Summary
- John Hughes is celebrated for making viewers laugh and cry, even though his career started with a 0% Rotten Tomatoes score.
- His movies, like Sixteen Candles and Home Alone, tug at heartstrings with poignant scenes and themes.
- From the beloved to the underrated, Hughes’ films endure, leaving a lasting impact on audiences today.
John Hughes is perhaps best remembered for how his movies made people laugh, but he often made viewers cry as well. Today, Hughes is one of the most celebrated directors of his time. However, his career didn’t start on the right foot. John Hughes’ first movie has a 0 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, but National Lampoon’s Class Reunion still went on to kick off an amazing, successful franchise. In addition to his box office hits, Hughes has many underrated movies.
Hughes tragically and prematurely passed away at 59 years old in 2009 after a sudden, shocking heart attack. His legacy lives on through his many 80s coming-of-age films and his hand in creating the “Brat Pack.” Whether John Hughes movies make viewers laugh, cry, or a combination of both, they tend to stick in the minds of viewers even 40 years after they first premiered.
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10 Sam’s Dad Remembers Her Birthday
Sixteen Candles (1984)
Sixteen Candles is the first of three movies Molly Ringwald made with Hughes. Ringwald plays Sam Baker, a girl whose family forgets her 16th birthday as they prepare for her older sister’s wedding the following day. Sam is shocked and saddened when no one in her family wishes her a happy birthday for almost the entire day.
This kicks off a bad birthday for Sam. At one point, unbeknownst to her, senior student Jake picks up a confidential note where she confesses her crush on him. Late at night, Sam’s dad finally wishes her a happy birthday, telling her they didn’t forget and they love her. This is as heartwarming as it is heartbreaking, as Sam spent the entire day thinking they didn’t care or remember, and she cries on the couch about Jake before her father delivers one of the best John Hughes quotes about crushes.
Sixteen Candles
In John Hughes’s directorial debut, Molly Ringwald stars as Samantha Baker, a high school student in suburban Chicago whose sixteenth birthday is marred when her whole family forgets to celebrate the occasion due to her older sister’s wedding. Navigating a school dance and a seemingly unrequited crush on an older boy, Sam’s sweet sixteen becomes a day to remember. Anthony Michael Hall, Michael Schoeffling, and Gedde Watanabe also star.
- Release Date
- May 4, 1984
- Cast
- Molly Ringwald , Gedde Watanabe , Anthony Michael Hall , Haviland Morris , Michael Schoeffling
- Runtime
- 93 minutes
9 Kevin Asks A Santa Claus To Bring His Family Back
Home Alone (1990)
One of John Hughes’ highest-grossing movies is 1990’s Home Alone, which proved he and his films weren’t just a fad of the 80s. Home Alone starred a 10-year-old Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, a boy whose large family accidentally leaves him behind when they go on Christmas vacation to Paris. When Kevin realizes he was left alone, he assumes he “made his family disappear” as he remembers all their negative comments about him.
Instead of this being a sad moment, he smiles when he realizes his obnoxious family members are gone. Kevin spends most of the film enjoying his time alone. Yet, when he ran into an off-duty mall Santa, Kevin asked him to tell the real Santa he didn’t want any toys or gifts, he just wanted his family back. It reminded audiences of Kevin’s young age and how much he missed his family and just wanted to be loved and included.
Home Alone
Home Alone tells the story of Kevin McAllister, an eight-year-old who is left behind in his Chicago home when his family flies to Paris for the holidays. Not only must Kevin keep himself safe while his mother flies back across the world, but he must protect his home from the Wet Bandits – serial burglars who are targeting the McAllister House. Kevin must use every trick in the book to keep the Wet Bandits from stealing Christmas before his mother returns.
- Release Date
- November 16, 1990
- Cast
- Macaulay Culkin , Joe Pesci , Daniel Stern , John Heard , Roberts Blossom , Catherine O’Hara
- Runtime
- 103 minutes
8 Kris Kringle Tells Dorey She’s Doomed For Life
Miracle On 34th Street (1994)
Home Alone is just one of many Christmas movies made by John Hughes. In 1994, Hughes wrote the screenplay for the remake of 1947’s Miracle on 34th Street. The film starred 7-year-old Mara Wilson as Susan, a girl who doesn’t believe in Santa Claus and befriends a man who believes he really is Santa. The remake was accused of being too “depressing” and got mixed reviews, but it was a box office success.
