August 18, 2025 • 52 mins
Brandon, Brett, and Stoney flip the calendar back to 1986 to relive a teen comedy classic starring Matthew Broderick as one of cinema's most popular characters. We're talkin' Ferris Bueller's Day Off this month on The Movie Review Rewind Podcast!
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Flipping back the calendar to highlight Yesteryear's finus while exploring
the vast archives in cinema history. This is the Movie
Review Rewind Podcast on Nashville Movie Dispatch. Welcome back for
(00:33):
another episode of the movie Review Rewind podcast right here
on Nashville Movie Dispatch. I'm your host for the show
that e I see at Sobros Network, Big Natural Stony Keeley.
You can follow me on Twitter at Stony Keeley, collectively
at Sobros Network on all major social media platforms, and
of course all of our work is up at Nashville
(00:54):
Movie Dispatch dot substack dot com. Joined as usual by
my coo on the movie Review Rewine podcast. He is
a board member of the Music City Film Critics Association.
He is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association.
He is our resident film critic here on Nashville Movie Dispatch.
Mister big shot himself Brandon Vick Brandon, how are you
(01:18):
doing on this this fine late summer day as the
humidity of August is really setting in here in Middle Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Uh, not too bad. Yeah, I just got back from Pensacola, Florida.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Really beautiful down there?
Speaker 1 (01:34):
What took you down there? Business or pleasure?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Well, a little bit of both. I sell shark teeth
and they are just well yeah, well the sharks themselves
are just I mean, they are just biting at the
chance to get some flesh. And so it's just the
(01:58):
so what perfect time?
Speaker 1 (02:00):
So how do you capitalize on their insatiable hunger for
human flesh?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Just I stand, I stand at a safe distance and
just throw a wrench at their mouths and try to
knock teeth out.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
So they're coming at you to eat your flesh. You
knock their teeth up.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
I'm recovered in bloody chickens, to try and get them
to come to me, okay, and not mess with those
other humans.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
And then just because you want the teeth, knock that.
That's like some insane it's like the eye coordination. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Well, it's like that fair game where you throw the
ball and hit those troll things and they fall down.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Like whack a mole.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
No, no, maybe they're clowns. I don't know what they are.
Clearly I haven't been to a fair in a little
day either.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
You throw the ball, the little puppet falls over.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yeah, yeah, that's what it was kind of like but
it's their teeth and it's a wrench.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Okay, what's your what's your what's your procurement rate on
the you just got like the shark lunges at you.
You've got one shot to get one tooth or you
like wrestling?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Well, I mean at times, I mean I'm there for
a week, okay, So but yeah, man, I got uh,
I got five.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
The whole week. Yeah, well what are you what are
you turning around and selling those for? That makes this
worth all the fft?
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Oh shit, I got like thirty five bucks for like
three of them.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Okay, So and you get to enjoy the wonderful beaches
of Pensacola exactly. Yeah, I'm glad you're doing well. Whew. Yeah. Uh,
we've got our buddy, our buddy Brett here back for
a month after our Shallow Howe review, we are we
(03:45):
are digging into nineteen eighty six. Is Ferris Buehler's day off, Brett,
this was actually your idea to do this podcast. You're
you're you're the one that brought this film up. Was
there a particular reason why you wanted to to relive
this one?
Speaker 3 (04:02):
You know, this is a movie that it's I had
seen several times. I feel like it's a movie growing
up that was kind of just in the atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Is one of those films.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Yeah, Yeah, And you know, i'd see bits and pieces
of it on TV. I had seen the whole thing
through probably two or three times. But this for this
podcast was really probably the first time I really sat
down and gave it my full attention.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Like just thinking about it more critically than just ye
having it on in the background kind of deal.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Yeah, It's one of those movies that's almost you know,
there's certain movies growing up that are kind of it's
like this has always existed since the Dawn of Times,
and Paris Bueller is one of those movies.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
For me, I would agree with that. Brandon, was this
your first time watching it for this show?
Speaker 2 (04:48):
No, But I it was sort of what Brett was saying,
like I knew scenes, so you kind of felt like
you've seen it. But I did watch it, and I
want to think, and I could be making this up,
but I want to think my wife had seen it,
and so I watched it like within the past ten years.
(05:09):
I sat down watched it for the first time all
the way through, and then I mean doing this one.
So I mean I probably have only watched it maybe
two or three times, like in total.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
This this feels like, I mean, it's got to be
like one of the most universally beloved movies of our
lifetime anyway. I mean, it's like highly quotable. You got
the humor, it's a little nostalgic. It does kind of
feel like a good time capsule of the nineteen eighties.
Speaks to the rebellious spirit of our teenage years, the
(05:44):
yearning for freedom and independence, the questioning of structure and authority. Yes,
absolutely it's relatable, but I think it is. It's a
fun little plot and it's a pretty well, pretty well
written characters. What do you think the the secret sauces
for this film? And we'll start with you, Brett. The
(06:06):
secret sauce for this film? Why it has stood the
test of time and been so popular and been such
a lovable movie throughout all these all these years.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
I think, to some deary it's that it's got that
John Hughes magic touch. Yeah, that so many of his
movies do that. It's you know, when you we've talked
about this with other movies, when you look at the
cast and you look specifically at Matthew Broderick outside of
this movie, there's nothing that tells me, Yeah, put Matthew
(06:41):
Broderick in that role, you know, for the rest of
his career.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
I agree, yeah, And.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
But this is what people know him as.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, especially of a certain age. I
think I think, and maybe I'm wrong, but I think
he won a Tony before he did the movie, Like
I think he was a Nightmare. I'm sure we look
at but I feel like he was in nineteen late seventies,
he actually won a Tony for something. But I think
(07:12):
this is I think you're right. I think it's basically
what he's known for that in Godzilla two thousand, of course. Yes,
and but honestly, I think you either know him as
kind of like the young kid that was in the
movies or the Tony Award winning stage act. Like I
don't know if there's really an in between. It's funny
(07:33):
to me to see that of him play that kind
of character because I like, for me, I think of
like the cable guy, like I think of him in
those kind of roles where he wasn't you know, mister cool.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
He's the straight man at Yeah, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
And he plays it really well, and even like I
think he was great and like only Murders in the Building,
which I think was nominated for an Emmy on that.
But but it is kind of like funny to see
him be that like.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
This.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
I probably shouldn't compare him to this, but it's kind
of like, you know, maybe he was kind of like
the Timothy Schallome of his day. He's young and cool
and he's playing this rebellious character and that's what he'd
be known for well, for the rest of his life
for a generation. But you know, you're talking about where
it's quotable and stuff, and I think sometimes imagery like
him and the sunglasses is instant, and part of it
(08:28):
is because it's on the cover as well. And the car.
I think the car is like one of the first
things people think of and you're talking about I was
gonna have the same answer. It's that John Hughes golden
you know, anything he touches turns of gold kind of thing.
And but there's just that spirit and energy in what
(08:50):
you were saying, stony of like the rebellion, but also
like and I think you can watch it as if
you could be Bueller's age, or you could be kind
of like the age we are now and there is
still kind of that. This is kind of it won't
get any more freer than this, because adulthood is coming,
(09:13):
and whether you know it or not, these days are numbered.
Even if and I think we'll get into this if
you're a shithead, yes it will. It's coming, and I
think we all, you know, have kind of experienced, especially
in high school and college, I think is probably what
it's mostly. You know, we kind of associate that time with.
(09:35):
But yeah, I mean it's just it's nostalgia, but it's
very much of like a the bygone era of not
just filmmaking, but the characters you're watching and the like
you said the day that as the day kind of
unfolds for him.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
He did win a Tony for Best Featured Actor in
a Play in nineteen eighty three for Brighton Beach Memoirs.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Okay, so before he got it, Okay, I remember thinking
he had done something, not that anybody would have recognized
him for it, but I just that kind of could
put your name up there when you you know, especially
I mean he won that what three years before Buehler
came out, So yeah, he's pretty damn young.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
I I did not realize he was in Manchester by
the Sea.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
I didn't either, and I don't know what he played,
but I saw that and I forgot he played Jeffrey.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
There's a lot of stuff in his filmography that I'm
just not not familiar with. But I will say I
loved him showing up in twenty twenty Three's No Hard Feelings.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Yes, I love that. And who was the wife she
was famous to? Yeah, I thought they were both. I
thought they were both funny, especially when he had when
he has that awkward conversation, it's so silly. But yeah,
I always think of The Cable I, Inspector, Gadget. I guess, Yeah,
(11:06):
those are good movies. I just mean like that. I
know I did like The Cable Guy. I don't want to.
I don't want I don't want to be misquoted here.
I do think The Cable Guy is A is a
funny movie.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
He was a voice in B movie was Deck the Halls? Well,
the producers, the Stepford Wives, Stepford Wives, Inspector, Oh, Election,
how could we forget?
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Okay, that's what I should have think of first.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Yeah, it is it is absolutely Yeah that the cable guy.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
But it's still not this role. It's more in Election.
