Lawbolisted Powerful

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Woodyanders Smitten teenager Samantha Baker (a delightful performance by the spunky and adorable Molly Ringwald) has a crush on popular hunk Jake (the handsome and charming Michael Schoeffling), who's already spoken for. Worse yet, her family get so caught up with her older sister's impending wedding that they totally forget her 16th birthday. Writer/director John Hughes keeps the enjoyable story zipping along at a snappy pace, maintains a likeable lighthearted tone throughout, presents believable teen characters, astutely nails the joy and anguish of adolescence, and manages a few tender, touching, and thoughtful moments amid all the often raucous and uproarious humor. Moreover, it's acted with aplomb by a tip-top cast: Anthony Michael Hall brings a utterly disarming cocky swagger to his breakthrough role as a brash and persistent geek, Paul Dooley shines with his a lovely portrayal of Samantha's harried, but humane dad, and Gedde Watanabe has a field day as happy-go-lucky foreign exchange student Long Duk Dong, plus there are fine contributions from Haviland Morris as foxy babe Caroline, Blanche Baker as the ditsy Ginny, Justin Henry as sharp-tongued younger brother Mike, Max Showalter as the hearty Fred, and Billie Bird and Edward Andrews as a pair of doddery grandparents. John Cusack, Joan Cusack, and Jami Gertz pop up in small roles. A total hoot that not only delivers the expected laughs, but also proves to be really sweet and occasionally moving as well.

Will K This film is one of the many iconic movies to star Molly Ringwald. In this film, you have a typical coming-of-age story with a female lead. The story follows her after her parents forget her 16th birthday. She has to deal with her sister getting married, and also having a huge crush on one of the most popular boys in school, Michael Schoeffling. This film is one of the best comedies I have ever seen. It's quirky, tacky and over the top in every right way. The soundtrack to this film is also a highlight, and is truly one to be enjoyed.But, a predictable ending and some goofs that go too far drag the film down a bit. It's a film that is meant to be over the top, but sometimes when a film goes too wild, your suspension of disbelief is broken and you have a hard time believing or even enjoying what you're seeing.

sharky_55 It is a John Hughes teen movie, so even during the opening scenes many will have sketched a good idea of how Sixteen Candles will conclude. The usual archetypes are all there; the prissy older sister, the bratty, fast talking younger brother, the mopey middle child, the high school power couple and so on. Hughes would build a career from these - in fact he subscribes to these roles so much that he would later cast Hall in practically the exact same role a year later in Breakfast Club, as the brain, or, as he is constantly referred to here, the geek. The two would have the climatic scene in the car, where they realise they are more than their labels. Conventionally we expect that they will somehow end up together romantically after Jake is found to be less than the noble pretty boy; you know, the whole 'what you were looking for was right beneath your eyes' shtick. But Hughes doesn't fully commit to these expectations, but flips them around, winking slightly. The father is not stuffy or stuck up, and remarks that it is good that his son is being educated in the areas of female sexuality, albeit crudely. The whole film seems to conspire against Sam, with even the grandparents forgetting her birthday. She shows a sarcastic awareness: "They live for that sh*t!".So there is decent groundwork. Hughes sprinkles these little knowing touches, which are familiar and make sense; the sex quizzes that teenagers pass around, still all the rage these days, and in the way that two jocks can only hold an even slightly in-depth conversation whilst alternating on the pull-up bar. Even the geeks, the lowest of the low on the proverbial food chain, make crude sexual wagers amongst themselves. Sexuality for them is a strange, scary and curious thing, and Sam's laughter is a gentle mockery of sorts, transcending the boundaries of the screen. The audience too can giggle at how inexperienced they are, and how they are completely ruled by these expectations of them. But we also understand, and sympathise, which is what Hughes is known for. The secondary character, however, are a different story. The queen bee is predictable enough, a blonde bombshell that holds the star quarterback type in her claws and smiles sweetly to the rest of the world. But the mistake is to afford Jake the exact same personality. He knows nothing of Sam except for a little note she wrote in, and the phone-calls to her grandfather, whilst humorous, ultimately just confirm our suspicions that this power couple is exactly as they appear: shallow as a kiddy pool, in both characterisation and attitude. So no one cares when they break-up amicably. The worst of the film is easily the Asian exchange student, Long Duk Dong, whose every word is followed by a loud and distracting gong, and whose broken English, hideous haircut and lack of social etiquette immediately brands him as the designated punching bag. This is not only lazy stereotyping (yelling "Banzai" as he falls from a tree, the way he flits from Chinese to Japanese) but also Hughes contradicting his own mantra. Characters are more than their labels, except when you need to make vulgar, derogatory jokes. Dong is immediately shackled with another similar stereotype, the large, unattractive man-beast. The act is supposed to be eye-opening and subversive but only reinforces the respective stigmas. Even Hall, lowly as he is, barely gives neck- brace girl a second thought. There's something very mean-spirited about the whole thing.

Sean Lamberger Part sweet-hearted teenage romance and part raunchy National Lampoon comedy, which makes sense as this film represents a transition for first-time director John Hughes. Fresh from a post at the Lampoon magazine, where he penned the seminal classic Vacation, Hughes was about to revolutionize teen-geared filmmaking with his deep understanding of emotional roller coasters and accurate portrayal of the high school social structure. What results is a spotty picture that experiences triumphant highs and... well, not lows per se, but a shocking disconnect with any shred of political correctness. Long Duk Dong is the worst of these offenses, of course, as a blush-inducingly ugly Asian stereotype, while a major plot point in the second act involves handing off a passed-out prom queen for not-so-subtly hinted sexual escapades. At the time this was made, I'm sure, these seemed perfectly acceptable choices for a teen comedy, but it's impossible to imagine most of it surviving the filters today. But if we can forgive all that (or maybe just move on from it), Sixteen Candles remains an intrinsically charming (and often laugh-out-loud funny) film. Molly Ringwald is responsible for a great deal of that, at her blushing, grounded best, while Anthony Michael Hall deserves a nod for his work as her suave-as-he-thinks-he-is wannabe suitor. And I'd completely forgotten about several baby-faced cameos from John and Joan Cusack throughout the story. It spirals out of control at points, especially during the expansive, scattershot school dance, but regroups nicely in time for a touching, classically Hughsian finale. Matched, of course, with the perfect scene-setting new wave tune.