinnacle of that popularity shows why. Her Andie is endearing and quite fetching. The film features nice performances by Harry Dean Stanton as Andie's heartbroken dad and Annie Potts as her oh-so-quirky-but-oh-so-gorgeous boss. Also, James Spader was typecast for years as unctuous, back-stabbing creeps because of his memorable performance in this film. Plus, the whole 80's vibe of the film is quite nostalgic- ex: Andie works in a record shop!

Writer John Hughes was apparently chastened by how "Pretty in Pink" had to do a reshoot. So, when he remade "Pretty in Pink" as "Some Kind of Wonderful" a year later, he made sure that the female version of Duckie in that film (Mary Stuart Masterson's character) wasn't so obnoxious that audiences would be repelled by her getting with her friend (Eric Stoltz in the Andie role) at film's end. Thus, "Some Kind of Wonderful" retains the ending that was intended for "Pretty in Pink."

PRETTY IN PINK is the tale of an original, but slightly outcast, girl named Andie Walsh (Molly Ringwald) who is from the poorer part of her town. She never minded this until one day when the rich, "preppy" Blane McDonnagh (Andrew McCarthy) asks her if she'd like to go out sometime. All of Blane's rich preppy friends immediately disapprove, and Andie gets caught in the middle when her own best friend Duckie (Jon Cryer) disapproves as well. Andie decides to go out with Blane anyway, although their first date ends up being somewhat of a disaster. Blane takes Andie to his friend Steff's (James Spader) house party, where nearly everyone snubs her, and Andie is embarrassed to let Blane see where she lives and what kind of house it is. In the end, Andie has to decide whether pursuing potential love is worth the humiliation she receives from everyone else for doing so.

PRETTY IN PINK is the last of the three famous Molly Ringwald-John Hughes collaborations, and is also the least favorable, in my opinion. Which is not to say that it's not a good movie, though. While its two predecessors dealt more with status and popularity issues, this movie deals with a more serious topic of class differences. However, I find this to be a pretty unrealistic scenario by today's standards and not very easy to relate to, in my case at least. However, the whole concept of two lovers dating despite their differences and everyone else's disapproval is pretty cool and receives my commendation. The ending, though, is a bit of a disappointment.

What I really commend the movie on, however, is its portrayal of what love is really like. It manages to show just how beautiful it can be at times, and just how destructive it is most of the time. Having experienced something similar to Andie's struggle, I have to say that that feature of the movie made it a lot more personable and relatable for me, taking on a deeper meaning than it probably would for others who haven't experienced such a battle.

As far as technical aspects go... well, what can you say. The acting is terrific, namely from the always-great Molly Ringwald and the spectacularly wacky Jon Cryer as the film's most memorable character by far, Duckie. Jon Cryer easily delivers the film's best performance, along with most of its best lines. Annie Potts is also wonderful and funny as Andie's coworker Iona. John Hughes was a great director, even though his area of expertise was '80s teen movies--but, let's face it, no one could have done them better.

To wrap it up, PRETTY IN PINK is a cute love story with fantastic acting and characters that manages to capture a bit of the true essence of love, even if it is a bit disappointing in the end. 7/10.

This movie is totally watchable, but if you have a brain you can't help but notice what an awful message it is putting out.

Similar to John Hughes' film '16 candles', Molly Ringwald spends the entire film complaining about her perfect life and swatting away her weird best friend who is totally in love with her. Her interest in the friend grows throughout the film, but then eventually ends up getting together with the dull characterless hottie which leaves you completely unsatisfied. Blane treats her really badly! Like outwardly badly. Again and again. And she still goes for it.

And then there's Iona - a really cool character who owns a record store and experiments with fashion, and then there's this bizarre scene where she tells Molly Ringwald she's in love with some guy who owns a pet store and is dressed all conservatively and we're supposed to just accept that she can forget she has a personality now because she's found her man.

This film is sexist and tacky and has disturbing traditionalist and anti feminist undertones.

John Hughes wrote and produced the follow-up to his great "The Breakfast Club", and while it again doesn't hit the mark as the middle film, it's still another entertaining 80's teen romantic comedy. Hughes muse Molly Ringwald is Andie a girl from the wrong side of the tracks with an eccentric fashion sense who falls for a rich guy, Andrew McCarthy. The trials and tribulations of high school life, dating etc are played out in the well-paced 90 minute running time. I find these films fascinating because while I can relate to many of the characters and adolescent situations (who can't!) my high school life was very different from what seems to be the American experience. Maybe it's because my high school only had 350 people, but we never had the cliques. In Australia we don't have the proms (perhaps that is a good thing), the cheer squad, the jocks parading around the school in their football jumpers. It's much less socially demanding.