Susan’s mother Dorey (Elizabeth Perkins), who helps Kringle (Richard Attenborough) when he goes on trial, influences her daughter not to believe. One of Miracle on 34th Street’s most heartbreaking moments is when Kris Kringle tells Dorey she’s “doomed for life” because she can’t accept faith when humans are naturally selfish and hateful. The quote, which reads as follows, was a wake-up call for her and many viewers that went beyond a story about Santa Claus:
“
I’m a symbol of the human ability to be able to suppress the selfish and hateful tendencies that rule the major part of our lives. If you can’t believe, if you can’t accept anything on faith, then you’re doomed for a life dominated by doubt.
”
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Pretty In Pink (1986)
Ringwald played Andie Walsh in Pretty in Pink, an outsider due to her single father’s lack of income. The “richie” popular kids ran the school, including the school’s biggest bully, Steff (James Spader), and his best friend, Blane (Andrew McCarthy). Blane asks Andie out but strings her along because of peer pressure from his rich friends.
After Andie’s father confesses he’s been lying about his job and is depressed about his wife leaving him, she confronts Blane in the school hallway. He had been ignoring her calls and made up an obvious lie so he wouldn’t have to take her to prom. This scene is particularly heartbreaking because both Blane and Andie are in pain. Andie’s best friend, Duckie (Jon Cryer), who’s also in love with her, watches on feeling hurt for her and himself before getting into a physical fight with Steff.
Pretty in Pink (1986)
Pretty in Pink is a 1986 romantic comedy-drama directed by Howard Deutch and written by John Hughes. The film stars Molly Ringwald as Andie, a high school student navigating social divisions and romantic entanglements. With a prominent supporting cast including Jon Cryer and Andrew McCarthy, the story explores themes of class disparity and youthful aspirations in the context of 1980s suburban America.
- Director
- Howard Deutch
- Cast
- Molly Ringwald , Harry Dean Stanton , Jon Cryer , Annie Potts , James Spader
- Runtime
- 97 Minutes
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6 The Students Reveal Their Secrets In The Library
The Breakfast Club (1985)
Almost every scene in The Breakfast Club is famous, from the moment where John Bender tells Vice Principal Vernon to “eat [his] shorts” at the start of the movie to his iconic fist pump at the end as “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds plays in the background. However, one scene towards the end is the film’s most heartbreaking. Throughout The BreakfastClub, the students learn more about each other and realize they aren’t as different as they’d assumed.
As they sit in the library, they take turns sharing their secrets, as Bender has already revealed the truth about his abusive parents. Allison reveals she’s a compulsive liar with no friends, Brian shares he tried to die by suicide, Andrew tells them about the pressure his dad puts on him, and Claire talks about her uncaring parents. After some laugh-out-loud moments, this library scene makes the movie solemn and, unfortunately, more relatable.
The Breakfast Club
After receiving detention, a group of five high-school students bonds as they realize they have quite a bit in common despite being from different friend groups. Despite being over 35 years old, The Breakfast Club still stands as one of the quintessential movies of the ‘80s and one of director John Hughes standout films.
- Release Date
- February 15, 1985
- Cast
- Molly Ringwald , Ally Sheedy , Anthony Michael Hall , Judd Nelson , Emilio Estevez
- Runtime
- 97 minutes
5 Clark Watches Home Movies
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
Before he became a famous director and screenwriter, John Hughes started his career as an author for National Lampoon magazine. His stories from the magazine then inspired the Vacation movies, with 1989’s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation becoming an instant Christmas classic for decades to come. The film is based on his National Lampoon December 1980 short story “Christmas ’59,” loosely based on Hughes’ own childhood memories.
In the story and the movie, Clark Griswold’s family attempts to have a good old-fashioned family Christmas that quickly turns hilarious and messy. When Clark gets trapped in the attic, the scene originally starts as another funny mishap, until he finds an old film of family home videos. Tears stream down Clark’s face as he watches his family celebrate Christmas in the 50s. Just like it was for Clark, this National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation scene is a tearjerker.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
The third installment in the National Lampoon’s Vacation series, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, stars Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold, father of the Griswold family whose intentions to have a good Christmas with his family face several setbacks. Between his arguing parents, the uncooperative decorations, and the unexpected arrival of some unwanted distant relatives, Clark’s dreams for a wonderful Christmas seem to be fading, forcing him to take some comedically drastic measures.
