SAVAGE CINEMA REVISITS: "SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL" (1987)

A John Hughes Production
"SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL" (1987)
Written and Produced by John Hughes
Directed by Howard Deutch

I love the above photo! While the image is not taken from an actual scene and is more promotional, I believe that it fully captures the essence of what I am about to describe to you.

One of my favorite moments from any John Hughes film occurs near the conclusion of his euphoric "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986). It is a very short moment where Ferris (Matthew Broderick) and his girlfriend Sloane Petersen (Mia Sara) are about to bid farewell at the end of their day long high school truancy, downtown Chicago joyride and selfless aid to perpetually depressed friend Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck). The scene is set on Sloane's front lawn with the Spring time sunshine glowing softly over Ferris and Sloane as The Dream Academy's "The Edge Of Forever" plays as underscore. The two declare their love once more and as Ferris races home, Sloane breathlessly sighs to herself, "He's gonna marry me!" The warm romance of that seemingly small moment spoke volumes to my heart when I first saw it so many years ago at the age of 17, near the end of my Junior Year of high school. And I have to say that it still warms me to this day.

When I think about "Some Kind Of Wonderful," Hughes and Director Howard Deutch's second collaboration, the first after their wildly successful "Pretty In Pink" (1986), it feels to me that the lives and aching love triangle of shy, introverted artist Keith Nelson (Eric Stoltz), the beautiful and seemingly unattainable Amanda Jones (Lea Thompson) and the inimitable Watts the Drummer Girl (Mary Stuart Masterson), is essentially a full length, feature length film version of that very wistful, bittersweet moment from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."  As I stated in my introduction, this realization is not one that I fully noticed when I first saw "Some Kind Of Wonderful." It was a realization that arrived to me considerably later as this was the first film from John Hughes that really needed to sink in. It was a film I felt I needed to sit with, ruminate over and ultimately, grow with. "Some Kind Of Wonderful," through its muted tone, subdued manner, emotional urgency and even through its supremely warm, sun-soaked cinematography, was a film that truly captured the entire mood of existing on the cusp of leaving high school (as I was about to do just a few months after the film's initial release) just as Hughes' "Sixteen Candles" (1984) carried that wild, excited energy of high school's earlier years.

John Hughes once spoke of his films existing as stories focused upon "benchmark moments," the point where a person's life is set to make a dramatic change. For me, as I would eventually realize, "Some Kind Of Wonderful" is a film that perhaps illustrates those benchmark moments even more explicitly than Hughes' five other teen films. All of the film's four major characters are Seniors and are all about to exit the high school bubble to enter the next phases of their respective lives with new, crucial lessons they have each learned about themselves regarding friendship, love, jealousy, beauty, self-respect, self-reliance, sexual identity and the pressures of discovering and maintaining a sense of personal individuality and integrity, especially if you exist within a world that doesn't care a whit if you possess those qualities or not.

When the film was released in February 1987, I expected it to receive a large level of critical indifference, which aside from some good reviews, that indifference did indeed occur. What I absolutely did not expect was to see and hear the large sense of dismissal and even downright rejection from Hughes' target teenage audience. Over and over again I heard one classmate and eventual college acquaintance remark that "Some Kind of Wonderful" was the point where John Hughes had completely sold out his audience with an uninspired, unoriginal idea which was nothing more than a retread of "Pretty In Pink" with the gender roles reversed.

I was absolutely stunned to hear those remarks, as they all seemed to be too easy and completely unrepresentative of the movie I had seen and was slowly beginning to love as much as the rest of Hughes' output at that time. I began to defend the film as passionately as I was able and in some ways, here I am, 25 years later, still defending this gem of a movie which I feel is actually even better than "Pretty In Pink." I feel that out of the three films Hughes and Deutch collaborated on (the third being 1988's wildly uneven "The Great Outdoors"), "Some Kind Of Wonderful" represented both men in peak form. It is a lovingly conceived, presented and beautifully acted film filled from one end to the other with great sensitivity and the fullness of respect for its characters as well as its intended audience. I just do not understand how anyone could potentially watch this film and feel that it is nothing more than a disingenuous attempt to cash in on past glories. As vehemently as some viewers rejected the film with the "Pretty In Pink In Reverse" admonition, I reject that notion wholeheartedly and again profess that "Some Kind Of Wonderful" is so much more than what it has been given credit for. In fact, "Some Kind Of Wonderful," especially after 25 years, reflects and elicits a level of sincerity, innocence and cinematic purity that is in extremely rare supply these days. A trait which is even more remarkable considering the film's turbulent genesis and production. In fact, I am surprised the film was even made, let alone turned out as well as it did.