It's more that.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Yeah, like yeah, no, no, yeah, that's he He kind
of typecast himself as he got older to be on
in in kind of the mood and the mannerisms and
his delivery.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
And I think that's some of the the John Hughes
magic that it's just the movie all works, the script
all works, and the cast. Though you know, looking at
the full picture of his career, you might not say,
if we were going back to do this and we
just had a clean slate, let's put Matthew Broderick in this. Yeah,
it works great.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
And I mean he's at that I mean he's at
that precise age that I mean he could have all
those feelings while they're filming. And I think as he
got older, I kind of feel like that that's like
election and cable guy. Like I feel like that's probably
(12:40):
more of just who he is, and there's still a
comedy style to that. But this one was like, I mean,
teen angst like. But I do think there's probably some
other movies around the eighties and stuff that he did
that I'm sure he probably had that kind of reputation
and then one day, you know, it's like, oh, okay,
(13:01):
you know, I'm not a kid anymore.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
So, well, you guys both mentioned John Hughes. He actually
in reference to the casting of Matthew Broderick. He was
in mind when Hughes wrote the script, calling Broderick clever
and charming, talking about his unique qualifications to pull.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
This Carrick He's always kind of carried that.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Yeah, that's an interesting point because though I'm the one
that keeps saying this doesn't really fit what he does
the rest of his career, that style of comedy is
what he does, you know, kind of these just like
kind of quirky one liners and that kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Yeah, so there's a lot of expression in his face
that he'll do that I think is he's always done
like it's it's always been Matthew Broderick, no matter how
you know, whatever role or whatever age.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
So that said, there were other actors considered for the
role of Ferris Bueller, and I'm.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Curious, Bob Thornton, I'm curious to hear what you.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Guys think of Toby Jones these names if it would
have been the same movie. Again, think about the times
Michael J.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Fox. Yeah, I probably that's who I was gonna say.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Just because Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Yeah, Tom Cruise.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
In the eighties. Yeah, okay, that's risky business, Tom Cruise.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
George Clooney, I don't know what he's doing. I think
in eighty six.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
I know he had a mullet on Roseanne, but I
don't even know what year that was. That was nineties,
early nineties, probably Johnny Depp. Okay, that's elm Street twenty
one Jump Street.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Jim Carrey, which feels like a totally different movie. Yeah,
and then of course it is the late eighties. John Cusack.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Oh, say, like Corey Fillman, m that John Cusack. I
can kind of maybe get behind.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
I feel like that John Cusack has the same kind
of energy as Matthew.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Brobers say anything kind of deal and.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Like the Yeah I could, I could see it with
like the facial expression some of the like yeah, I
don't want to say dry delivery, but the straight laced
kind of delivery of matter of factness.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know if I really
see Michael J. Fox I say that or John Cusack.
I'm not the other ones, honestly, and I Jim Carrey
is the one that really just kind of that feels weird,
that doesn't seem right, no matter, I don't care how
old he is.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
The idea of John Cusack's interesting because I was just
looking up to make sure I had this right. This
was before say anything, So it feels like he could
have done it. But then would say anything have been
a thing because it feels like that would have been
too too close.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Yeah, yeah, that's true. I don't I don't think. I
don't see him doing both. I just I don't think
Matthew Broderick could be and say anything. So again one
of those where it all works out. But I could
see Michael J. Fox because he is in a way
that's kind of like the Back to the Future character,
(16:14):
sort of like there's rebellious in a way. I mean obvious,
there's differences, obviously, but I could see him basically put
on like basically put on Matthew Brodrick's clothing, like I
think you got a pretty good I mean.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
I think he could do it.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
I wonder if it would be as I wonder if
it would be as iconic as it is because it's
such a solo moment for Matthew Broderick that if Michael J.
Fox did it, I think he could have pulled it off.
But you've also got that lump together with Back to
the Future, it would have other things, another.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Series of those roles like that, this is what he does,
and it really stands alone because of Matthew Broderick. Well,
it was all moot anyway, because John Hughes wrote the
script with Matthew Brodrick in mind, and he got his guys. Yeah,
So talking a little bit about more about Hughes wrote
this script in a week. In a week, Ferris Bueller's
(17:18):
Day Off was done. Editor Paul Hirsch on the film
was quoted as saying, like having the story as sort
of episodic, taking place in one day, meant the characters
were wearing the same clothes. I suspect that Hughes writes
his scripts with few, if any, costume changes, just so
(17:39):
he can have that kind of freedom while editing. When
this thing was originally shot, it was two hours and
forty six minutes. If I'm not missy, it was almost
three hours. And the approach was to cut stuff out
after its editing instead of rewriting and reshe shooting stuff
(18:01):
on down the road, and I think that's where we
see movies sometimes get into a little bit of troubles,
Like it almost feels like a stigma when you read
a report saying, well, this movie is undergoing reshoots or
this thing has been rewritten, and now you know it's
their back doing stuff for it again. This almost feels
(18:24):
like a much safer approach to filmmaking because you know
it's safe, you have the characters in the same close.
But it's like the foresight to do that, knowing, let's
just make what we have in the script and then
will trim out whatever we need to, but it's still
a coherent story that doesn't feel like things are getting messy.
(18:48):
And I just I thought that was such a such
an interesting takeaway from this film because it is something
that I think does kind of feel like one episode
of a show almost to a certain extent, and that
it is safer. You're not sacrificing any sort of quality
(19:10):
by just cutting things out that way.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
I'm curious to know if that was unique to this
film or if that was his process more often than not.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Yeah, I don't know. It's just the editor on this
film said, I suspect that he writes his scripts with few,
if any costume changes.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
So well, I mean you have to think, I mean,
the breakfast Club.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Is sort of all it's self contained.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Yep, I don't know, sixteen candles, that's not the case.
But when he said that, I immediately thought of breakfast
Club because you you basically, like you said, it's kind
of just one location and it's kind of throughout the day.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
I mean, well, and it's easy to see, like you're saying, Sony,
how it comes out in a better end result because
it's you're whittling down from a complete product rather than
this Frankenstein's Monster disjointed. Adding I will.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Say, to still make that coherent is still a risk
because if you're not gonna go back and get anything,
then you've got to make damn sure you got all
of it, and then whatever you're gonna take out can't affect,
you know, the beats of each you know, scene and
(20:26):
the way the storytelling goes. But that is pretty clever
because it's not, like, I guess, in a way, it's
not like you couldn't use those shots or scenes because
of like you know, well, you know, you know, he
was well, he was wearing a jacket over there, and
then if he wasn't, then well, you know, he wore
the blue like at least you're kind of like, oh, okay,
(20:48):
I mean it's not like you. I'm sure there's some
things that you have to keep with continuity, but I mean,
just you know, you can do something in a day
and play them basically in the same stuff. I think
you can also get away with a lot more So,
even if they did trim it up, some stuff's probably
not as noticeable because everything, I mean, it's in a day,
so it looks like, you know, the changes they made
(21:10):
I don't think would have stuck out because of the
way that they shot it. But good for him. That's smart.
Did it in a week and then shot everything and
then made that so so good for him. Yeah, and
it's an hour and thirty something minutes, right, yeah, pretty short.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
From what I read, it was mostly like extraneous scenes
from like cutting bits out of specific shots like the
scene in the museum. There was a lot that was
cut out of that because it didn't test well and
test screenings, but not like critical to the plot kind
(21:46):
of stuff. Is just almost like cutting out the thing,
the good stuff, and getting it to a real.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Tight hour and a half that just did some trimming.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Yeah, it just that to me was just like, that's
a level of attention to detail that I don't feel like.
I don't know, you don't, I don't. I haven't heard
about that often when we discussed these films and how
they're made.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
And I guess I am curious if he kind of
always sort of tried to do that or you know,
I mean like everything. Did he get that from someone
else that was making movies thirty years before him?
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (22:22):
But he's smart. It's smart. Uh.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
He called the film his love letter to the city
of Chicago, and that makes sense. I kind of caught
that watching this for the first time.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Was like they're playing tourists.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Yeah, man, and then like the shots of Chicago, they're
kind of broad, sweeping shots of the city.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
There's definitely an enchantment about as you kind of go along.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
And I think, you know, that is a good quality
for a film to have, where the setting is a
sort of character in its own right.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Oh yeah, How do.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
You guys feel that the the location enhanced the film
and Hughes's approach to making sure people knew that was Chicago.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Oh, I mean I think I mean one I think
is very effective. And two, like I said, I think
it is kind of enchanting. If you're in love with
with a city that you know you're from and grew
up in, you want to kind of show it off
a bit. Yeah, So what better thing than to have
them basically take you to the best spots and like
they go to a Cubs get I mean, they're doing
(23:28):
everything that you know we've done when you go to Chicago.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
Yeah, in some of those iconic moments, the parade scene,
you know is in downtown Chicago, so you can't separate
those in your mind, the location and the action that's
taking place.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Yeah. Absolutely. Another big thing is the fourth wall breaking
in this film. Several times that Ferris looks directly into
the character excuse me, it looks directly into the camera
and talks to us. There's a spoof of this scene
in one of the Deadpool movies too. I can't remember.
(24:02):
It's like a post credit scene or something, but it's
kind of an homage to like all the fourth wall
breaking in Deadpools, Like, hey, this was this is Ferris
Bueller basically, oh yeah, yeah, what do you guys think
about that? Effective way to kind of provide perspective, like
it does kind of allow us to see the events
(24:26):
unfolding in this film through the lens that Faris sees
them up. Or is this something that kind of distracts
you guys and takes you out of the story a
little bit.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
It's one of those things that you know, watching the
movie now at this point is such a common thing
to be done in films, but have you know, trying
to kind of transport yourself to that being a very
uncommon and a new way of storytelling. I think that's
what I appreciate most about it. It kind of setting
(24:57):
the table even like what you're talking about with dead Poo, Well,
like we are used to that kind of thing happening
in a TV show or a movie now, it would
have been not been so common then at all. And
so I think it's definitely you know, it takes you
out of the movie, but in a purposeful and effective
way to kind of you're out of the scene, but
(25:21):
you're still in the movie because you're with the character
who's telling the scene.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
So yeah, it's a tonal thing for me. It's like,
if you know, this isn't meant to be some like
drama where you're hanging on every word and every little
facial expression means something like you're doing more of the
acting through that sort of visual medium. It's Ferris Bueller's
day off, so go nuts with it, have fun. As
(25:46):
far as I'm concerned.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
It gives the audience a level of buy in of
I'm a part of this. He's talking to me, Yeah, sure,
and I get to be a part of this, and
I think that adds to the enjoyment of the moment.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Well, that's what I was gonna say, is that I
feel like from the beginning, that's your invite because you're
about to go along on this journey with him and
the people he drags into it, and you're kind of
along for the ride. So it's very effective. And like
you said, it can't always be used, just like it
(26:20):
can't always be used now, but it works and you
I mean, he is basically your tour guide, and he's
also your narrator. I mean, he it just makes sense
that you're he's basically telling you what's going on.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
Now.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
You don't have to agree with everything that's happening, but
he's the one that you're gonna get your whatever information
you get, you're gonna get it from him first, And yeah,
I think it's just a I think it's a nice
invite to the kind of movie that Ferris Bueler is.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
So let's talk about some of the themes of the film,
because I do think this is it's kind of of
a quintessential, like rebellious teen spirit kind of movie. But
I do think it also kind of touches on like
the the value and the importance of, like, especially at
that age, not losing yourself to conformity for the sake
(27:19):
of conformity. Ferris Bueller very much values the freedom of choice,
the independence of oneself, that sort of thing. And I
think there is you know, and to be such a
silly movie, I think there is a nice little message
about independence and coming of age and growing into your
(27:43):
own kind of kind of theme in this film that
that really has some heart added to the to the story.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Yeah, I I felt like it was like even though
like I mean, he was popular, because the whole thing
was that his sister was basically jealous of him, which
it plays against the dynamic of brother and sister, and
you know, it kind of seems like she's always kind
(28:13):
of you know, oh, leave him alone. And you know,
I mean, listen, he's he's a cunning guy. Like he's
outsmarted basically everyone throughout most of the day, which clearly
he didn't learn just today that when we were on.
