Pretty in Pink (1986)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Howard Deutch

Writer:

John Hughes (written by)

Release Date:

28 February 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

He's good. She's good. He's just Duckie.

Plot:

A girl from the wrong side of the tracks, a geeky new-waver who worships her, a rich High School Hunk who has her eye, and John Hughes.

Plot Keywords:

School | Crush | Wrong Side Of The Tracks | High School | Quirky

Awards:

1 win

US TV Schedule:

Sun. July 26	6:00 AM	AMC
Mon. July 27	4:00 AM	AMC

Cast

Molly Ringwald	...	Andie Walsh
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Jack Walsh
Jon Cryer	...	Duckie (Phil Dale)
Annie Potts	...	Iona
James Spader	...	Steff
Andrew McCarthy	...	Blane McDonnagh
Jim Haynie	...	Donnelly
Alexa Kenin	...	Jena Hoeman
Kate Vernon	...	Benny Hanson
Andrew Dice Clay	...	Bouncer at CATS (as Andrew 'Dice' Clay)
Emily Longstreth	...	Kate
Margaret Colin	...	English Teacher
Jamie Anders	...	Terrence
Gina Gershon	...	Trombley, Girl Friend / Gym Class
Bader Howar	...	Sales Girl

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Iceland:L | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-8 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #28001) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

This is Molly Ringwald's favorite among her own films.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Blane puts Andie in his car, the painted brick wall with the newspaper boxes is in the background, without Duckie. In the next shot, he is sitting on the newspaper box.

Quotes:

Duckie: We don't have none of this stuff in the boy's room! Wait a minute! We don't got none of this... we don't got doors on the stalls in the boy's room, we don't have, what is this? What's this? We don't have a candy machine in the boy's room!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Best! Movies! Ever!: Proms (#1.17)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Round, Round

A cute love story spoiled by a slightly disappointing ending.

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.