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Craig Younkin
John Hughes Tribute
By Craig Younkin Published August 7, 2009
He was known as the father of the teen angst comedy but that really only refers to half of his greatness.
After learning of the tragic death of John Hughes, I knew for sure that I had to give a tribute to the man who made so many of the greatest films I’d ever seen. If I were to go back and think about the comedies that effected me most as a kid, John Hughes would leave a big impression on that list. As a kid growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, it was damn near impossible to not see a John Hughes movie, or feel a connection to the characters he wrote about. Unlike most of the stuff today, he contended that a kid or teen comedy didn’t have to be stupid or fall back on the same crude joke over and over again. He was a storyteller and a hilarious dude but he also gave his characters development and heart that could uplift any audience, young or old.
He was known as the father of the teen angst comedy but that really only refers to half of his greatness. There are so many great movies on his resume, whether they be smart comedies about growing up as a high school teen, wildly inventive movies about spending time with the family, or family comedies with slapstick that would leave parents and kids in stitches. And also throw in a road trip comedy that’s pretty much the great height of the road trip-movie genre.
He wrote “National Lampoons Vacation," “Christmas Vacation," “Sixteen Candles," “The Breakfast Club," “Pretty in Pink," “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off," “Planes Trains and Automobiles," and “Home Alone.” Even as I write these movies I’m remembering moments of pure hilarity, quotes that stay with you, and actors whose careers basically took off from being in these movies.
The Brat Pack was just one of his creations. Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, and Anthony Michael Hall. Most appeared in countless 80’s Hughes flicks, the most famous of which is “The Breakfast Club.” Even today that movie stands as the high point of the teen comedy, inventively putting teens from different cliques together during one Saturday detention. It was impossible not to identify with at least one of the people in this group as they go from hating each other, to trying to escape, to communicating on a deeply personal level.
“Bueller, Bueller, Bueller.” Probably the most quotable Hughes flick for me was “Ferris Buellers Day Off.” I even remember my sister’s high school graduating class using this movie as a theme. They organized a cut day, I remember constantly hearing “Life moves pretty fast. You don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Hell, some of them might have even organized an entire parade sing-a-long to “Twist and Shout." Is that not one of the great scenes in movie history? So many characters in teen movies just think they’re cool, but Ferris really was. He had his own contagious philosophy and he was the kind of likable, fun-loving, anti-authority figure that no kid could resist. This was by far the movie that made Mathew Broderick’s career. He brought a level of easy-going cool to the role that made Ferris one of the most infectious teens in movie history.
And “Home Alone.” I just remember me and my sisters watching that movie constantly as kids with my aunt, who said “that Macaulay Culkin is one of the smartest actors I’ve ever seen.” This is where I get my critical prowess from if you're wondering. “Home Alone” came out just around the time I was 8 and my sisters were a couple years younger and even today remains one of the few movies the three of us can agree on is a classic movie with the best slapstick and humor of any childhood favorite.
Something I’ll never forget is working at Sharper Image and listening to my manager quote lines from “National Lampoons Vacation” at Chevy Chase, trying desperately to look inconspicuous in sunglasses and a hat. Hughes wasn’t just for the kids. He also made great movies about men doing their best in a Blue Collar world. The Griswold family vacations where Clark goes through every bad-luck scenario you can think of but still gives the family the trip to Walley World (by kidnapping the security guard), and gets the Christmas lights up and deals with his looney family relatives and everything else were classic cases in some of the best movies about spending time with the family ever made.
Then you also have “Planes Trains and Automobiles," one of the few movies I’ve ever seen my dad laugh out loud during. This is Steve Martin and John Candy at their best, and Hughes brings it out of them. I’m laughing just thinking about the scene where they discover they're sleeping in the same bed together and the part where Candy is brilliantly thrown into a scenario where he’s driving on the wrong side of the highway or when Martin has to deal with the rent-a-car company. It’s a hilarious flick with a strong heart about traveling and the friends you meet along the way.
John Hughes gave us so many cherish-able moments, so many great films, so many identifiable characters, and classics that will live on forever. He will be sorely missed.
He was known as the father of the teen angst comedy but that really only refers to half of his greatness. There are so many great movies on his resume, whether they be smart comedies about growing up as a high school teen, wildly inventive movies about spending time with the family, or family comedies with slapstick that would leave parents and kids in stitches. And also throw in a road trip comedy that’s pretty much the great height of the road trip-movie genre.
He wrote “National Lampoons Vacation," “Christmas Vacation," “Sixteen Candles," “The Breakfast Club," “Pretty in Pink," “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off," “Planes Trains and Automobiles," and “Home Alone.” Even as I write these movies I’m remembering moments of pure hilarity, quotes that stay with you, and actors whose careers basically took off from being in these movies.
The Brat Pack was just one of his creations. Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, and Anthony Michael Hall. Most appeared in countless 80’s Hughes flicks, the most famous of which is “The Breakfast Club.” Even today that movie stands as the high point of the teen comedy, inventively putting teens from different cliques together during one Saturday detention. It was impossible not to identify with at least one of the people in this group as they go from hating each other, to trying to escape, to communicating on a deeply personal level.
“Bueller, Bueller, Bueller.” Probably the most quotable Hughes flick for me was “Ferris Buellers Day Off.” I even remember my sister’s high school graduating class using this movie as a theme. They organized a cut day, I remember constantly hearing “Life moves pretty fast. You don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Hell, some of them might have even organized an entire parade sing-a-long to “Twist and Shout." Is that not one of the great scenes in movie history? So many characters in teen movies just think they’re cool, but Ferris really was. He had his own contagious philosophy and he was the kind of likable, fun-loving, anti-authority figure that no kid could resist. This was by far the movie that made Mathew Broderick’s career. He brought a level of easy-going cool to the role that made Ferris one of the most infectious teens in movie history.
And “Home Alone.” I just remember me and my sisters watching that movie constantly as kids with my aunt, who said “that Macaulay Culkin is one of the smartest actors I’ve ever seen.” This is where I get my critical prowess from if you're wondering. “Home Alone” came out just around the time I was 8 and my sisters were a couple years younger and even today remains one of the few movies the three of us can agree on is a classic movie with the best slapstick and humor of any childhood favorite.
Something I’ll never forget is working at Sharper Image and listening to my manager quote lines from “National Lampoons Vacation” at Chevy Chase, trying desperately to look inconspicuous in sunglasses and a hat. Hughes wasn’t just for the kids. He also made great movies about men doing their best in a Blue Collar world. The Griswold family vacations where Clark goes through every bad-luck scenario you can think of but still gives the family the trip to Walley World (by kidnapping the security guard), and gets the Christmas lights up and deals with his looney family relatives and everything else were classic cases in some of the best movies about spending time with the family ever made.
Then you also have “Planes Trains and Automobiles," one of the few movies I’ve ever seen my dad laugh out loud during. This is Steve Martin and John Candy at their best, and Hughes brings it out of them. I’m laughing just thinking about the scene where they discover they're sleeping in the same bed together and the part where Candy is brilliantly thrown into a scenario where he’s driving on the wrong side of the highway or when Martin has to deal with the rent-a-car company. It’s a hilarious flick with a strong heart about traveling and the friends you meet along the way.
John Hughes gave us so many cherish-able moments, so many great films, so many identifiable characters, and classics that will live on forever. He will be sorely missed.