So you know, he's popular. He kind of has it
figured out. But at the same time, and I don't
really know, like I don't really know if John Hughes
(28:34):
kind of set out for this, but like you kind
of know that it won't last forever, like it will
catch up with him like this it works now, but
in the real world it it won't, like you know
it like and I don't know if it's just because
you you know, I'm watching out the age I am
now or what, but it is, but it it just
(28:55):
it kind of goes back to the basic of this is.
I mean, this is you know, youth revolt, and it's
also about kind of enjoying these days because you'll blink
and they're gone, or you know, even like the time
where like with his sister and stuff like that, and
what high school is or with the you know, his
(29:16):
high school sweetheart or his best friend, and I mean
it's all kind of there. I geld like Alan Ruck's
character because I feel like he's the one that's like
kind of his fit, able to kind of break through
a bit and more like it not wants to be
Ferris Bueller, but he also understands kind of what his
friend represents. And it's not that everybody can do it,
(29:39):
but he I felt like his character kind of in
his own way kind of breaks through. And of course
a lot of it is built around the the car.
So but I liked it. I I didn't even realize,
like I knew she looked familiar, and I looked it
up while I was watching it again, but I realized that, like,
you know, his sister's Jennifer Graves, you know, dirty dancing, soh.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Yeah, I think that dynamic you're pointing to shines through
in those relational pieces he and his sister. You know,
there's the whole thing throughout that Brandon mentioned of she's
just trying. She just wants justice. Basically, she wants him
to finally get his But at the end of the movie,
there's this moment where they kind of recognize each other
(30:27):
and what the other one is doing for them, and
they kind of accept each other as they are, and
kind of there's this unspoken kind of mutual respect for
one another, which I think rings very true to life experiences.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
In a lot of way.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
And I think that also comes through in his relationship
with his girlfriend, that you know, they both have this
idea that they're gonna get married. And again, as people
in their late thirties watching that, we can say they're
probably not getting married.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
But they make it, but they believe it. They leave
it yeah all the way.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Yeah they do.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
Yeah, And I think it is I think it's pretty impressive.
And of course I think this kind of goes with
any of these ones that really kind of just have
made their place in cinema history. Is that you can
you can recognize, and you can relate, and you can
be in your twenties or your thirties or forties or
(31:25):
like you know what. You also in a way you
know what those characters don't know. But you get like
you miss that too, because well, how was it to
be that, like you know, I mean, when you're in
high school and stuff, you know, you don't no, you're
not thinking about bills or you know, healthcare or I mean,
(31:50):
you don't care. Politics mean nothing, The world means nothing
to you.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Well, so one of the finisher thoughts.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
But I also think the movie being in the eighties,
it's also of a bygone era that we'll never get
to experience, like you'll never get the city's not like
that anymore, like it's it's it's such a blast from
the past in so many ways, but it also makes
it so enjoyable because it is a simpler time. Yeah,
(32:21):
that so is at that age it with those with
that kind of tunnel vision, it's always a simpler, simpler
way of life.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
So you mentioned like being able to relate to the story,
Like one of the most famous quotes from the film
is life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and
look around once in a while, you could miss it.
And I think to your point, that's something that still
resonates with me at thirty nine years old, the same
(32:53):
way it did when I was twenty years old. I
think it probably hit the same when I'm however old
I am before I.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Die, do you find I find that that means more
the older.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
You get, Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
And I think because you don't think of and that's
kind of what Ferris Bueller is, You're not like for
him to say that because most time when you're there
you're that's not what you're thinking. There's always like you're
you can't wait to get out of high school or
go on to do this or that and that, and
you know you're in your teens, you're in your twenties.
But that resonates more now, like as you've gotten older
(33:31):
and as you know, you get married you have a
fan like you're like it. It does like it. If
you don't take time, you will wake up and you'll
be you know, old, yeah, and then dead in that order.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
That's what I'm saying, man.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
But yeah, it's funny because they have those guess that line,
And if you go to the movie theater as much
as some of us do, that's one of them. Is
can you get There's the Sandlot one, there's the Beetlejuice one,
and there's the Ferris Bueller one.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
So you mentioned Alan Ruck's performance as Cameron. Yeah, yeah,
Essayist Steve Almond, which Hall of Fame name shout out to.
Steve Almond applauded alan Ruck's performance, even insinuated that he
should have been nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Award
(34:28):
at the Oscars, saying, quote, his performance is what elevates
the film allows it to assume the power of a
modern parable. And I think there is something something that
you said in there talking about his character where he
is sort of like the gravity to this film that
(34:49):
kind of keeps Ferris's character from just being completely off
the chain. I liked Alan Ruck in this It took
me a minute to realize that's Connor Roy out there.
Oh yeah, But I really liked him in this movie,
and I do think he kind of grounds the story
in a way.
Speaker 4 (35:09):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
I don't believe the Oscar stuff, but I agree that
he is kind of the anchor to it all. And
I think it's because he, as even Ferris's best friend,
recognizes this is insane and it's and I mean, it
could be dangerous, and so I kind of feel like,
(35:32):
in a sense, he's kind of what I think a
normal person would probably think of the situation more than like, oh,
the girlfriend is in love and oh they got her
out and you know, but you're right, he does. He
and he reigns Ferris in a bit too, because there's
a point where, depending on the those you surround him with,
(35:55):
the character Ferris Bueller could be too outlandish or unlikable
or just kind of like a goof So, yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
He's kind of a dick. He's kind of a pretentious,
arrogant dick.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
And so and so Cameron really plays an important part
in still making Ferris Bueller seem human and he is
young and dumb.
Speaker 3 (36:24):
So yeah, I think I saw it on letterbox somebody
was talking about this being Cameron's movie, which I think
what you're saying, Stony is an interesting because it's it's
the point you just made Brandon, that Ferris is not
a real person. Cameron is like Cameron has most of us.
(36:44):
Cameron has problems at home. Yeah, Cameron has a life
that he wants to get away from. In a lot
of ways, Cameron doesn't at that age know what he
wants to do next and doesn't have a plan for everything.
And to some degree, like I was thinking about this
earlier with the relational piece, at that age, I mean
we're talking about Ferris is kind of a terrible person
(37:05):
in a lot of ways. Like at that age, oftentimes
your friends are not your friends because they're the best
people in the world to you. They're the people that
are closest in proximity in your neighborhood or whatever. And yeah,
that's just kind of who you spend time with. And
I think Cameron's experience is a very normal one.
Speaker 4 (37:26):
That a lot of people can resonate with.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Yeah, for sure, that's an interesting perspective. I hadn't considered before,
But yeah, there is that. When you're younger, it's you.
You're kind of more friends with who's around you than
picking out sterling characters.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
Well, and I think and I think it kind of
goes back to where like will they be friends thirty
years from now? Yeah, like when you have these choices,
when you have these options, when you see the world
outside of Chicago, Yeah, you know, and that's all. It's
all normal. It is as crazy as the day is it.
(38:05):
It does resonate and it is a it's a slice
of life.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
Yeah, one thing's for sure. Cameron should have beat Ferris
Bueller's ass.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Well, but he might could have towards the end, but
he wasn't. He couldn't have done it at the beginning.
Well that's true, but he should have, but he could have.
Speaker 4 (38:23):
He was sick at the beginning.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2 (38:25):
What about that principle?
Speaker 1 (38:28):
What about him?
Speaker 3 (38:29):
I do think speaking of him, I think some of
the comedy stood up pretty well in this movie, however,
many years later, and I that was a little bit
as a kid. I don't, you know, as a kid,
you don't get a lot of the jokes watching this,
you know, however, in bits and pieces.
Speaker 4 (38:46):
But I actually thought like his.
Speaker 3 (38:48):
Piece and and some of the other just you know,
straight comedy parts of the movie, really slapstick stuff.
Speaker 4 (38:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:56):
Yeah, I like to bring him up because he got
in trouble for child born.
Speaker 4 (39:02):
Isn't because he's the uh, because he's in Beadle Juice,
the dad in Beadle Juice.
Speaker 2 (39:07):
Yeah, And I mean he was in that was just
the eighties because I think he worked with Tim Burton.
I think he's in Edward Scissorhands.
Speaker 4 (39:14):
And this is why he was not in Beetle Juice.
Beetle Juice.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
That's why he died a gruesome death in Bridle Juice.
Piel Juice. I don't. I think he might still be alive,
the real guy, I'm not sure, but yeah, that's why
he wasn't going to come back. What was he sleepy hollow?
Oh yeah, I was trying to think what's another from
because I can see him. Yeah, But and honestly, I
(39:38):
mean that neither here nor there for in nineteen eighty
six and the role we played. But I just it's
really tough to look at some of these actors back
then and then think, like, you know, obviously you you
associate like Alan Ruck and Matthew Brown with them, but
then you have like those kind of people where it's like, man,
(39:59):
how did it like, how did you go from these?
I mean, you know, he was he was a character actor,
as they would say, very recognizable when working with I mean,
pretty good people. But I will never forget Now obviously
he had not been in many movies when when that
news broke. But when I saw that picture, I could
(40:19):
not believe that that was like that dude from Beatle Juice.
It was it was crazy. But I don't know if
he's alive or not anymore?
Speaker 1 (40:27):
Uh, do you guys? Kind of we're dancing around this
this potential topic that I'll get your take on, but.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Yeah, what kind of segue are we getting into?
Speaker 4 (40:39):
Well?
Speaker 1 (40:39):
I was looking I was kind of digging into, like
what are the criticisms of this film, like the people
that didn't enjoy it? What did you not like about it?
