Now, as we continue #Johnuary, we come to one of John Hughes’ behemoths. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. This was written, directed and co-produced by Hughes. I know a lot of you will be stunned at how I hadn’t seen a lot of Hughes’ other work, but don’t worry, I’ve seen Ferris Bueller about a hundred times and pretty much know it off by heart. I’d say I watch it every couple of years or so. It’s such a classic and I love it. Certainly no problem at all rewatching it again for Johnuary.
Here are my real time thoughts as I rewatched this film.
- This is a very random thought but I always like films that start with radio audio over the titles. Can’t think of any others off the top of my head but I know I like them
- It’s a beautiful family house they have isn’t it? I’d love a driveway like that where you can just drive on and drive off without having to reverse. I remember reading about how they actually filmed most of the interiors inside the house. It wasn’t just a house front that they filmed. The family that owned it just basically had a film crew living in their house for a few weeks. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2013/11/12-ferris-bueller-fun-facts-from-family-who-hosted-film-crew/ That would be pretty cool although it must have been pretty annoying having fans of the film constantly out front taking photos for 30 years.
- The mum’s hair is textbook 80s
- Such a cool bedroom. Simple Minds and Bryan Ferry / Roxy Music posters. Here is a very cool breakdown of the bedroom – http://mattandtimfunny.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/ferris-buellers-bedroom.html
- Hughes does like to break the fourth wall in his movies but he does it in this film a huge amount of course, and the first time is after only 3 and a half minutes.
- Is that a fake squirrel they put on the tree at 3.34?
- I also love the text on the screen when he’s explaining how to fake illnesses. That’s not something you see much in films but I think it’s great. This whole first monologue by Ferris is just awesome
- Iconic moment with the teacher saying “Bueller…. Bueller… Bueller….. Fry……. Fry…….”
- I love the music in Cameron’s bedroom scene and also the ‘Let my Cameron Go’ bit
- The other classic teacher scene is great where he keeps asking ‘Anyone? Anyone?’ in mid-sentence in case somebody somehow knows what he’s about to say. We’ve all had teachers like that. Hughes has lots of high school scenes in his movies but not many actually in the classrooms themselves.
- Great little bit with the secretary (great actress, Edie McClurg, who appears in a few Hughes films) pulling pencils out of her hair
- Ed Roony is just such a great character. I love the banter between him and his secretary
- Ferris hacking into the school computer to change his days absent. Nice callback to Broderick’s role in WarGames
- I’ve always loved that synthesizer with the bodily noises
- I bet we’ve all done that thing that Ed Rooney does where you run down a corridor but stop and walk past doors. Suits his character perfectly
- The 1961 Ferrari 250GT California. Ooh yeah. What a car. And that music by ‘Yello’ has become so iconic now.
- The city of Chicago really is one of the characters in this movie. I like how proud Hughes is of being from Illinois
- I always loved the bit when his mum checks on him and the trophy brings down the pulley system that rolls over the mannequin in the bed. I always wanted a hi-fi with a digital graphic equaliser like that. Partly so that I could throw baseballs at it
- I always wanted to one day go up the Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower) and stand up against the window like that. My wife and I drove Route 66 on our honeymoon and went up the Tower. You can’t stand on the rails like Ferris did but they do have the SkyDeck which is very cool and gives you the same sort of view
- The whole Abe Froman restaurant bit is great. If you’re interested you can buy a T-shirt of it at Last Exit to Nowhere https://www.lastexittonowhere.com/catalogue/abe-froman-navy-regular-fit-t-shirt_3265/
- Great 80s line – “I love driving it. It is so choice.”
- I love the whole slightly meta aspect of things like Ferris spotting his dad and then just talking straight to the camera a couple of feet away from him.
- Great how Ed Rooney gets a kind of private eye theme tune as he goes on the hunt for Ferris
- Great to see the Karate Champ arcade machine in the bar
- So many UK children learnt about the “Hey, batter batter batter, swing, batter” from the baseball scene in this film. There’s an interesting article that tried to work out what day it was that Ferris took off, based on what teams were playing in this baseball game. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/did-ferris-buellers-day-take-800463
- The cassette recording that plays when Ed Rooney rings Ferris’s doorbell is very cool. I used to really admire Ferris’s MacGyver attitude
- Genius and classic scene of the car park attendants jumping over the crest of the hill in the Ferrari with the Star Wars music in the background. One of the iconic moments from the film
- I would not want to be face to face with a Rottweiler, like Ed was
- The bit in the art gallery is such a nice section. Very daydreamy and arty. Really gives you a sense of how carefree their day is. Always loved the bit where Cameron is staring at the kid in the painting. I love that it zooms in so much that the kid’s face isn’t even recogniseable any more
- And then we have the parade float scene. Ferris singing Danke Schoen. Classic. And Twist and Shout with Blues Brothers-style street dancing! For some reason when I was younger I actually used to think that it was Matthew Broderick himself singing the vocals. Sorry, John.
- The high kicks that Jeanie gives Ed is great.
- Charlie Sheen. Winning.
- The bit when Cameron kicks the Ferrari and it goes off the ledge, and the camera is on the car driving away and you’re left looking back at him with the shock on his face still gives me the chills
- Great ending having the chase through the streets and houses with Jeanie and his dad both driving back to their house too. And then Ed Rooney finds Ferris at last! I almost feel good for him, as he’s such a good character and he’s had such a great day. But then it goes sour for him again.
- Great closing monologue about life moving pretty fast. That gets quoted a lot
- This is the first film I remember having bits of the film continue as the credits roll. Cannonball Run obviously had outtakes at the end but this was a bit different. Great to see Ed Roony get on the school bus.
- And obviously the bit right at the end where Ferris walks to the camera saying “it’s over, go home” is another classic moment. Love it.
- This movie made $70.1 million off a $5.8 million budget.
- Jim Carrey, John Cusack, Tom Cruise and Michael J. Fox were all considered for the role of Ferris
This movie is, in my mind, possibly the peak of John Hughes’ work. It’s brilliantly made, witty and just unique on so many levels. It was also possibly the start of a transition of his work from teen angst movies to comedies. This one had both. It was still set in Shermer High School, but it was more of a comedy than his previous movies. It had the best of both worlds. And I can’t wait to watch it another hundred times.
Images from Blu-Ray.com