Believe it or not dear readers, "Some Kind Of Wonderful" had its beginnings as a very broad based romantic high school comedy that would potentially star Jon Cryer, who had nearly stolen "Pretty In Pink" out from under all of his co-stars. Hughes had also offered either one of the two female leads to Molly Ringwald, who eventually turned them down as she wanted to move onwards from the "John Hughes Universe." Hughes, who was not intending to direct the project himself, had offered the project to Howard Deutch to direct, but depending upon whom one would ask, Deutch either exited the production on his own terms or was ejected by Hughes, who was not pleased that he was forced to change his original ending of "Pretty In Pink" to the conclusion that has now become iconic and he grudgingly had to agree that Deutch was correct. Hughes soon hired Director Martha Coolidge (1983's "Valley Girl"), who was riding a nice, critical wave after the release of "Real Genius" (1985), in Deutch's place. After hiring both Eric Stoltz and Mary Stuart Masterson, Coolidge then cast Kim Delaney as Amanda Jones and Kyle MacLachlan as Amanda's boyfriend, the cruelly insensitive rich kid Hardy Jenns.

While Coolidge continued to fully set up the film's production, she and Hughes experienced a disconnect with the film's overall direction. While the film's tone changed from the original, antic feeling to the one described as "darker," Hughes still felt that his vision was not being appropriately represented by Coolidge. With a scant amount of time before actual filming was set to commence, Martha Coolidge was abruptly fired from the film, along with Delaney and MacLachlan, and Howard Deutch was re-hired, much to the resentment of the remaining cast who had already bonded with Coolidge. During a table script reading with the bulk of the cast, the scene grew intense as the cast presented their reading in a lifeless tone, perhaps in protest of Coolidge's firing. John Hughes, confused and enraged that his vision was not being treated respectfully, then reportedly picked up his chair and hurled it across the room to which Eric Stoltz, confused and enraged by Coolidge's firing, responded by picking up his own chair and hurled it across the room. Hughes and Stoltz began to have an extremely heated argument which Hughes' wife, Nancy mediated and eventually found Hughes, Stoltz and Deutch calmer and agreeing to work together as best as possible for the betterment of the film.

As Deutch re-took the directorial reins, the tone of the film changed once more from "dark" to the one associated with the final version. He re-cast the parts vacated by MacLachlan and Delaney with Craig Sheffer and Lea Thompson, who had originally turned the role of Amanda Jones down but completely reconsidered when Stoltz, a friend, asked her to join the project and showed her the completely re-written script that revamped and deepened the character of Amanda Jones. And to think all of that was just the pre-production!

The filming of "Some Kind Of Wonderful" was no less stressful. Aside from long, intense days and nights of shooting, Deutch and Stoltz clashed often. This friction was mostly due to Stoltz's "method actor" tendencies (and maybe even some residual resentment from Coolidge's firing) combined with Deutch's almost obsessive process of filming seemingly endless takes. Throughout the production, the tension was consistently smoothed over by Masterson and Thompson.      

Yet, despite all of these roadblocks and potholes, what is clear from all of the interviews I have read over the years plus the accounts detailed in Author Susannah Gora's excellent book, You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried, is the utmost seriousness and professionalism everyone involved brought to "Some Kind Of Wonderful." No one was trying to just get rich from this film. No one seemed to be utilizing this experience as an impersonal stepping stone. The people associated with this project seemed to truly care about the work they were doing together plus the relationships they had with each other. Stoltz and Thompson were already friends and they each desired to see the other succeed. Stoltz also took actress Maddie Corman, who portrays his sharp tongued younger sister under his wing. Deutch clearly had a crush on the then unavailable Thompson (they have since married and remain together to this day). And the entire cast could easily see the genuine affection held between Howard Deutch and John Hughes, whose mutual respect for each other and strong conviction in the material made for a powerful guiding force for the project.

