The quintessential teen comedy, this is a movie that could and should serve as a model for movies of this sort in the future.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 48
Fresh: 39
Rotten:9
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Consensus: Matthew Broderick charms in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, a light and irrepressibly fun movie about being young and having fun.
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) is a tricky but harmless fast-talker. But he knows how to have fun, which is exactly what he sets out to do when he feigns illness and talks his parents into... Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) is a tricky but harmless fast-talker. But he knows how to have fun, which is exactly what he sets out to do when he feigns illness and talks his parents into letting him stay home from school. The perpetually lucky Ferris enlists his hypochondriac best friend, Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck), into springing his girlfriend, Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara), from class, and the three embark on a raucous downtown Chicago adventure. From Wrigley Field to the Art Institute of Chicago to a Polish pride parade, Ferris and his friends make the most of their day off. But Ferris, Sloane, and Cameron might not get away with playing hooky. Ferris's sister, Jeanie (Jennifer Grey), is determined to prove that Ferris is faking sick and make him pay for it, and the bumbling school dean, Ed Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), is sure that Ferris is pulling a fast one. Another classic from writer-director John Hughes (SIXTEEN CANDLES, THE BREAKFAST CLUB), this film features a star turn from Broderick as the charismatic Ferris. Watch for Charlie Sheen as the juvenile delinquent in the police station and comedian Louie Anderson in a brief appearance as a flower deliveryman. [More]
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara, Alan Ruck, Jeffrey Jones
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara, Alan Ruck, Jeffrey Jones, Edie McClurg, Jennifer Grey, Cindy Pickett, Lyman Ward, Charlie Sheen, Ben Stein, Del Close, Virginia Capers, Richard Edson, Larry "Flash" Jenkins, Louie Anderson, Kristy Swanson, Max Perlich, Polly Noonan
Director: John Hughes
Director: John Hughes
Producer: John Hughes, Tom Jacobson
Screenwriter: John Hughes
Composer: Ira Newborn, John Robie, Arthur Baker
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Reviews for Ferris Bueller's Day Off
One has to marvel at just how perfectly Hughes nails his frustratingly entitled mise-en-scène, which he unquestionably does in the film's mesmerizing detour inside an art museum.
It's an airhead teen film that nevertheless caught the public's fancy and still remains a popular cult favorite.
...funny, satiric, bright, and inventive, sagging around the two-thirds mark but coming through with an exhilarating finish.
Sporadically hilarious, with roots that run far deeper than expected.
There are some great comic set pieces with a seize-the-day vibe for teens. Broderick is amiably charismatic and high school dean Jones almost matches him in comic skill.
Ferris Bueller exhibits John Hughes on an off day. Paucity of invention here lays bare the total absence of plot or involving situations.
The overriding impression is one of utter nihilism, of a world divided into bored, crassly materialistic teenagers and doltish, unfeeling adults.
Not only captures what being a teenager and a high schooler felt like, but also embodies what life ought to be like.
Ferris is an admittedly entertaining, at times delightful fellow. How unfortunate that no one got to wring the little bastard's neck.
...removed from the moment, the high capitalism of the mid-1980s, the movie seems mild and pleasantly whimsical.
A next generation Eddie Haskell, Ferris Bueller redefined "cool" misbehavior for Generation X....Hughes has a knack for memorable set pieces. [new DVD review]
This is John Hughes' best teen film, and it's a call to arms to everyone in the world who doesn't want to follow society's lame-ass rules at the expense of living a cool life.
Latest News for Ferris Bueller's Day Off
July 09, 2009:
Alan Ruck: From Ferris' Best Friend to Cool Dad ![]()
More than 20 years after his "Ferris Bueller" character lashed out at his father, actor Alan Ruck has graduated into playing dad roles of his own. More...
November 24, 2005:
A Day to Give Thanks (for Good Thanksgiving Movies!)
The Newsday column gets to take a few days off during the big holidays, but I couldn't let today go by without offering our friends a handful of Turkey-day treats. If you're... More...
July 12, 2005:
Paramount is Sending Us Back to "Summer School"
Screenwriters Kyle Pennekamp & Scott Turpel have been enlisted by Paramount to pen a remake of the 1987 comedy "Summer School," says Variety. More...
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