John Hughes (1950-2009)
Aug 6th, 2009
Possibly the filmmaker who personifies the 1980s more than any other, writer / director John Hughes has died of a heart attack at age 59 (via Variety). Being too young at the time to appreciate the seminal big hits that made his name, established his brand (Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink), I only watched them later and don’t feel a true connection. Part of their iconic quality is their inseparability from the youth culture and mindset of the time, though we’ve seen them redressed again and again for subsequent generations. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) is damn close to timeless though. Quick, name a more a rewatchable movie.
Two late-80s Hughes films were a sudden but deliberate attempt toward more adult territory, perhaps an acknowledgement that one can’t hope to stay teen-relevant for very long. Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987) and Uncle Buck (1989) both starred the late John Candy and added new dimension and thrust to the themes of insecurity and social awkwardness he’d always focused on. The collaboration produced the most resonant work of both men’s careers. Candy was larger-than-life funny and tragic, always willing to use his gift for physical comedy to be the hilarious object of ridicule. The neat trick, however, is that somewhere along the way we’re invited inside his plight. We begin to see our own faults and unease in his, and it makes for one of the most endearing annoying characters of all time. In PT&A‘s case, the buddy movie formula becomes something more emotionally rich than is usually attempted, let alone grasped. It’d be easy to credit the feat to Candy’s talent, but the fact is that he never struck the balance half as well under any other writer / director.
Hughes next had a massive hit by penning Home Alone, and that must have made him happy to be a kiddie movie writer for the rest of his career. Or maybe it was that another essential quality of his work was underlying sweetness, and as soon as a cynicism backlash took over in the ’90s, he found no place for his heart-on-sleeve sensibility outside of the family market. People smile when they think about John Hughes movies, they don’t smirk. But it’s a shame that he couldn’t return to that late ’80s path at some point. He’d long since withdrawn from Hollywood and hadn’t directed or written anything new for more than a decade. But as the Variety story states, he is survived by his wife of 39 years, two sons and four grandchildren. By all accounts he was a fine, stand-up guy in his personal life, and 59 is obviously way too soon for his friends and family.
RIP
Man, I was just watching Pretty in Pink the other day on TV (it’s so silly, but it’s strangely rewatchable and somehow holds my attention every time). Ferris Bueller’s Day Off might be my favorite comedy. RIP.
Few filmmakers before or since have had the pop culture influence he did. Some of the movies have fared better with age than others, but Bueller, Planes Trains, and Sixteen Candles are still funny. His are populist classics, flawed but quite specific in vision for all their wide appeal.
I love and am used to keeping a distance with those changed things.Only in this Abercrombie and Fitch Outlet way can I know what will not be abandoned by time. Forexample, when you love someone, changes are all around. Then I stepbackward and watching it silently, then I see the true feelings.
I just recently saw The Expendables. It was a pretty great movie compared to the garbage that’s usually out these days!! I’m happy I saw it online. It’s a lot more convenient.
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