Sixteen Candles (1984)

Director: John Hughes
Writer: John Hughes
Cast: Molly Ringwald, Justin Henry, Michael Schoeffling, Anthony Michael Hall, Paul Dooley, John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Jami Gertz, Brian Doyle-Murray
Genre: Teen, Comedy, Romance

I'll be the first to admit Sixteen Candles have a lot of improvement possibilities, but the influence this John Hughes movie have had at the movie and television industry is undeniable. It's not for nothing you'll find allusions and other references to 'Samantha Baker's sixteenth birthday in so much that's been made throughout the nineties and the new millennium.

Including Molly Ringwald in the lead and Anthony Michael Hall as 'The Geek', the Brat Pack had two of their members around like usual in a Hughes movie. Both did by the way an excellent job in this one, and we also see a young John Cusack as one of 'The Geek's boys, 'Bryce'. Today other familiar names would include Joan Cusack and Jami Gertz.

The entire movie is a reflection on the eighties, and in many ways it reminds me of why I Love You, Beth Cooper didn't work. The humor and ideas is pretty much the same in both, but while Sixteen Candles reflects the eighties I Love You, Beth Cooper never did reflect its time. And you can't possibly use the same recipe now as they did back then, and still expect anything other than being considered a rip-off out of touch with the era. Sixteen Candles is the real deal, and no-one would ever consider accusing John Hughes of being out of touch with the eighties.

Yes. As a movie on its own I might find it hard to defend my rating of it, especially considering my reluctance towards humor based on embarrassments, but this is one of the few times a movies influence helps elevating it. Being who I am, how can I deny the effect this movie have had on my pop cultural interest? I can't. I won't.