Sixteen Candles [PG]

It’s Samantha’s Sweet Sixteen and her entire family has forgotten the special occasion. Without so much as a “happy birthday” from anyone in her family, Sam’s day just gets worse and worse as she endures a creepy enamoured freshman, and gloating from her bride sister. Not only that, but Jake Ryan, the guy of her dreams is finally noticing her, but the Big Blonde on Campus stands between them. Will Sam’s birthday finish with a happy ending? 

Parents Beware: working in a video store, I know that many parents are a little uptight about what their kids are exposed to. So I am hereby forewarning all parents not to be deceived by the rating of this movie. The cover says PG, but in this day and age it should be M. Sixteen Candles contains evident nudity and rather coarse language, with the F word used more than once. So yeah, keep that little bit of info in mind before you make a decision to hire out this movie for someone younger than 13. 

It’s Samantha’s Sweet Sixteen and her entire family has forgotten the special occasion. Without so much as a “happy birthday” from anyone in her family, Sam’s day just gets worse as she endures a creepy enamoured freshman, and continuous gloating from her bride sister. On top of everything Jake Ryan, the boy of her dreams, is finally beginning to look her way, but unfortunately the Big Blonde on Campus stands between them. Can Sam’s birthday finish with a happy ending? 

Didn’t like this film as much as Pretty In Pink or The Breakfast Club. The story was pretty mundane and the characters weren’t all that special either. I will say, though, that the soundtrack is pretty cool. Dramatic instrumental tunes are used whenever certain characters show up and these nicely play against the more modern songs that are used such as True by Spandau Ballet and Young American by David Bowie. 

The performances were rather mediocre, although I do have to say that Anthony Michael Hall who played the creepy freshman did rather well. He was quite amusing. Starring Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoefling, Gedde Watanabe, Justin Henry, Haviland Morris, Paul Dooley, John Cusack, and Joan Cusack, Sixteen Candles was an entertaining coming-of-age film, but not one that I could watch again and again. It afforded some humorous moments, but ultimately it just didn’t really work. 

Filled with 80s music, creepy freshmen, panties, spoilt siblings, and even creepier grandparents, it’s not a film that I feel the need to have in my collection.