But, what of the finished film itself? After opening triumphantly with a beautifully conceived and edited fanfare of a sequence set to Propaganda's percussive track "Abuse," "Some Kind Of Wonderful" tells the story of Keith Nelson, an introverted and outcast high school Senior, artist, and afterschool gas station attendant and mechanic. Keith is the oldest child of three in a working class family featuring his sassy, smart mouthed sister Laura and his hard nosed Father, Cliff (a very memorable John Ashton), who severely wants Keith to be the first member of the family to go to college, preferably majoring in a "good business program." Keith has other ideas about his future, many of them starring the girl of his teenage dreams, Amanda Jones, the most gorgeous girl in school. While from the same economic background as Keith, Amanda Jones runs in the loftier circle of the rich, powerful and popular student body and is currently dating the mean, duplicitous and philandering Hardy Jenns. Keith's best friend is Watts the Drummer Girl, an androgynous "tomboy" struggling with a sad, empty home life, her classmates' assumed impressions concerning her sexual identity and an intensely powerful yet painful love for Keith.

When Amanda, frustrated with Hardy's mistreatment of her reaches a breaking point, Keith throws caution to the wind and asks Amanda out for a date, who impulsively agrees in order to spite Hardy. This one decision builds throughout the week at school to the pivotal Saturday night date where Keith, Amanda, Watts, Hardy and even Keith's Father all arrive at their respective "benchmark moments," the forks in the road that will determine if they will enact forward moving changes in their lives or just remain stagnated.

As with all of John Hughes' teen films, "Some Kind Of Wonderful" is a deeply perceptive, empathetic, unapologetically romantic and hugely entertaining work, which I previously mentioned featured Hughes at his most gentle and tender. Hughes' peerless dialogue remains masterfully on display and the film also features his impeccable taste in music, which was always ahead of the curve. (I especially liked Hughes' clever nods to The Rolling Stones with the names to his three main characters: "Keith" for Keith Richards, "Watts" for Stones drummer Charlie Watts and of course Amanda Jones, one of their song titles, a song which plays in the film several times.) "Some Kind Of Wonderful" is a film designed to resonate with teenagers of any era while it also mines Hughes own teen years, as he was also an artist in high school, whose family also preferred him to pursue a respectable business career instead of something artistic, who was an art major during his brief time in college at the University Of Arizona and who spent considerable time during his youth roaming around the Art Institute Of Chicago. As Keith says to Amanda as they walk around an art museum while on their date, "This is my church. I can come here and what anybody says about me doesn't matter." It is that merging of the universal and very personal that has continue to endear John Hughes so many young viewers throughout the years.

While there are elements of comedy throughout the film, Hughes and Deutch have downplayed those moments. Instead of being crowd pleasing, it seems as if they both decided to be concerned with and emphasize the emotional truth of the piece, therefore making "Some Kind Of Wonderful" exist as something more soulful.

So, let's address the elephant in the room. Is "Some Kind Of Wonderful" nothing more than "Pretty In Pink" in reverse? Even watching the film at the age of 43, I will offer you the exact same viewpoint I have had of the film ever since I first saw it at the age of 18. In terms of structure and basic plot line, yes, the film contains more than its share of similarities to "Pretty In Pink." But that said, structure is not story and structure is not character and that is where the two films divide for me as well as being linked.

Like the character of Andie Walsh from "Pretty In Pink," Keith Nelson is from the same economic class and both characters literally live on the "wrong side of the tracks" from their rich counterparts (in fact, Keith, Amanda and Watts' respective locales are augmented by an oil refinery in the background!). But, where Andie possessed a laser like intensity and focus concerning her future, Keith Nelson, however, is somewhat lost in the clouds. His particular tunnel vision seems to exist at the expense of anyone else's desires. Not that he is intentionally selfish. He isn't. But, his actions are sometimes misguided and do contain some unintentional consequences of hurting those closest to him.

While Blaine from "Pretty In Pink," is a sensitive rich kid who succumbs to peer pressure, the kind hearted Amanda Jones is more complicated, as she is also from a working class background yet is allowed to join her school's wealthy social circle due to her physical attractiveness; a fact her rich friends lord over her constantly with an attitude that states, "You can be with us but you're not one of us...and you never will be." her desire to be accepted and her resentment against the ones who have more than herself lead her to make drastic social compromises that have made her sell out her better instincts, values and ultimately, her dwindling self respect.

These situations come to a head during their date, an event which takes up the film's final third, unlike the prom sequence of "Pretty In Pink" which functions as a climax. Both Keith and Amanda each have to come to terms with how they have exactly used each other to arrive at this particular moment, their own sense of self-loathing and anger against an unfair social hierarchy and whether either of them deserve each other's affection and love at all.

And then, there's Watts, one of my favorite Hughes creations out of his entire oeuvre. She spoke tremendous volumes to me when I first saw her and not just because she plays the drums. She is forthright and steadfast. She is rock solid in her convictions and her integrity and self-respect is unshakable. She knows exactly who she is even with everyone around her proclaiming that she is sexually "confused." But even so, she houses some doubts, as exhibited in a great sequence set in the girls locker room as Watts gazes at Amanda's seemingly perfect womanly physique as she herself stands near the showers wearing boy's boxers. Watts treats every day of her life as if she is heading into battle, wielding her drumsticks as if they were her shield and sword. And who could possibly blame her for doing so as there is no one in her home life looking out for her. Watts is a character who is entirely on her own in the world, with only her drums and her friendship with Keith as solace, but even that friendship is beginning to show some strain as Keith's infatuation with Amanda Jones takes center stage, threatening Watts' place in Keith's heart. Watts' vulnerability affords her the most empathy of all of the film's characters as you desperately do not want to see her hurt and you wish that Keith will once and for all realize that the love of his life is standing in front of him and has been for all of this time.

Watts' behavior throughout the film is a most sympathetic and aching ode to the perils of falling in love with your best friend and the lengths to which she will go to tell him she loves him while also arming herself with self-protection. During the first half of the film, she tries to push Amanda out of Keith's mind by stressing how unattainable she is. By the middle of the film, she is willing to push Keith away entirely by first revealing herself at her most insecure ("Do you miss me Keith?"), and then, standing her ground and stating, "I think we'll get along much better if we don't spend so much time together anymore. Because I'm driving you crazy and you're driving me crazy, and I'd rather have you think good things about me and not see me than see me and hate me. I can't afford to have you hate me, Keith." 

By the time she and Keith reconcile and face the night of the date, we see Watts at her most selfless, to the point of being masochistic, as she volunteers to chauffeur Keith and Amanda around, with each moment killing her inside. It is as if she is telling Keith, "I love you so much that I will do everything to give you all that you want...even if it is not me." By the film's most tearful final climactic moments, Hughes and Deutch perform a masterful job of balancing teen dreams and wish fulfillments with real world realities as they, plus the incredible performance by Mary Stuart Masterson, show us all how to stand up and soldier onwards with your self-respect fully intact, especially when your heart is breaking into pieces and with no knowledge if your affections will ever be reciprocated. "Some Kind Of Wonderful" is a film that teaches, depicts and values the process of being alone and knowing yourself before plunging into becoming a member of a larger group. All of those elements make "Some Kind Of Wonderful" exist as so much more than a simple love triangle story and also a film with more maturity than most film romances that are being released in the 21st century.

I also have to make special mention of John Ashton's performance as Keith's Father, Cliff, another area where Hughes and Deutch effortlessly blended teen fantasy and reality. Unlike Hughes' Dads of films past who are either loving and befuddled ("Sixteen Candles"), loving yet hapless ding-dongs ("National Lampoon's Vacation," "Mr. Mom," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"), menacing or absent ("The Breakfast Club" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off") or even loving but dilapidated ("Pretty In Pink"), the character of Cliff Nelson was Hughes' most authoritative Father construct, which leads to an explosive confrontation between himself and Keith; a sequence which instantly placed me emotionally back into conflicts between myself and my own Father, who is and will forever be a formidable presence. Cliff Nelson is a lion of a man who loves his son passionately and wants the best for his future but is conflicted with allowing Keith to follow a path he wants for himself. Their confrontation is an eternal right of passage for most people as that sequence states firmly, "Do I want to live the life I wish for myself or the one that others wish for me?" Again, provocative material for a film and film genre that typically receives short shrift.

