The penultimate movie that we review for John Hughes week in #Johnuary is Curly Sue. this is one that I had seen before as my wife is a big fan of it. It’s another one that is written, directed and produced by Hughes. I’ve seen it many times but still hadn’t seen it for about 5 years so was looking forward to watching it again.

Here are my real time thoughts whilst rewatching it…

  • I really liked the intro title sequence that tells a story. I always like intros that do that as it saves time setting stuff up in the movie itself
  • This film has a great score
  • I felt the film came across as being very well directed
  • I spotted several actors I knew from other places…
  • The ‘Stack em, rack em and pack em’ guy from Die Hard 2 is in this! Fred Dalton Thompson
  • The guy from Home Alone who says ‘Keep the change you filthy animal’. This answered the question I had always wondered about whether or not that old movie clip in Home Alone had been made specially for Home Alone or if it was from an actual old movie
  • The school receptionist from Ferris Bueller! Edie McClurg!
  • The Beverly Hills Cop from Beverly Hills Cop! John Ashton
  • I also spotted a waiter that looked like a young Steve Carrell and I checked on IMDB and this is actually his first ever acting role. He doesn’t speak and he’s literally on screen for about 4 seconds!
  • When the family doctor comes round to the house it’s very strange how the doctor pulls his pants out of his bum as he leaves. Was that in the script? Was it improvised? Very bizarre
  • When she sings the US anthem it’s pretty great. She certainly doesn’t hold back!
  • Like most John Hughes movies it has some heartfelt moments and some little moments of wackiness too. To me, that’s what makes a movie a Hughes movie (obviously unless it’s set in Shermer High School).

This is probably one of the most serious of Hughes films. It touches on a very emotional subject and has a few moments you really don’t expect. It’s cute, poignant, heart warming and funny. A typical John Hughes film!

Curly Sue

Curly Sue

Curly Sue

Curly Sue

Curly Sue

Curly Sue

Curly Sue