Blane? That's not a name, it is an appliance!

PRETTY IN PINK (1986)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Before I write my opinion of this film, let me make one thing sparklingly clear. In 1986, I was a huge fan of Molly Ringwald! A real big fan, I mean, I had the Time magazine and the Life magazine issues where this smiling redhead appeared on the front covers. I had seen "Sixteen Candles" (a fairly crude comedy) and "The Breakfast Club" (John Hughes's best picture ever), both of which starred Ringwald at her finest. I went to the theater to see America's sweetheart in "Pretty in Pink" and was blown away, like any real fan might be. Okay, so I am aware I was only 15 at the time. And yes, the film is dated and has an unsatisfying conclusion. Still, seeing it again recently, I found it to be a completely disarming, heartfelt and affecting portrait of teenage life in the 1980's, back when the haircuts were atrocious and the clothes were no better.

The movie opens with close-ups of Ringwald dressing and getting ready for school. Oh, my the close-up of those lips! Her earring! Yes, we young boys did ogle at Ringwald in those days. Then we see her trying to wake up her father (Harry Dean Stanton), something of a deadbeat who works part-time only. She insists that her father look for a full-time job, acting more like his mother than his daughter. Ringwald's character name is Andie, a straight-A student whose best friend is Duckie (Jon Cryer), who is not quite a nerd and not quite the most studious. They are poor and are both lucky to be at this high school, mostly attended by "richies." Everything seems right with this world, including Andie's own part-time job at the "Trax," a record store owned by Iona (Annie Potts) whose wardrobe changes more often than her record collection. And Duckie is in love with Andie, though she doesn't know it.

Like any teenage movie post-"West Side Story," something has to threaten this world. There is the rich Blane (Andrew McCarthy), another senior student who wants to go out with Andie. He goes to the record store, pretends to be interested in Steve Lawrence, and, hesitating for what seems like an eternity, finally says to Andie, "How are you doing?" Eventually, they go out, much to the dismay of Duckie. There is more trouble ahead when Blane's stiff, arrogant best friend, Stef (James Spader) tells Blane to give up Andie, the girl from the wrong side of the tracks (literally). If not, Blane will not only lose a friend, he'll lose his clique of rich classmates. And since the high-school prom is coming up, will Blane give up his friends for Andie or will he give up Andie?

The plot is not a surprise but one wishes writer John Hughes and director Howard Deutch injected a few twists. The final prom climax seems a little phony and ends with a forced happy ending - one thing I can't stand is a forced resolution for such wonderful, spontaneous characters who seem follow their own paths. Andie and Duckie, who have so many scenes of truth, undergo an unlikely change that seems to have been handled by a committee, not by writers. My other nitpicking aspect is the character of Stef. Most of the high-school seniors in this movie are played by actors far too old to be in high-school - they appear more like senior college students. James Spader was well into his 20's when he played Stef - he looks like a listless man who parades the halls and makes observations and gives advice while smoking a cigarette. Yet Spader is so watchable and his line delivery is so impeccable ("Do you think I would treat my parents' house like this if money meant nothing to me?") that he brings a sense of credibility to the role, despite the age difference. Still, does this senior ever attend class?

Speaking of age differences, there is the gum-smacking, chain-smoking Jena (the late Alexa Klein who was murdered in NYC), one of Andie's friends, who hopes that Andie will not date a richie. Her primary concern is for Andie's studious mentality ("Do you want to be a doctor?"), feeling that it is better to sit out gym class than to participate. The actress could easily be Andie's older sister than a high-school student. Now as for Andrew McCarthy, his Blane character is not always convincing. He is at his best when verbally sparring with Spader. There is some hint of chemistry with Ringwald but we are never sure if he really loves Andie or if he is just clueless. I would have amped up on the cluelessness because McCarthy can play that type of character better than anybody.

Jon Cryer and Annie Potts nearly steal the movie with their witticisms and gobs of humorous asides. Cryer's Duckie is a forlorn love puppy who mocks the richies as often as he can, and can lip-synch Otis Redding with sexual urgency. He adores Andie but he can't have her. Andie will have lunch with him, go on car rides around rich neighborhoods, help him with homework and be as good a friend as anyone has any right to be, especially with Duckie. Cryer conveys all these traits so well that it became his best-known character (anything is better than the doltish nephew of Lex Luthor's he played in the unfortunate "Superman IV"). Potts' Iona is the one who already went to high school, dealt with the prom, and has dated far too many guys. She wants the best for Andie and gives good motherly advice ("When you see the Duckman, be kind. He's nursing a lot of wounds.")

Finally, it is Molly Ringwald who brings Andie to the surface with brains, spunk, charm and appeal, and she looks pretty in pink. Ringwald is the star of the movie and both are as appealing as any teenage movie can get.