My Review of Pretty In Pink (1986)

 

Written by John Hughes

Directed by Howard Deutch

Andie: "If somebody doesn't believe in me, I can't believe in them."

The other day I was watching The Breakfast Club and it came to my attention that I've never watched that other infamous Molly Ringwald film. Yup, I'm talking about Pretty In Pink. Last night, I rectified that.

Ringwald was somewhat at the height of her fame in the 1980s and I know from reputation, this film was an iconic role for her. In this film, she was Andie Walsh. The character's a bit of a contrast from Claire Standish. For starters, Andie's more working class or poor.

I bring this up because Andie's financial background was a source of commentary within the movie itself. While she had a mostly good relationship with her father, Jack (Harry Dean Stanton). He's barely struggling to get by and hasn't gotten over Andie's mother leaving them but he also loved Andie, even if he wasn't the best at keeping a job.

Andie being poor also factored into her relationships with men. There was her best friend, Duckie Dale (Jon Cryer) who wanted a deeper relationship than Andie was willing to give him. He behaved like a manchild at first but did somewhat come through as a good friend by the third act. He also briefly hooked up with Andie's boss and friend, Iona (Annie Potts).

The other two men drawn to Andie were both rich in status and friends with each other. Steff McKee (James Spader) didn't just seem to hate Andie for being poor but also because she rejected him. He really hated that she wasn't impressed by him. Steff's generally a charmless dolt throughout with his own bitchy girlfriend.

The other guy was Blane McDonnagh (Andrew McCarthy). He was supposed to be the nicer of the "richies" and for a good part, he kind of was. Then he screwed Andie over by not taking her to the prom because he conveniently had another date. Of course both him and Andie do reunite but it's done in a rather rushed way.

- Benny Hanson (Kate Vernon) was Steff's girlfriend and she really hated Andie.

- Charlie Sheen was considered for Blane and Robert Downey Jr. had been suggested by Ringwald for Duckie before Jon Cryer was cast. Duckie was also based on a gay best friend of Ringwald's.

- Standout music: The Psychedelic Furs Pretty In Pink and New Order's Shellshock.

- Chronology: Set in the Chicago suburb of Elgin.

Pretty In Pink did have a bit of a pointed commentary on the class system between many characters but the Andie/Blane romance itself was so hastily handled by the prom scenes, it kind of lost it's momentum. Saying that, I did largely enjoy this one with the main cast on great form.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Road Games (2015)

 

Written And Directed by Abner Pastoll

Jack: "What is wrong with these people?"

Véronique: "I think it's because of the killer of the road."

Road trips never end well in horror movies and the ones that venture into encountering families are often the worst. That was something our leading man found out first hand.

Jack (Andrew Simpson) was a British hitchhiker on holiday in France. It's established early enough that he had a girlfriend who ended up with his former friend, so he was now on his own. At least for a few minutes.

To show that Jack was a good guy, he rescued the mysterious Véronique (Joséphine de La Baume) from an abusive boyfriend. Both were effectively stranded in the middle of nowhere but there was an instant attraction between Jack and Véronique. It's one that's acted on later in the film itself.

Jack and Véronique managed to get some help from Grizard (Frédéric Pierrot) who brought back to his nice house to meet his American wife, Mary (Barbara Crampton). Yeah, it's definitely obvious by now that Grizard and Mary aren't what they appear to be. Véronique was a bit too quick to point that out as well.

Within the second half of the film, Jack's been taken captive by Grizard's handyman, Delacroix (Féodor Atkine) and the latter seemed to take a lot of pleasure in terrorising Jack. I'm not really sure what the plan was but Jack managed to escape and then rescue Véronique from Grizard and Mary.

The movie then took something of an odd twist. Véronique was revealed (though not to Jack) to be Grizard and Mary's daughter and with the way this movie ended, I got the feeling that Jack was on borrowed time with Véronique.

- Jack admitted to being a vegetarian and was mocked for it by both Grizard and Delacroix at different points.

- Andrew Simpson would appear in Abner Pastoll's follow up film, A Good Woman Is Hard To Find.

- There's no opening credits but you do get a scene after the closing credits.

- Chronology: Present day France for the entire film.

Road Games (2015) had the initial mystery of an unknown road killer before through it's British hitchhiker lead into a dangerous family and a fight for survival. It's nothing too inventive but diverting enough.

Rating: 6 out of 10