Now while I am more than certain that this was most likely not John Hughes' creative intention, I feel that this observation may merit mentioning. The plot similarities between the two films may have considerably less to do with creative recycling  and perhaps, much more to do with creating a film universe that is truly indicative of the teen experience as a whole. The adventures, concerns, hopes, fears, desires and overall emotional landscape of Hughes' characters are not simply relegated to his mythical Chicago suburb of Shermer, IL. As "Some Kind Of Wonderful" takes place in California, featuring California teens, families and schools, the similarities suggest to me that what we are witnessing are the adventures and concerns of teenagers everywhere and how these are the stories that play out among all adolescents.

That is what I am getting at with this very lengthy installment of "Savage Cinema Revisits." While it may seem to be quite foreign in 21st century Hollywood, where filmmaker's personal visions are considerably fewer and much farther between, "Some Kind Of Wonderful" represents a film where all of the artistic principals involved, from Deutch, to the actors, to John Hughes himself, placed all of their personal issues completely aside and collectively decided to serve the art itself. Like Deutch explained on the DVD commentary track, "John didn't write these characters for business. He wrote them because he loved them and because he had to. I watched him write and he'd laugh and he'd cry as he wrote."

Much credit must be given to Howard Deutch for helming this project with increased confidence, skill and no less of the genuine emotion and strict attention to the sense of truth that marked John Hughes' most artistically successful projects. Unlike "Pretty In Pink," where Hughes was reportedly on the set daily, providing assistance and guidance to Deutch whenever needed, he was rarely on the set of "Some Kind Of Wonderful" as he was busy in Chicago directing and prepping two new films ("She's Having A Baby" and "Planes, Trains and Automobiles"). While he was always available to Deutch and provided him with continued support and advice, Deutch truly came into his own with this effort and I strongly feel that the success and longevity of "Some Kind Of Wonderful" is an accomplishment equally shared between himself and John Hughes.
Dear readers, it would have been so easy to sit back, create "Pretty In Pink 2," and count the box office receipts but that was clearly not what Hughes had in mind. John Hughes, Howard Deutch and their collaborators conceived of a film that was considerably much more thoughtful and representative of real people and their very real issues than most films that are typically released...then and now. If "Some Kind Of Wonderful" was such an afterthought, such a trifle, something as disposable as "Pretty In Pink In Reverse," something so creatively and artistically empty, would this even be a film even worth discussing 25 years later? Of course not.

I would like to end this with a little story for you. Some time ago, and a short time after Hughes' passing, I was stumbling around Facebook and happened upon the name of "Maddie Corman Alexander." Taking a chance, I wrote her a note asking if she was indeed who I thought she was, the actress who portrayed Eric Stoltz's younger sister, and if so, I thanked her for contributing to this lovely film that has meant so much to me. Time passed and then, I received a short message in return which stated the following:

"Dear Scott...
you were right... it's me! I loved getting your letter... what a beautiful, thoughtful writer you are. Indeed, I forwarded it on to Eric Stoltz (still a close friend of mine) and he too was very touched by your words. Making SKOW was an incredible experience and I will never forget John and the many wonderful people that I met all those years ago... I still see Eric and Mary Stuart and we all agree that the movie has held up and that we are so lucky to have been involved. Thanks for your sweet words.
Be well,
xo
maddie corman" 

I never heard from her again and I certainly do not have a need to either as she provided for me all I could have wished for. "Some Kind Of Wonderful," for me, is exactly as its title states and I feel that it is a testament to the creative life of John Hughes that its beautiful, bittersweet afterglow has continued to shine brightly after all of these years.

Thank you, John.  Oh, how I miss you.