And one of the things that people brought up was
like the portrayal of adults in this film is either
like complete morons that are just clueless, have no idea
what's going on, or are just like lame ass robots
(41:03):
that are like they're out to get Ferris like the principal,
or like the parents that are just completely oblivious to
what's going on here. I don't really know what the
heart of this criticism is. Is like somebody old probably
wrote it. It was like, don't make fun of us old people,
Like we're not all stiffs, like like this movie makes
(41:25):
them makes us out to be. But I do think
it's interesting to look back at it and think, like
a lot of this is from Ferris's perspective, so that
probably is how most adults look to a guy, a
kid like Ferris Bueler. So tonally speaking, I feel like
it's actually a strength of the film, kind of a
(41:48):
clever bit of writing there.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
That that was kind of my thought too, is like
that's how they see adults, Like, that's.
Speaker 1 (41:58):
What is the unintended content sequence of this? Do you
think teenagers are watching this and thinking all adults suck?
Speaker 3 (42:06):
I mean teenagers are probably thinking that anything.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
Yeah, isn't that the isn't that really kind of.
Speaker 1 (42:11):
The I'm just saying, I don't I don't quite get
this criticism. I get what they're trying to say, but
I don't get why that hurts the film.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
I was gonna say, yeah again, you who, who are you?
Who's talking to you? Who are you following? Who's I mean,
it's it's the teens, So you're not they're not going
to paint I mean, you know, I mean I feel
like that's like in like saving Private Ryan, like well,
why why didn't you? Why are all those Nazis bad? Well?
(42:42):
Who were fighting? I mean, you know, it's just the
adults are the enemies in this movie. That's that. I've
thought that was pretty clear.
Speaker 1 (42:51):
Yeah, there's also some stuff out there. Some people got
really serious with it, started talking about Reagan era economics
and the indulgence of capitalism, striving for you know, the Ferrari.
Speaker 4 (43:03):
That was on my mind a lot as I watched.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
The Fine dining and that sort of stuff, which we
don't have to get into, but you know, I can
at least see that, like if you're if you're painting
a picture for a younger impressionable audience, maybe maybe don't
teach them to value those sorts of things. But again,
like it's it's Ferris Bueller's day off, so I don't
I don't take much issue with it. Fairis Bueller obviously
(43:31):
becomes a pop culture icon throughout the years. One of
the most quotable movies we've talked about that was actually
mentioned in Barbara Bush, First Lady Barbara Bush's commencement address
at Wellesley College back in nineteen ninety. She said, quote,
find the joy in life, because, as Ferris Bueller said
(43:52):
on his day off, life moves pretty fast. If you
don't stop and look around once in a while, you
could miss it. Responding to the audience's enthusiastic applause, she added,
I'm not going to tell George you clapped more for
Ferris Bueller than you clapped for him.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
WHOA.
Speaker 1 (44:12):
So those are my notes on Fairis Bueller's They they.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
Clapped more for Ferris than they did for hw Nice.
Speaker 1 (44:19):
Yeah, so I thought that was a nice little touch,
but a testament to just the sprawling nature of this movie,
how many people it touched, how ingrained in the conscious
of Americana. It became.
Speaker 2 (44:37):
I don't really want to end it on this, but.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
Well I've got one more.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
Oh okay, good, Yeah, we were good. Jeffrey Jones is
his name, Yeah, the principal and it was about child
pornography and explicit photos and a minor. However, he continued
to work up until twenty nineteen. He was in the
Deadwood movie.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
Are you kidding Me?
Speaker 2 (45:02):
So he's actually hasn't done anything. But it wasn't It
hasn't been as long as I thought it was because
he was in animated stuff. He was in this Jude
Long Nicole Kimman movie like I and it was like
twenty fourteen, twenty eighteen, Deadwood Moves twenty nineteen, and I
think all this happened in like early two thousands.
Speaker 4 (45:21):
Damn.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
So that's crazy. And like I just read, we're like
two hundred and fifty hours of community service because he
failed to update the sex Offenders registry. But the fact
that he was like still make a movie that.
Speaker 1 (45:35):
Seems like a bit of an oversight.
Speaker 2 (45:37):
Guess he didn't get canceled after all. Yeah, man, anyway,
but that's pretty wild. But uh, what's your question?
Speaker 1 (45:45):
So I would like to ask you, gentlemen, if you
had the perfect day off, what would it be?
Speaker 2 (45:52):
God I mean, I'm going to sleep in. Yeah, I'm
gonna have I'm gonna sleep until eight.
Speaker 1 (46:02):
I'm gonna have a big breakfast. I'm gonna enjoy my
cup of coffee. I think i'd like to have waffle
house while I Oh, yeah, that sounds nice.
Speaker 2 (46:10):
I never have it. My wife hates it.
Speaker 1 (46:12):
I will take a book to the waffle house, maybe
maybe the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens, and
I will read enjoy a little bit of solitude. And
then maybe I'm gonna go play some disc golf, and
then I will go to a used bookstore. And then
(46:34):
I'll finish the day at a brewery, trying multiple beers
until I have to call my wife to come pick
me up.
Speaker 2 (46:42):
I have a question. Sorry to get difficult. Am I
a diabetic in this day?
Speaker 1 (46:48):
Perfect? No, you don't have to be okay, I would.
Speaker 2 (46:52):
Like two Crispy cream doughnuts, one that is chocolate cream
field sleep until eight. It's just enough time a double
feature double.
Speaker 1 (47:06):
Hey, there we go.
Speaker 2 (47:07):
Okay, sometimes when I do have the day off, that's
what I'm That's what I do. I mean, that's about it.
I mean, let's be honest. I'm you know, I can't
have a day without my wife and sons, So I mean,
they've got to be there eventually. I love the zoo.
Let's put the zoo in there. Double feature a zoo,
So zoo's probably afternoon. I'm a pizza guy, so I
(47:33):
would like a pizza, A stuff crust pizza. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
What do you think our teenage versions of us would
hear or what would think if they hurt us? Describing
the perfect day.
Speaker 4 (47:47):
We want to fight? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (47:49):
Probably, yeah, probably.
Speaker 2 (47:51):
Probably we would have sounded like idiots?
Speaker 4 (47:54):
Who is nice little Saturday?
Speaker 2 (47:56):
I don't know I'm say I don't you know what
I mean. Maybe besides like just finding out that I
was married and have it and I'm a dad. But
double feature wouldn't have been That wouldn't have sounded crazy.
Pizza stuff CRUs wouldn't have sounded crazy. For lunch, I
would have had a family size of spicier Nacho Doritos
and cold red Mountain dew. I mean, oh man, there's
really not a whole I probably wouldn't been too shot. Yeah,
(48:19):
Krispy Kream, don't I mean for the most probably been like, oh,
you know, I didn't change that much. But but then
what would happen is is I'm surprised because I talk
about that day and then I find out that I
actually am a diabetic.
Speaker 5 (48:35):
You go to being and that's why you Yeah, you
go back to being diabetic the next day with everything
before still right.
Speaker 2 (48:45):
So my perfect day leads to me being a wheelchair
because I.
Speaker 1 (48:48):
Don't love that they have to they have to cut
your feet off a day.
Speaker 3 (48:54):
What would you what would your earlier self have thought of,
Jeffrey Jones, You.
Speaker 2 (49:04):
Don't have to Yeah, I was gonna say, I mean
I probably would have. I would have felt, well, I
don't know because this all happened. I guess around when
we graduated high school from my research, but I'm sure
I would have made some real cool jokes probably yeah
(49:27):
that no one could record. Yeah yeah, so yeah, double feet.
I mean, just some of the stuff I like, but
that I either don't do that often or something like that.
I mean, I don't need anything crazy, because I feel
like if you kind of do the whole like, well,
I'll fly here and i'll go here and then i'll
visit this guy, that's not a day like that's that's ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (49:49):
Yeah, I might. I might go to Gallinburg.
Speaker 2 (49:51):
I also like to sleep in my own bed. Yeah,
I mean, you know, don't I don't want my day
to be in a hotel.
Speaker 1 (49:56):
Just gonna I'm gonna take my MacBook. I'm gonna post
up at a brewery, a winery. I'm gonna write.
Speaker 2 (50:00):
So also does the rest of the world, I mean,
in this day, does the rest of the world Like Americans?
I don't know. I could be going into hostile environment,
that's true. So just I'm just mosey around.
Speaker 3 (50:11):
Are there tariffs?
Speaker 2 (50:15):
Yeah, because that'll screw you up. But remember the next
day your life starts again, so be careful.
Speaker 1 (50:23):
Yeah, what's your perfect day? Brett?
Speaker 3 (50:25):
You know, I feel like I give a I'm giving
a boring answer on this. But I might stay at home.
I mean yeah, I might not. I I have done
what Brandon said. If I know, like my wife and
kids are gonna be gone, I will buy tickets to
multiple movies in row and try to puzzle piece it
together to walk out of one and walk into another.
Speaker 2 (50:49):
And what am I gonna do for lunch that is enjoyable?
Speaker 4 (50:52):
I do like that.
Speaker 3 (50:53):
I would eat some Mexican food in there somewhere.
Speaker 2 (50:56):
And then second, your second movie has to get out
before the traffic. You know, these things in perfect.
Speaker 4 (51:04):
Were elder millennials still.
Speaker 2 (51:07):
Matter in my day off, because if I got to
sit in traffic for an hour on my perfect day
and pissed.
Speaker 1 (51:13):
What have we become? What have we become?
Speaker 2 (51:16):
I think we sound pretty normal, approaching forty quickly. Yeah,
in case people can't tell, In case.
Speaker 1 (51:23):
People think we're fifty.
Speaker 3 (51:24):
As I've heard someone say, life moves pretty fast.
Speaker 2 (51:27):
Yeah, hell yeah it does.
Speaker 1 (51:29):
It's a fantastic note to to end on. That is
going to do it for us. Unless you guys have
any parting thoughts anything we didn't.
Speaker 2 (51:35):
Get to that was that's a that was a perfect ending.
