Some Kind of Wonderful Movie Review

John Hughes isn't best known for Some Kind of Wonderful, but ode to highschool misfits has its adherants, and sure enough it's one of his more grounded and lovable films.

Not as depressing as Pretty in Pink, not as random as The Breakfast Club, the film is a typical Hughesian love triangle among the short-haired semi-butch drummer girl (Mary Stuart Masterson), the sensitive (yet poor) painter (Eric Stoltz), and the class beauty who doesn't have money but runs in rich circles (Lea Thompson). Masterson clearly pines for her best friend Stoltz, but he either can't see it or won't see it. Besides, Thompson has perfectly '80s red hair. Naturally, the beefy, Miami Vice-dressing boyfriend (Craig Sheffer) wants nothing more than to pummel the guy who's pining for his lady.

It's a fair enough assessment of high school, and the characters are understated the point where they are actually a little bit boring. There's a little too much angst going around, a little too much honor and personal dedication among teens that would otherwise be gossipping and staring at TV all day. Otherwise, Some Kind of Wonderful is a solid entry into an elusive genre weakened by several dozen monstrously bad entries over the last decade.

As a footnote, director Howard Deutch would reunite with starlet Thompson in TV's Caroline and the City years down the road. Unfortunately, neither of them appears to have learned anything along the path.