Sixteen Candles (1984) - 5/10

I’m revisiting a few 80s classics, but as I sit down with Sixteen Candles, it dawns on me that I don’t think I’ve seen this properly before. I know the story, I’ve seen countless clips over the years, but have I ever watched it start to finish? Where films like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off were a little more universal, Sixteen Candles feels a little more focused. To start at least. The focus being Sam (Molly Ringwald), or rather not. You see, her family, have forgotten her birthday, her sixteenth, obviously. This is largely down to her big sister getting married tomorrow, which has brought the extended family to the house. Sam’s grievances are real and relatable, which is probably why this found an audience, but her family are pure comic book. In fact most of the cast are over the top, but Ted (aka Geek) (Anthony Michael Hall) works it to his advantage. He fancies Sam, Sam though likes the reluctant heartthrob, Jake (Micheal Schoeffling). It’s all very surface and there’s little to discover by digging. It’s largely a comedy farce (complete with stupid sound effects), with house parties, school dances and the usual tropes that come along with American high-school movies. Hall is quite magnificent though. He’s a full on burst of energy, despite being pretty annoying. John Cusack also features, but sister, Joan nearly steals the entire show without saying a word, which maybe says a lot. There’s only Ringwald and Schoeffling really worth watching for any kind of storyline… well and Hall. After the initial set up, it completely loses its way and becomes a narrative mess. I’m sure it feels important to people who watched it in 1984, it might even be quotable, but I know one thing for sure, I’ve definitely never seen this all the way through before, I wouldn’t forget something this bad. It undeniably has some sort of charm to it, crap charm, but I didn’t hate it. There’s some great needle drops and it’s worth a watch whether you’ve seen it before or not.

5/10