Speaker 1 (51:38):
That is going to do it for us. Here on
another episode of the movie Review Rewind podcast. As a reminder,
check out all of our work at Nashville Movie Dispatch
dot substack dot com. Subscribe to Nashville Movie Dispatch wherever
you take in your podcast. For Brett and for Brandon,
I'm stony and until next time, you stay classy moviegoers,
Flipping back the calendar to highlight Yesteryear's finus while exploring
the vast archives in cinema history. This is the Movie
Review Rewind Podcast on Nashville Movie Dispatch. Welcome back for
(00:33):
another episode of the movie Review Rewind podcast right here
on Nashville Movie Dispatch. I'm your host for the show
that e I see at Sobros Network, Big Natural Stony Keeley.
You can follow me on Twitter at Stony Keeley, collectively
at Sobros Network on all major social media platforms, and
of course all of our work is up at Nashville
(00:54):
Movie Dispatch dot substack dot com. Joined as usual by
my coo on the movie Review Rewine podcast. He is
a board member of the Music City Film Critics Association.
He is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association.
He is our resident film critic here on Nashville Movie Dispatch.
Mister big shot himself Brandon Vick Brandon, how are you
(01:18):
doing on this this fine late summer day as the
humidity of August is really setting in here in Middle Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Uh, not too bad. Yeah, I just got back from Pensacola, Florida.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Really beautiful down there?
Speaker 1 (01:34):
What took you down there? Business or pleasure?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Well, a little bit of both. I sell shark teeth
and they are just well yeah, well the sharks themselves
are just I mean, they are just biting at the
chance to get some flesh. And so it's just the
(01:58):
so what perfect time?
Speaker 1 (02:00):
So how do you capitalize on their insatiable hunger for
human flesh?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Just I stand, I stand at a safe distance and
just throw a wrench at their mouths and try to
knock teeth out.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
So they're coming at you to eat your flesh. You
knock their teeth up.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
I'm recovered in bloody chickens, to try and get them
to come to me, okay, and not mess with those
other humans.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
And then just because you want the teeth, knock that.
That's like some insane it's like the eye coordination. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Well, it's like that fair game where you throw the
ball and hit those troll things and they fall down.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Like whack a mole.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
No, no, maybe they're clowns. I don't know what they are.
Clearly I haven't been to a fair in a little
day either.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
You throw the ball, the little puppet falls over.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yeah, yeah, that's what it was kind of like but
it's their teeth and it's a wrench.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Okay, what's your what's your what's your procurement rate on
the you just got like the shark lunges at you.
You've got one shot to get one tooth or you
like wrestling?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Well, I mean at times, I mean I'm there for
a week, okay, So but yeah, man, I got uh,
I got five.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
The whole week. Yeah, well what are you what are
you turning around and selling those for? That makes this
worth all the fft?
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Oh shit, I got like thirty five bucks for like
three of them.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Okay, So and you get to enjoy the wonderful beaches
of Pensacola exactly. Yeah, I'm glad you're doing well. Whew. Yeah. Uh,
we've got our buddy, our buddy Brett here back for
a month after our Shallow Howe review, we are we
(03:45):
are digging into nineteen eighty six. Is Ferris Buehler's day off, Brett,
this was actually your idea to do this podcast. You're
you're you're the one that brought this film up. Was
there a particular reason why you wanted to to relive
this one?
Speaker 3 (04:02):
You know, this is a movie that it's I had
seen several times. I feel like it's a movie growing
up that was kind of just in the atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Is one of those films.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Yeah, Yeah, And you know, i'd see bits and pieces
of it on TV. I had seen the whole thing
through probably two or three times. But this for this
podcast was really probably the first time I really sat
down and gave it my full attention.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Like just thinking about it more critically than just ye
having it on in the background kind of deal.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Yeah, It's one of those movies that's almost you know,
there's certain movies growing up that are kind of it's
like this has always existed since the Dawn of Times,
and Paris Bueller is one of those movies.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
For me, I would agree with that. Brandon, was this
your first time watching it for this show?
Speaker 2 (04:48):
No, But I it was sort of what Brett was saying,
like I knew scenes, so you kind of felt like
you've seen it. But I did watch it, and I
want to think, and I could be making this up,
but I want to think my wife had seen it,
and so I watched it like within the past ten years.
(05:09):
I sat down watched it for the first time all
the way through, and then I mean doing this one.
So I mean I probably have only watched it maybe
two or three times, like in total.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
This this feels like, I mean, it's got to be
like one of the most universally beloved movies of our
lifetime anyway. I mean, it's like highly quotable. You got
the humor, it's a little nostalgic. It does kind of
feel like a good time capsule of the nineteen eighties.
Speaks to the rebellious spirit of our teenage years, the
(05:44):
yearning for freedom and independence, the questioning of structure and authority. Yes,
absolutely it's relatable, but I think it is. It's a
fun little plot and it's a pretty well, pretty well
written characters. What do you think the the secret sauces
for this film? And we'll start with you, Brett. The
(06:06):
secret sauce for this film? Why it has stood the
test of time and been so popular and been such
a lovable movie throughout all these all these years.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
I think, to some deary it's that it's got that
John Hughes magic touch. Yeah, that so many of his
movies do that. It's you know, when you we've talked
about this with other movies, when you look at the
cast and you look specifically at Matthew Broderick outside of
this movie, there's nothing that tells me, Yeah, put Matthew
(06:41):
Broderick in that role, you know, for the rest of
his career.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
I agree, yeah, And.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
But this is what people know him as.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, especially of a certain age. I
think I think, and maybe I'm wrong, but I think
he won a Tony before he did the movie, Like
I think he was a Nightmare. I'm sure we look
at but I feel like he was in nineteen late seventies,
he actually won a Tony for something. But I think
(07:12):
this is I think you're right. I think it's basically
what he's known for that in Godzilla two thousand, of course. Yes,
and but honestly, I think you either know him as
kind of like the young kid that was in the
movies or the Tony Award winning stage act. Like I
don't know if there's really an in between. It's funny
(07:33):
to me to see that of him play that kind
of character because I like, for me, I think of
like the cable guy, like I think of him in
those kind of roles where he wasn't you know, mister cool.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
He's the straight man at Yeah, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
And he plays it really well, and even like I
think he was great and like only Murders in the Building,
which I think was nominated for an Emmy on that.
But but it is kind of like funny to see
him be that like.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
This.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
I probably shouldn't compare him to this, but it's kind
of like, you know, maybe he was kind of like
the Timothy Schallome of his day. He's young and cool
and he's playing this rebellious character and that's what he'd
be known for well, for the rest of his life
for a generation. But you know, you're talking about where
it's quotable and stuff, and I think sometimes imagery like
him and the sunglasses is instant, and part of it
(08:28):
is because it's on the cover as well. And the car.
I think the car is like one of the first
things people think of and you're talking about I was
gonna have the same answer. It's that John Hughes golden
you know, anything he touches turns of gold kind of thing.
And but there's just that spirit and energy in what
(08:50):
you were saying, stony of like the rebellion, but also
like and I think you can watch it as if
you could be Bueller's age, or you could be kind
of like the age we are now and there is
still kind of that. This is kind of it won't
get any more freer than this, because adulthood is coming,
(09:13):
and whether you know it or not, these days are numbered.
Even if and I think we'll get into this if
you're a shithead, yes it will. It's coming, and I
think we all, you know, have kind of experienced, especially
in high school and college, I think is probably what
it's mostly. You know, we kind of associate that time with.
(09:35):
But yeah, I mean it's just it's nostalgia, but it's
very much of like a the bygone era of not
just filmmaking, but the characters you're watching and the like
you said the day that as the day kind of
unfolds for him.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
He did win a Tony for Best Featured Actor in
a Play in nineteen eighty three for Brighton Beach Memoirs.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Okay, so before he got it, Okay, I remember thinking
he had done something, not that anybody would have recognized
him for it, but I just that kind of could
put your name up there when you you know, especially
I mean he won that what three years before Buehler
came out, So yeah, he's pretty damn young.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
I I did not realize he was in Manchester by
the Sea.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
I didn't either, and I don't know what he played,
but I saw that and I forgot he played Jeffrey.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
There's a lot of stuff in his filmography that I'm
just not not familiar with. But I will say I
loved him showing up in twenty twenty Three's No Hard Feelings.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Yes, I love that. And who was the wife she
was famous to? Yeah, I thought they were both. I
thought they were both funny, especially when he had when
he has that awkward conversation, it's so silly. But yeah,
I always think of The Cable I, Inspector, Gadget. I guess, Yeah,
(11:06):
those are good movies. I just mean like that. I
know I did like The Cable Guy. I don't want to.
I don't want I don't want to be misquoted here.
I do think The Cable Guy is A is a
funny movie.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
He was a voice in B movie was Deck the Halls? Well,
the producers, the Stepford Wives, Stepford Wives, Inspector, Oh, Election,
how could we forget?
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Okay, that's what I should have think of first.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Yeah, it is it is absolutely Yeah that the cable guy.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
But it's still not this role. It's more in Election.
It's more that.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Yeah, like yeah, no, no, yeah, that's he He kind
of typecast himself as he got older to be on
in in kind of the mood and the mannerisms and
his delivery.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
And I think that's some of the the John Hughes
magic that it's just the movie all works, the script
all works, and the cast. Though you know, looking at
the full picture of his career, you might not say,
if we were going back to do this and we
just had a clean slate, let's put Matthew Broderick in this. Yeah,
it works great.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
And I mean he's at that I mean he's at
that precise age that I mean he could have all
those feelings while they're filming. And I think as he
got older, I kind of feel like that that's like
election and cable guy. Like I feel like that's probably
(12:40):
more of just who he is, and there's still a
comedy style to that. But this one was like, I mean,
teen angst like. But I do think there's probably some
other movies around the eighties and stuff that he did
that I'm sure he probably had that kind of reputation
and then one day, you know, it's like, oh, okay,
(13:01):
you know, I'm not a kid anymore.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
So, well, you guys both mentioned John Hughes. He actually
in reference to the casting of Matthew Broderick. He was
in mind when Hughes wrote the script, calling Broderick clever
and charming, talking about his unique qualifications to pull.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
This Carrick He's always kind of carried that.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Yeah, that's an interesting point because though I'm the one
that keeps saying this doesn't really fit what he does
the rest of his career, that style of comedy is
what he does, you know, kind of these just like
kind of quirky one liners and that kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Yeah, so there's a lot of expression in his face
that he'll do that I think is he's always done
like it's it's always been Matthew Broderick, no matter how
you know, whatever role or whatever age.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
So that said, there were other actors considered for the
role of Ferris Bueller, and I'm.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Curious, Bob Thornton, I'm curious to hear what you.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Guys think of Toby Jones these names if it would
have been the same movie. Again, think about the times
Michael J.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Fox. Yeah, I probably that's who I was gonna say.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Just because Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Yeah, Tom Cruise.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
In the eighties. Yeah, okay, that's risky business, Tom Cruise.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
George Clooney, I don't know what he's doing. I think
in eighty six.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
I know he had a mullet on Roseanne, but I
don't even know what year that was. That was nineties,
early nineties, probably Johnny Depp. Okay, that's elm Street twenty
one Jump Street.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Jim Carrey, which feels like a totally different movie. Yeah,
and then of course it is the late eighties. John Cusack.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Oh, say, like Corey Fillman, m that John Cusack. I
can kind of maybe get behind.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
I feel like that John Cusack has the same kind
of energy as Matthew.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Brobers say anything kind of deal and.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Like the Yeah I could, I could see it with
like the facial expression some of the like yeah, I
don't want to say dry delivery, but the straight laced
kind of delivery of matter of factness.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know if I really
see Michael J. Fox I say that or John Cusack.