Big question for John Hughes though: why the hell make Ringwald end up with McCarthy? Oh I get that McCarthy was a huge teen heartthrob back in the 80's (he doesn't do anything for me though, yuck) but his character is so lame. Duckie (Jon Cryer) may be borderline obsessive about Andie, but he's much more winning than Blane. is in there too as Steff, the high school rich guy who treats everyone like crap, but is also possibly in love with Ringwald. Come to think, Steff should have got with Andie. 7

This is a typical teen dilemma story at its heart, one that I suspect I watched at far too young an age growing up; that's what having an older sister gets you

Having to watch it so often during the early stages of my development might have been far more confusing for me if everything about the film didn't suggest that its heart was in the right place. John Hughes was lucky enough to have a fantastic cast gathered together who help to breathe life into his writing. Ringwald especially was a terrific teen actress to snag for this type of material, because there was no-one who could do 'vulnerable' better than her at the time. If the audience connects with your lead character then it gradually becomes a trickle-down effect, which must be a tremendous help for the supporting players, too. Throw in Andrew McCarthy at the height of his powers before his career went into free-fall, plus sidekick duties performed by a young and zany Jon Cryer, and that's a winning trio you have. It doesn't matter that the crises don't add up to much when you think about it, as long as they're sold to us in a way we can identify with.

So far so snug, then. The only glitch appears in the resolution, where our heroine is encouraged to give up her individuality and that of her friend as a way for her to be finally accepted into 'the cool crowd'... What?! That isn't a fairytale ending, it's a graceful swan-dive toward conformity! It's not a message I expected Hughes to be advocating, and it taints the wholesomeness of the tale a little bit. Aside from that blip so close to the finishing line, however, this is an unashamedly feel good movie that won't corrupt impressionable young minds and is a unisex bit of fun.

Back in my youth I was into all kinds of music and, I guess, because I grew up with it, punk has always been very close to my heart. Now, one of the bands that were spewed out as a result of the punk phenomenon (pardon the pun) was The Psychedelic Furs. They happened to release a record called 'Pretty In Pink', their only hit, which also features quite strongly in this film (surprise, surprise!). I really love the song, but will the film match up? Let's see. (As usual, summary haters please omit the next paragraph…).

Andie Walsh lives with her father Jack; they have been alone since her mother left three years previously. She attends the local school where her friend since childhood, the larger than life, Duckie (real name, Phil Dale) vies for her affections. Unfortunately for him he is firmly in the "friend zone" and she is interested in another boy, Blane McDonnagh. The problem is that Blane is one of the rich kids at school and they don't mix well with the likes of Andie. Blane's friend, Steff, tried to dissuade him from pursuing her, but he does anyway. Andie works part-time at a record store with her (older) friend, Iona. She is a kind of substitute mother figure, as well as being a friend. Prom night is coming up and Blane has asked Andie if she would like to go. Duckie is upset and steps out of the picture for a while. Will Blane stand up to his rich friends and take Andie anyway, will Andie realise just how much she's hurt Duckie, or will the hall catch fire and kill everyone inside? (Nah, that's not going to happen… just seeing if you're paying attention…).

Although it looks very dated these days, I still kind of like this film. It's pretty well made with some really good performances, especially from Molly Ringwald as Andie and Harry Dean Stanton as Jack Walsh. I also very much liked the performance of Jon Cryer as Duckie. Honourable mentions must also go to Annie Potts as Iona, James Spader as Steff and Andrew McCarthy as Blane.

I guess I would have liked this film more if it wasn't for the fact that I didn't believe the relationship between Andie and Blane. Yes, they are from opposite sides of the tracks and, yes, I have seen these things work many times before in movies, but this one just didn't fly for me. It seems to me that she has much more in common with Duckie, who, by the way is the hero of the film in my opinion. But then, hey, what do I know? At the end of the day, although I found it a little far-fetched in places, and the ending a bit of a let down, still, recommended if just for Molly Ringwald's excellent performance.

My score: 7.2/10

Horrid screen play by John Hughes with equally horrid direction, acting and costumes.

I mention costumes because, at the end, when Ringwald is supposed to make her big entrance in her pink dress she looks absolutely horrid! The dress is a mess and not even 'eghties fashion' could excuse it. How could anyone even think....ah well, I digress. Many IMDb-ers agree.

Same old same old from Hughes: geeky poor kids in love with the rich kids and the rich kids in love with the geeky poor kids. Was this supposed to be some attempt at crossing boundaries? Hughes was obsessed with the cross-over. Once you've seen one Hughes film, you've seen them all, literally.

Ringwald, as usual, plays the girl who has multiple men falling in love with her, despite the fact she is unattractive, dull and miserably self-obsessed. It all works out in the end of course. Even for the geeky boys, who, in John Hughes films, always find themselves suddenly, out of nowhere, desired by the most attractive girls in the school, just to make everything OK at the end. Absurd. Dull. Brainless. Forgettable. Why these films live on is beyond me. I can only assume nostalgic people are still viewing the films thorough their childhood eyes.