- Director
- Jeremiah S. Chechik
- Release Date
- December 1, 1989
- Cast
- Chevy Chase , Beverly D’Angelo , Randy Quaid , Juliette Lewis , Johnny Galecki , John Randolph , Diane Ladd , E.G. Marshall , Miriam Flynn
- Runtime
- 97 minutes
- prequel(s)
- European Vacation , National Lampoon’s Vacation
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4 Keith Finally Chooses Watts
Some Kind Of Wonderful (1987)
After directing Pretty in Pink, Howard Deutch teamed up with Hughes one more time for 1987’s Some Kind of Wonderful starring Eric Stoltz, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Lea Thompson. Like Pretty in Pink, the 1987 film was a teen romantic comedy-drama that revolved around a young love triangle. Stoltz played Keith, a blue-collar teenager who goes out with the popular Amanda (Thomspon). Meanwhile, his tomboy best friend, Watts (Masterson), grapples with her feelings for him.
Watts realizes she loves Keith and kisses him under the guise of trying to “teach him” for when he goes on a date with Amanda. Keith is oblivious to Watts’ feelings, but as Watts walks home from a party in tears, Amanda encourages him to follow her. He realizes he also loves his best friend in a bittersweet ending. It’s Watts and Amanda’s tears that make everything truly heartbreaking.
Some Kind of Wonderful
- Director
- Howard Deutch
- Release Date
- February 27, 1987
- Cast
- John Ashton , Lea Thompson , Craig Sheffer , Mary Stuart Masterson , Eric Stoltz
- Runtime
- 95 minutes
3 George Apologizes To Beethoven
Beethoven (1992)
Many people don’t know John Hughes wrote 1992’s Beethoven because it’s credited to a pseudonym of his, Edmond Dantès, inspired by the main character from The Count of Monte Cristo. He left the script for Universal Studios when they parted ways, and Beethoven became one of John Hughes’ best 1990s movies. The titular character was a loveable but mischievous big St. Bernard who snuck into the Newton family home.
The dad of the house, George, was a control freak and a workaholic who didn’t want to keep Beethoven, but his wife and kids convinced him otherwise. When a corrupt, murderous doctor claims Beethoven bit him, George reluctantly agrees to put him to sleep. Despite his issues with Beethoven, George apologizes to him and gently says, “You were my dog too.” Fortunately, George later saves the dog and Beethoven has a happy ending, but this moment pulls at heartstrings.
2 The Delivery Scene
She’s Having A Baby (1988)
One of the most underrated John Hughes movies also includes one of Kevin Bacon’s most underrated roles. 1998’s She’s Having a Baby follows Jefferson “Jake” Briggs (Bacon) and Kristy Briggs (Elizabeth McGovern) from their wedding day through the birth of their first child. The story is mostly from Jake’s point-of-view, with voiceover from Bacon and imaginary scenes. Throughout the film, Jake feels pressure to have a child and learns that Kristy’s mother nearly died giving birth to her.
They have some fertility issues due to Jake’s low sperm count and begin a fertility program. When it succeeds, Kristy has a traumatic labor just like her mom did, and he has to leave the delivery room. The heartbreaking scene that follows doesn’t feature any dialogue from Jake, with tears streaming down Bacon’s face as a montage of their life together plays to Kate Bush’s “This Woman’s Work.”
1 The Reveal About Del’s Wife
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
When Planes, Trains and Automobiles first premiered in 1987, it was seen as a big departure from his usual family or teen-focused coming-of-age type films. The 1987 movie was an odd-couple buddy comedy. Steve Martin played Neal, a high-strung businessman trying to get home to his family for Thanksgiving, and John Candy played Del, a talkative, somewhat irritating salesman. With a Chicago blizzard interrupting their plans, Del helps Neal get home, turning them from reluctant seatmates to friends.
Del had let Neal believe he had a happy home with a wife waiting for him. However, when Neal’s on the train, he remembers some strange comments and realizes Del wasn’t trying to get home. Neal goes back to the station, where Del is still sitting, as he’s homeless and his wife died eight years ago. It’s a heart wrenching reveal that leads to a happier ending, with Neal inviting Del to spend the holiday with his family as his new friend. The John Hughesending to Planes, Trains and Automobiles wasn’t originally planned that way, but it is perfect.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter