Some Kind Of Wonderful

In 1986, Joh Hughes wrote what some consider one of the most romantic films of all time, Pretty In Pink. I disagree. I mean it's a great movie, but I prefer his follow up, 1987's Some Kind Of Wonderful.

Keith, Eric Stoltz, is a working class teenager harboring a major crush on Amanda, Lea Thompson, the most popular girl in school. Keith's tomboyish best friend Watts, Mary Stuart Masterson, thinks he is nuts knowing that the "it" crowd doesn't date their type. But he see's an opportunity when he witnesses Amanda dump her rich snob of a boyfriend Hardy, Craig Scheffer. Acting on impulse, Keith swoops in and asks her for a date. To piss Hardy off, she say's yes. With help from Watts and some of his other buddies, Keith prepares for his dream date as Amanda realizes that she might just have feelings for him. But she's not the only one.

Forced to change the ending of Pretty In Pink after it tested poorly, Hughes was upset and wrote Some KInd Of Wonderful as the movie he really wanted Pretty In Pink to be. Valley Girl director Martha Coolidge was set to direct with Jennifer Beals in the Watts role, Kim Delaney as Amanda, and Kyle McLachlin as Hardy. Coolidge dropped out however, and Hughes decided to go with his Pretty In Pink director Howard Deutch to helm the picture. Hughes even tried to get Molly Ringwald to play Amanda, but she wanted to pursue more adult roles. Even Thompson turned down the Amanda role originally, but after Howard The Duck tanked, she decided to take it on. Which is a good thing because her and Deutch fell for each other while filming and are now married.

The cast is pretty terrific, especially Masterson, who really captures the pain of being a misfit. This is her finest performance. Elias Koteas steals most of his scenes as Keith's bully turned buddy. He improvised most of his lines and it really works well for him.

This is one of my favorites of the John Hughes teen era. Sadly, it's his one teen film that isn't well remembered. I'm not ashamed to admit that I tear up every time I watch it. It's just that wonderful, parden the pun.

It's available on dvd.