Sixteen Candles

"By night's end, I predict me and her will interface." - The Geek

release year: 1984
genre: comedy
viewing setting: home Bluray 7/15/25 and home laserdisc 6/12/97

synopsis: Samantha's having the worst 16th birthday possible; her family forgot, her spoiled sister's getting married to an idiot, a foreign exchange student is living in her bedroom for the weekend, the guy she likes doesn't even know she exists, and she's being pursued by the Geek.

impressions: Pretty funny high-school comedy. Most of the stereotypes are captured here, but it's funny and light-hearted, not negative like some movies of this type. There are plenty of hijincks and laughs throughout.

acting: Molly Ringwald is a fairly normal teenager who's just having a series of misfortunes but keeps moving along. Anthony-Michael Hall is The Geek, a guy who never gives up on himself. Michael Schoeffling is the popular jock. John Cusack has an early role as one of the sub-Geeks. Gedde Watanbe is the carefree foreign exchange student known as the Donger.

final word: A superior example of this genre.

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