I'm not the other ones, honestly, and I Jim Carrey
is the one that really just kind of that feels weird,
that doesn't seem right, no matter, I don't care how
old he is.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
The idea of John Cusack's interesting because I was just
looking up to make sure I had this right. This
was before say anything, So it feels like he could
have done it. But then would say anything have been
a thing because it feels like that would have been
too too close.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Yeah, yeah, that's true. I don't I don't think. I
don't see him doing both. I just I don't think
Matthew Broderick could be and say anything. So again one
of those where it all works out. But I could
see Michael J. Fox because he is in a way
that's kind of like the Back to the Future character,
(16:14):
sort of like there's rebellious in a way. I mean obvious,
there's differences, obviously, but I could see him basically put
on like basically put on Matthew Brodrick's clothing, like I
think you got a pretty good I mean.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
I think he could do it.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
I wonder if it would be as I wonder if
it would be as iconic as it is because it's
such a solo moment for Matthew Broderick that if Michael J.
Fox did it, I think he could have pulled it off.
But you've also got that lump together with Back to
the Future, it would have other things, another.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Series of those roles like that, this is what he does,
and it really stands alone because of Matthew Broderick. Well,
it was all moot anyway, because John Hughes wrote the
script with Matthew Brodrick in mind, and he got his guys. Yeah,
So talking a little bit about more about Hughes wrote
this script in a week. In a week, Ferris Bueller's
(17:18):
Day Off was done. Editor Paul Hirsch on the film
was quoted as saying, like having the story as sort
of episodic, taking place in one day, meant the characters
were wearing the same clothes. I suspect that Hughes writes
his scripts with few, if any, costume changes, just so
(17:39):
he can have that kind of freedom while editing. When
this thing was originally shot, it was two hours and
forty six minutes. If I'm not missy, it was almost
three hours. And the approach was to cut stuff out
after its editing instead of rewriting and reshe shooting stuff
(18:01):
on down the road, and I think that's where we
see movies sometimes get into a little bit of troubles,
Like it almost feels like a stigma when you read
a report saying, well, this movie is undergoing reshoots or
this thing has been rewritten, and now you know it's
their back doing stuff for it again. This almost feels
(18:24):
like a much safer approach to filmmaking because you know
it's safe, you have the characters in the same close.
But it's like the foresight to do that, knowing, let's
just make what we have in the script and then
will trim out whatever we need to, but it's still
a coherent story that doesn't feel like things are getting messy.
(18:48):
And I just I thought that was such a such
an interesting takeaway from this film because it is something
that I think does kind of feel like one episode
of a show almost to a certain extent, and that
it is safer. You're not sacrificing any sort of quality
(19:10):
by just cutting things out that way.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
I'm curious to know if that was unique to this
film or if that was his process more often than not.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Yeah, I don't know. It's just the editor on this
film said, I suspect that he writes his scripts with few,
if any costume changes.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
So well, I mean you have to think, I mean,
the breakfast Club.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Is sort of all it's self contained.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Yep, I don't know, sixteen candles, that's not the case.
But when he said that, I immediately thought of breakfast
Club because you you basically, like you said, it's kind
of just one location and it's kind of throughout the day.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
I mean, well, and it's easy to see, like you're saying, Sony,
how it comes out in a better end result because
it's you're whittling down from a complete product rather than
this Frankenstein's Monster disjointed. Adding I will.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Say, to still make that coherent is still a risk
because if you're not gonna go back and get anything,
then you've got to make damn sure you got all
of it, and then whatever you're gonna take out can't affect,
you know, the beats of each you know, scene and
(20:26):
the way the storytelling goes. But that is pretty clever
because it's not, like, I guess, in a way, it's
not like you couldn't use those shots or scenes because
of like you know, well, you know, you know, he
was well, he was wearing a jacket over there, and
then if he wasn't, then well, you know, he wore
the blue like at least you're kind of like, oh, okay,
(20:48):
I mean it's not like you. I'm sure there's some
things that you have to keep with continuity, but I mean,
just you know, you can do something in a day
and play them basically in the same stuff. I think
you can also get away with a lot more So,
even if they did trim it up, some stuff's probably
not as noticeable because everything, I mean, it's in a day,
so it looks like, you know, the changes they made
(21:10):
I don't think would have stuck out because of the
way that they shot it. But good for him. That's smart.
Did it in a week and then shot everything and
then made that so so good for him. Yeah, and
it's an hour and thirty something minutes, right, yeah, pretty short.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
From what I read, it was mostly like extraneous scenes
from like cutting bits out of specific shots like the
scene in the museum. There was a lot that was
cut out of that because it didn't test well and
test screenings, but not like critical to the plot kind
(21:46):
of stuff. Is just almost like cutting out the thing,
the good stuff, and getting it to a real.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Tight hour and a half that just did some trimming.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Yeah, it just that to me was just like, that's
a level of attention to detail that I don't feel like.
I don't know, you don't, I don't. I haven't heard
about that often when we discussed these films and how
they're made.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
And I guess I am curious if he kind of
always sort of tried to do that or you know,
I mean like everything. Did he get that from someone
else that was making movies thirty years before him?
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (22:22):
But he's smart. It's smart. Uh.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
He called the film his love letter to the city
of Chicago, and that makes sense. I kind of caught
that watching this for the first time.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Was like they're playing tourists.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Yeah, man, and then like the shots of Chicago, they're
kind of broad, sweeping shots of the city.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
There's definitely an enchantment about as you kind of go along.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
And I think, you know, that is a good quality
for a film to have, where the setting is a
sort of character in its own right.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Oh yeah, How do.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
You guys feel that the the location enhanced the film
and Hughes's approach to making sure people knew that was Chicago.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Oh, I mean I think I mean one I think
is very effective. And two, like I said, I think
it is kind of enchanting. If you're in love with
with a city that you know you're from and grew
up in, you want to kind of show it off
a bit. Yeah, So what better thing than to have
them basically take you to the best spots and like
they go to a Cubs get I mean, they're doing
(23:28):
everything that you know we've done when you go to Chicago.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
Yeah, in some of those iconic moments, the parade scene,
you know is in downtown Chicago, so you can't separate
those in your mind, the location and the action that's
taking place.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Yeah. Absolutely. Another big thing is the fourth wall breaking
in this film. Several times that Ferris looks directly into
the character excuse me, it looks directly into the camera
and talks to us. There's a spoof of this scene
in one of the Deadpool movies too. I can't remember.
(24:02):
It's like a post credit scene or something, but it's
kind of an homage to like all the fourth wall
breaking in Deadpools, Like, hey, this was this is Ferris
Bueller basically, oh yeah, yeah, what do you guys think
about that? Effective way to kind of provide perspective, like
it does kind of allow us to see the events
(24:26):
unfolding in this film through the lens that Faris sees
them up. Or is this something that kind of distracts
you guys and takes you out of the story a
little bit.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
It's one of those things that you know, watching the
movie now at this point is such a common thing
to be done in films, but have you know, trying
to kind of transport yourself to that being a very
uncommon and a new way of storytelling. I think that's
what I appreciate most about it. It kind of setting
(24:57):
the table even like what you're talking about with dead Poo, Well,
like we are used to that kind of thing happening
in a TV show or a movie now, it would
have been not been so common then at all. And
so I think it's definitely you know, it takes you
out of the movie, but in a purposeful and effective
way to kind of you're out of the scene, but
(25:21):
you're still in the movie because you're with the character
who's telling the scene.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
So yeah, it's a tonal thing for me. It's like,
if you know, this isn't meant to be some like
drama where you're hanging on every word and every little
facial expression means something like you're doing more of the
acting through that sort of visual medium. It's Ferris Bueller's
day off, so go nuts with it, have fun. As
(25:46):
far as I'm concerned.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
It gives the audience a level of buy in of
I'm a part of this. He's talking to me, Yeah, sure,
and I get to be a part of this, and
I think that adds to the enjoyment of the moment.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Well, that's what I was gonna say, is that I
feel like from the beginning, that's your invite because you're
about to go along on this journey with him and
the people he drags into it, and you're kind of
along for the ride. So it's very effective. And like
you said, it can't always be used, just like it
(26:20):
can't always be used now, but it works and you
I mean, he is basically your tour guide, and he's
also your narrator. I mean, he it just makes sense
that you're he's basically telling you what's going on.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
Now.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
You don't have to agree with everything that's happening, but
he's the one that you're gonna get your whatever information
you get, you're gonna get it from him first, And yeah,
I think it's just a I think it's a nice
invite to the kind of movie that Ferris Bueler is.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
So let's talk about some of the themes of the film,
because I do think this is it's kind of of
a quintessential, like rebellious teen spirit kind of movie. But
I do think it also kind of touches on like
the the value and the importance of, like, especially at
that age, not losing yourself to conformity for the sake
(27:19):
of conformity. Ferris Bueller very much values the freedom of choice,
the independence of oneself, that sort of thing. And I
think there is you know, and to be such a
silly movie, I think there is a nice little message
about independence and coming of age and growing into your
(27:43):
own kind of kind of theme in this film that
that really has some heart added to the to the story.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Yeah, I I felt like it was like even though
like I mean, he was popular, because the whole thing
was that his sister was basically jealous of him, which
it plays against the dynamic of brother and sister, and
you know, it kind of seems like she's always kind
(28:13):
of you know, oh, leave him alone. And you know,
I mean, listen, he's he's a cunning guy. Like he's
outsmarted basically everyone throughout most of the day, which clearly
he didn't learn just today that when we were on.
So you know, he's popular. He kind of has it
figured out. But at the same time, and I don't
really know, like I don't really know if John Hughes
(28:34):
kind of set out for this, but like you kind
of know that it won't last forever, like it will
catch up with him like this it works now, but
in the real world it it won't, like you know
it like and I don't know if it's just because
you you know, I'm watching out the age I am
now or what, but it is, but it it just
(28:55):
it kind of goes back to the basic of this is.
I mean, this is you know, youth revolt, and it's
also about kind of enjoying these days because you'll blink
and they're gone, or you know, even like the time
where like with his sister and stuff like that, and
what high school is or with the you know, his
(29:16):
high school sweetheart or his best friend, and I mean
it's all kind of there. I geld like Alan Ruck's
character because I feel like he's the one that's like
kind of his fit, able to kind of break through
a bit and more like it not wants to be
Ferris Bueller, but he also understands kind of what his
friend represents. And it's not that everybody can do it,
(29:39):
but he I felt like his character kind of in
his own way kind of breaks through. And of course
a lot of it is built around the the car.
So but I liked it. I I didn't even realize,
like I knew she looked familiar, and I looked it
up while I was watching it again, but I realized that, like,
you know, his sister's Jennifer Graves, you know, dirty dancing, soh.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Yeah, I think that dynamic you're pointing to shines through
in those relational pieces he and his sister. You know,
there's the whole thing throughout that Brandon mentioned of she's
just trying. She just wants justice. Basically, she wants him
to finally get his But at the end of the movie,
there's this moment where they kind of recognize each other
(30:27):
and what the other one is doing for them, and
they kind of accept each other as they are, and
kind of there's this unspoken kind of mutual respect for
one another, which I think rings very true to life experiences.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
In a lot of way.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
And I think that also comes through in his relationship
with his girlfriend, that you know, they both have this
idea that they're gonna get married. And again, as people
in their late thirties watching that, we can say they're
probably not getting married.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
But they make it, but they believe it. They leave
it yeah all the way.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Yeah they do.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
Yeah, And I think it is I think it's pretty impressive.
And of course I think this kind of goes with
any of these ones that really kind of just have
made their place in cinema history. Is that you can
you can recognize, and you can relate, and you can
be in your twenties or your thirties or forties or
(31:25):
like you know what. You also in a way you
know what those characters don't know. But you get like
you miss that too, because well, how was it to
be that, like you know, I mean, when you're in
high school and stuff, you know, you don't no, you're
not thinking about bills or you know, healthcare or I mean,
(31:50):
you don't care. Politics mean nothing, The world means nothing
to you.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Well, so one of the finisher thoughts.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
But I also think the movie being in the eighties,
it's also of a bygone era that we'll never get
to experience, like you'll never get the city's not like
that anymore, like it's it's it's such a blast from
the past in so many ways, but it also makes
it so enjoyable because it is a simpler time. Yeah,
(32:21):
that so is at that age it with those with
that kind of tunnel vision, it's always a simpler, simpler
way of life.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
So you mentioned like being able to relate to the story,
Like one of the most famous quotes from the film
is life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and
look around once in a while, you could miss it.
And I think to your point, that's something that still
resonates with me at thirty nine years old, the same
(32:53):
way it did when I was twenty years old. I
think it probably hit the same when I'm however old
I am before I.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Die, do you find I find that that means more
the older.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
You get, Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
And I think because you don't think of and that's
kind of what Ferris Bueller is, You're not like for
him to say that because most time when you're there
you're that's not what you're thinking. There's always like you're
you can't wait to get out of high school or
go on to do this or that and that, and
you know you're in your teens, you're in your twenties.
But that resonates more now, like as you've gotten older
(33:31):
and as you know, you get married you have a
fan like you're like it. It does like it. If
you don't take time, you will wake up and you'll
be you know, old, yeah, and then dead in that order.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
That's what I'm saying, man.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
But yeah, it's funny because they have those guess that line,
And if you go to the movie theater as much
as some of us do, that's one of them. Is
can you get There's the Sandlot one, there's the Beetlejuice one,
and there's the Ferris Bueller one.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
So you mentioned Alan Ruck's performance as Cameron. Yeah, yeah,
Essayist Steve Almond, which Hall of Fame name shout out to.
Steve Almond applauded alan Ruck's performance, even insinuated that he
should have been nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Award
(34:28):
at the Oscars, saying, quote, his performance is what elevates
the film allows it to assume the power of a
modern parable. And I think there is something something that
you said in there talking about his character where he
is sort of like the gravity to this film that
(34:49):
kind of keeps Ferris's character from just being completely off
the chain. I liked Alan Ruck in this It took
me a minute to realize that's Connor Roy out there.
Oh yeah, But I really liked him in this movie,
and I do think he kind of grounds the story
in a way.
Speaker 4 (35:09):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
I don't believe the Oscar stuff, but I agree that
he is kind of the anchor to it all. And
I think it's because he, as even Ferris's best friend,
recognizes this is insane and it's and I mean, it
could be dangerous, and so I kind of feel like,
(35:32):
in a sense, he's kind of what I think a
normal person would probably think of the situation more than like, oh,
the girlfriend is in love and oh they got her
out and you know, but you're right, he does. He
and he reigns Ferris in a bit too, because there's
a point where, depending on the those you surround him with,
(35:55):
the character Ferris Bueller could be too outlandish or unlikable
or just kind of like a goof So, yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
He's kind of a dick. He's kind of a pretentious,
arrogant dick.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
And so and so Cameron really plays an important part
in still making Ferris Bueller seem human and he is
young and dumb.
Speaker 3 (36:24):
So yeah, I think I saw it on letterbox somebody
was talking about this being Cameron's movie, which I think
what you're saying, Stony is an interesting because it's it's
the point you just made Brandon, that Ferris is not
a real person. Cameron is like Cameron has most of us.
(36:44):
Cameron has problems at home. Yeah, Cameron has a life
that he wants to get away from. In a lot
of ways, Cameron doesn't at that age know what he
wants to do next and doesn't have a plan for everything.
And to some degree, like I was thinking about this
earlier with the relational piece, at that age, I mean
we're talking about Ferris is kind of a terrible person
(37:05):
in a lot of ways. Like at that age, oftentimes
your friends are not your friends because they're the best
people in the world to you. They're the people that
are closest in proximity in your neighborhood or whatever. And yeah,
that's just kind of who you spend time with. And
I think Cameron's experience is a very normal one.
Speaker 4 (37:26):
That a lot of people can resonate with.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Yeah, for sure, that's an interesting perspective. I hadn't considered before,
But yeah, there is that. When you're younger, it's you.
You're kind of more friends with who's around you than
picking out sterling characters.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
Well, and I think and I think it kind of
goes back to where like will they be friends thirty
years from now? Yeah, like when you have these choices,
when you have these options, when you see the world
outside of Chicago, Yeah, you know, and that's all. It's
all normal. It is as crazy as the day is it.
(38:05):
It does resonate and it is a it's a slice
of life.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
Yeah, one thing's for sure. Cameron should have beat Ferris
Bueller's ass.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Well, but he might could have towards the end, but
he wasn't. He couldn't have done it at the beginning.
Well that's true, but he should have, but he could have.
Speaker 4 (38:23):
He was sick at the beginning.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2 (38:25):
What about that principle?
Speaker 1 (38:28):
What about him?
Speaker 3 (38:29):
I do think speaking of him, I think some of
the comedy stood up pretty well in this movie, however,
many years later, and I that was a little bit
as a kid. I don't, you know, as a kid,
you don't get a lot of the jokes watching this,
you know, however, in bits and pieces.
Speaker 4 (38:46):
But I actually thought like his.
Speaker 3 (38:48):
Piece and and some of the other just you know,
straight comedy parts of the movie, really slapstick stuff.
Speaker 4 (38:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:56):
Yeah, I like to bring him up because he got
in trouble for child born.
Speaker 4 (39:02):
Isn't because he's the uh, because he's in Beadle Juice,
the dad in Beadle Juice.
Speaker 2 (39:07):
Yeah, And I mean he was in that was just
the eighties because I think he worked with Tim Burton.
I think he's in Edward Scissorhands.
Speaker 4 (39:14):
And this is why he was not in Beetle Juice.
Beetle Juice.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
That's why he died a gruesome death in Bridle Juice.
Piel Juice. I don't. I think he might still be alive,
the real guy, I'm not sure, but yeah, that's why
he wasn't going to come back. What was he sleepy hollow?
Oh yeah, I was trying to think what's another from
because I can see him. Yeah, But and honestly, I
(39:38):
mean that neither here nor there for in nineteen eighty
six and the role we played. But I just it's
really tough to look at some of these actors back
then and then think, like, you know, obviously you you
associate like Alan Ruck and Matthew Brown with them, but
then you have like those kind of people where it's like, man,
(39:59):
how did it like, how did you go from these?
I mean, you know, he was he was a character actor,
as they would say, very recognizable when working with I mean,
pretty good people. But I will never forget Now obviously
he had not been in many movies when when that
news broke. But when I saw that picture, I could
(40:19):
not believe that that was like that dude from Beatle Juice.
It was it was crazy. But I don't know if
he's alive or not anymore?
Speaker 1 (40:27):
Uh, do you guys? Kind of we're dancing around this
this potential topic that I'll get your take on, but.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Yeah, what kind of segue are we getting into?
Speaker 4 (40:39):
Well?
Speaker 1 (40:39):
I was looking I was kind of digging into, like
what are the criticisms of this film, like the people
that didn't enjoy it? What did you not like about it?
