PRETTY IN PINK. Directed by Howard Deutch; written by John Hughes; produced by Lauren Schuler for Paramount. Starring Molly Ringwald, Jon Cryer and Andrew McCarthy. Rated PG-13 (language).
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"Why must I be-ee a teenager in love?" How true the sentiments expressed in that golden oldie! And if you're lucky enough not to be in that painful situation anymore, why pay good money to watch people who are? In the case of Pretty in Pink, it's worth it. The movie is clever, sweet, well-acted and entertaining—not a run-of-the-mill teenpic at all.
Andie (Ringwald) lives on the wrong side of the tracks, but she's a girl any guy would be proud to bring home. Hard-working, loyal, smart and cute. Actually, she's almost too good to be true, but the super-human side of her character doesn't intrude too often. Most of the time, she's sympathetic and believable.
Anyway, Andie's had the misfortune to develop a crush on Blaine (McCarthy), who is definitely from the other side of town. It's easy to see how it happened, though, since he's really quite gorgeous and very charming. The neat angle here, though, (why wasn't I ever so lucky in high school?) is that the crush is mutual. After some false starts and missed connections, they finally get together. Not permanently, maybe, but long enough to milk quite a few envious sighs from the audience.
Meanwhile, there's another soul pining for Andie. Fortunately (for us, anyway), it resides in the extremely funny person of Ducky (Cryer). Obsessed with Andie past the brink of all reason, his character could be pathetic. And Ducky isn't played 100 percent for laughs. But 99 44/100 percent is close enough. He steals the show.
The ins and outs of this triangle make up most of the story of Pretty in Pink. Along with a few scenes with token adults, and some heavy-handed social commentary.
Class antagonism is laid on too thick in the movie. Everyone, for one thing, is either filthy rich or struggling to make ends meet. And all the rich kids, except Blaine, are disgusting creeps. How someone as nice as he is could ever have been friends with any of these proto-yuppies is a serious question Pretty in Pink doesn't try to answer.
The scenes with Andie and her father (Harry Dean Stanton) don't accomplish anything but make her too untypical a teenager. Since her mom deserted them, it seems, she's had to be something of a parent to her own dad, buckin' up his self-esteem, coaxing him to find better work, etc. In addition, since no other parents are shown, or hardly even mentioned, the scenes with Stanton put the movie somewhat out of balance.
The only other adult we see at any length is Iona (Annie Potts). Her status as a grown-up is definitely questionable, but her character contributes much to the movie's success. Part surrogate mom, part best friend, part looney tunes, Iona is a real treat.
Pretty in Pink has some problems, but they're minor. Overall, it's worth seeing, whether you're a teenager in love at the moment, or ever have been one.
April 2, 1986