PRETTY IN PINK [1986] review

I like that when you see a movie made in the 80s set in the 80s, you know it’s the 80s.  The 80s had its own look.  As did the 70s and 60s, and maybe even the early 90s.  After those times though, will we be able to say, “that is so 00s?”  This is perhaps why, especially for teen movies, classic ones like PRETTY IN PINK just cannot be replicated anymore.  This decade has no identity, no distinctiveness.  I really wonder if we will ever feel nostalgia for the 00s like we already do for the 80s and long have for the 60s?

PRETTY IN PINK which is only written, not directed by, John Hughes is not a complicated movie.  It does not have the manic energy of BUELLER.  PINK instead focuses on (economic) class differences between a small group of high school students.  To elaborate, can an eccentric girl from a broken home “make it work” with a privileged boy who perpetually wears a sports jacket?

Molly Ringwald was the first girl I ever liked on the silver screen.  I am sure she was many other teen boys first as well.  I cannot say she does anything overwhelming charming in this movie to inspire such devotion other than just the way she is by default, with the glossy doe eyes staring blankly out and her ever constantly semi-parted lips.  Then there is her bright red hair that helps her to stand out in contrast to her often depressed surroundings.

PINK has many scenes that illustrate the angst of any teen relationship from waiting for a phone to ring, to hoping to run into the person of your fancy, to the pain of realizing you are not going to be able to make it work.  I should not fail to mention the unrequited love scenes as well.

Could such a gimmick free teen movie be made today?  Could a sex-scene free teen movie be made today?  Maybe there should not be a movie like that made today because it would just not be reflective of the times.  PINK is such a nostalgic movie to watch in 2009 just because it could only have come from the 80s.

UPDATE:  I forgot to mention the surprising Andrew Dice Clay cameo.  His trademark mannerisms are still subtle at this time, which makes him cameo fun and welcome.

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