And one of the things that people brought up was
like the portrayal of adults in this film is either
like complete morons that are just clueless, have no idea
what's going on, or are just like lame ass robots
(41:03):
that are like they're out to get Ferris like the principal,
or like the parents that are just completely oblivious to
what's going on here. I don't really know what the
heart of this criticism is. Is like somebody old probably
wrote it. It was like, don't make fun of us old people,
Like we're not all stiffs, like like this movie makes
(41:25):
them makes us out to be. But I do think
it's interesting to look back at it and think, like
a lot of this is from Ferris's perspective, so that
probably is how most adults look to a guy, a
kid like Ferris Bueler. So tonally speaking, I feel like
it's actually a strength of the film, kind of a
(41:48):
clever bit of writing there.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
That that was kind of my thought too, is like
that's how they see adults, Like, that's.
Speaker 1 (41:58):
What is the unintended content sequence of this? Do you
think teenagers are watching this and thinking all adults suck?
Speaker 3 (42:06):
I mean teenagers are probably thinking that anything.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
Yeah, isn't that the isn't that really kind of.
Speaker 1 (42:11):
The I'm just saying, I don't I don't quite get
this criticism. I get what they're trying to say, but
I don't get why that hurts the film.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
I was gonna say, yeah again, you who, who are you?
Who's talking to you? Who are you following? Who's I mean,
it's it's the teens, So you're not they're not going
to paint I mean, you know, I mean I feel
like that's like in like saving Private Ryan, like well,
why why didn't you? Why are all those Nazis bad? Well?
(42:42):
Who were fighting? I mean, you know, it's just the
adults are the enemies in this movie. That's that. I've
thought that was pretty clear.
Speaker 1 (42:51):
Yeah, there's also some stuff out there. Some people got
really serious with it, started talking about Reagan era economics
and the indulgence of capitalism, striving for you know, the Ferrari.
Speaker 4 (43:03):
That was on my mind a lot as I watched.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
The Fine dining and that sort of stuff, which we
don't have to get into, but you know, I can
at least see that, like if you're if you're painting
a picture for a younger impressionable audience, maybe maybe don't
teach them to value those sorts of things. But again,
like it's it's Ferris Bueller's day off, so I don't
I don't take much issue with it. Fairis Bueller obviously
(43:31):
becomes a pop culture icon throughout the years. One of
the most quotable movies we've talked about that was actually
mentioned in Barbara Bush, First Lady Barbara Bush's commencement address
at Wellesley College back in nineteen ninety. She said, quote,
find the joy in life, because, as Ferris Bueller said
(43:52):
on his day off, life moves pretty fast. If you
don't stop and look around once in a while, you
could miss it. Responding to the audience's enthusiastic applause, she added,
I'm not going to tell George you clapped more for
Ferris Bueller than you clapped for him.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
WHOA.
Speaker 1 (44:12):
So those are my notes on Fairis Bueller's They they.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
Clapped more for Ferris than they did for hw Nice.
Speaker 1 (44:19):
Yeah, so I thought that was a nice little touch,
but a testament to just the sprawling nature of this movie,
how many people it touched, how ingrained in the conscious
of Americana. It became.
Speaker 2 (44:37):
I don't really want to end it on this, but.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
Well I've got one more.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
Oh okay, good, Yeah, we were good. Jeffrey Jones is
his name, Yeah, the principal and it was about child
pornography and explicit photos and a minor. However, he continued
to work up until twenty nineteen. He was in the
Deadwood movie.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
Are you kidding Me?
Speaker 2 (45:02):
So he's actually hasn't done anything. But it wasn't It
hasn't been as long as I thought it was because
he was in animated stuff. He was in this Jude
Long Nicole Kimman movie like I and it was like
twenty fourteen, twenty eighteen, Deadwood Moves twenty nineteen, and I
think all this happened in like early two thousands.
Speaker 4 (45:21):
Damn.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
So that's crazy. And like I just read, we're like
two hundred and fifty hours of community service because he
failed to update the sex Offenders registry. But the fact
that he was like still make a movie that.
Speaker 1 (45:35):
Seems like a bit of an oversight.
Speaker 2 (45:37):
Guess he didn't get canceled after all. Yeah, man, anyway,
but that's pretty wild. But uh, what's your question?
Speaker 1 (45:45):
So I would like to ask you, gentlemen, if you
had the perfect day off, what would it be?
Speaker 2 (45:52):
God I mean, I'm going to sleep in. Yeah, I'm
gonna have I'm gonna sleep until eight.
Speaker 1 (46:02):
I'm gonna have a big breakfast. I'm gonna enjoy my
cup of coffee. I think i'd like to have waffle
house while I Oh, yeah, that sounds nice.
Speaker 2 (46:10):
I never have it. My wife hates it.
Speaker 1 (46:12):
I will take a book to the waffle house, maybe
maybe the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens, and
I will read enjoy a little bit of solitude. And
then maybe I'm gonna go play some disc golf, and
then I will go to a used bookstore. And then
(46:34):
I'll finish the day at a brewery, trying multiple beers
until I have to call my wife to come pick
me up.
Speaker 2 (46:42):
I have a question. Sorry to get difficult. Am I
a diabetic in this day?
Speaker 1 (46:48):
Perfect? No, you don't have to be okay, I would.
Speaker 2 (46:52):
Like two Crispy cream doughnuts, one that is chocolate cream
field sleep until eight. It's just enough time a double
feature double.
Speaker 1 (47:06):
Hey, there we go.
Speaker 2 (47:07):
Okay, sometimes when I do have the day off, that's
what I'm That's what I do. I mean, that's about it.
I mean, let's be honest. I'm you know, I can't
have a day without my wife and sons, So I mean,
they've got to be there eventually. I love the zoo.
Let's put the zoo in there. Double feature a zoo,
So zoo's probably afternoon. I'm a pizza guy, so I
(47:33):
would like a pizza, A stuff crust pizza. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
What do you think our teenage versions of us would
hear or what would think if they hurt us? Describing
the perfect day.
Speaker 4 (47:47):
We want to fight? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (47:49):
Probably, yeah, probably.
Speaker 2 (47:51):
Probably we would have sounded like idiots?
Speaker 4 (47:54):
Who is nice little Saturday?
Speaker 2 (47:56):
I don't know I'm say I don't you know what
I mean. Maybe besides like just finding out that I
was married and have it and I'm a dad. But
double feature wouldn't have been That wouldn't have sounded crazy.
Pizza stuff CRUs wouldn't have sounded crazy. For lunch, I
would have had a family size of spicier Nacho Doritos
and cold red Mountain dew. I mean, oh man, there's
really not a whole I probably wouldn't been too shot. Yeah,
(48:19):
Krispy Kream, don't I mean for the most probably been like, oh,
you know, I didn't change that much. But but then
what would happen is is I'm surprised because I talk
about that day and then I find out that I
actually am a diabetic.
Speaker 5 (48:35):
You go to being and that's why you Yeah, you
go back to being diabetic the next day with everything
before still right.
Speaker 2 (48:45):
So my perfect day leads to me being a wheelchair
because I.
Speaker 1 (48:48):
Don't love that they have to they have to cut
your feet off a day.
Speaker 3 (48:54):
What would you what would your earlier self have thought of,
Jeffrey Jones, You.
Speaker 2 (49:04):
Don't have to Yeah, I was gonna say, I mean
I probably would have. I would have felt, well, I
don't know because this all happened. I guess around when
we graduated high school from my research, but I'm sure
I would have made some real cool jokes probably yeah
(49:27):
that no one could record. Yeah yeah, so yeah, double feet.
I mean, just some of the stuff I like, but
that I either don't do that often or something like that.
I mean, I don't need anything crazy, because I feel
like if you kind of do the whole like, well,
I'll fly here and i'll go here and then i'll
visit this guy, that's not a day like that's that's ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (49:49):
Yeah, I might. I might go to Gallinburg.
Speaker 2 (49:51):
I also like to sleep in my own bed. Yeah,
I mean, you know, don't I don't want my day
to be in a hotel.
Speaker 1 (49:56):
Just gonna I'm gonna take my MacBook. I'm gonna post
up at a brewery, a winery. I'm gonna write.
Speaker 2 (50:00):
So also does the rest of the world, I mean,
in this day, does the rest of the world Like Americans?
I don't know. I could be going into hostile environment,
that's true. So just I'm just mosey around.
Speaker 3 (50:11):
Are there tariffs?
Speaker 2 (50:15):
Yeah, because that'll screw you up. But remember the next
day your life starts again, so be careful.
Speaker 1 (50:23):
Yeah, what's your perfect day? Brett?
Speaker 3 (50:25):
You know, I feel like I give a I'm giving
a boring answer on this. But I might stay at home.
I mean yeah, I might not. I I have done
what Brandon said. If I know, like my wife and
kids are gonna be gone, I will buy tickets to
multiple movies in row and try to puzzle piece it
together to walk out of one and walk into another.
Speaker 2 (50:49):
And what am I gonna do for lunch that is enjoyable?
Speaker 4 (50:52):
I do like that.
Speaker 3 (50:53):
I would eat some Mexican food in there somewhere.
Speaker 2 (50:56):
And then second, your second movie has to get out
before the traffic. You know, these things in perfect.
Speaker 4 (51:04):
Were elder millennials still.
Speaker 2 (51:07):
Matter in my day off, because if I got to
sit in traffic for an hour on my perfect day
and pissed.
Speaker 1 (51:13):
What have we become? What have we become?
Speaker 2 (51:16):
I think we sound pretty normal, approaching forty quickly. Yeah,
in case people can't tell, In case.
Speaker 1 (51:23):
People think we're fifty.
Speaker 3 (51:24):
As I've heard someone say, life moves pretty fast.
Speaker 2 (51:27):
Yeah, hell yeah it does.
Speaker 1 (51:29):
It's a fantastic note to to end on. That is
going to do it for us. Unless you guys have
any parting thoughts anything we didn't.
Speaker 2 (51:35):
Get to that was that's a that was a perfect ending.
Speaker 1 (51:38):
That is going to do it for us. Here on
another episode of the movie Review Rewind podcast. As a reminder,
check out all of our work at Nashville Movie Dispatch
dot substack dot com. Subscribe to Nashville Movie Dispatch wherever
you take in your podcast. For Brett and for Brandon,
I'm stony and until next time, you stay classy moviegoers,
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