Top 10: Teen Comedies (excluding Back to the Future)

Hon. Mentions: Napoleon Dynamite, 17 Again, 10 Things I Hate About You, Easy A, Van Wilder, The Girl Next Door, Mean Girls, Ghost World, The Inbetweeners Movie. They're all fun films to watch, but I do have considerable reservations with most of them.

I should also note there's a great deal of them from the 70's and 80's I haven't seen like the National Lampoon series and Porky's, and Better Off Dead.

Hon. Mention  #1: Pretty in Pink (3.5/5)

A problematic film on several levels, one being our male lead romantic interest Bland, I mean Blane McDonough, played by the sweet but rather bland Andrew McCarthy, is one of the more thinly written John Hughes protagonists. He's meant to be a charming and endearing pretty rich boy who gradually reveals hidden depths, but the way he's portrayed and written lets this down completely. Brushing that out of the way, the rest of the film is very strong Hughes stuff. Molly Ringwald gives a pretty moving and sympathetic portrayal of Andie, a shy girl who feels out of place in her school populated with rich preppy sorts like Blane and his best friend Steff (a deliciously malicious James Spader). The film is quite good at showing the harsher sides of her home life with her depressed alcoholic burnout dad (Harry Dean Stanton, king of small roles with big impact), alongside the more tender central romance which does have a certain sweetness to it despite the lacking ending. Then there's the side comedic relief characters who are the most fun, from Spader's snark to Annie Potts' kooky boss, and best of show Jon Cryer as Andie's best friend Duckie, whose behavious as written verges closely towards stalker territory but with his charming and kooky performance manages to turn him into a rather endearing character (though it'd be interesting to see how the original choice Robert Downey Jr. would've played the role). A problematic film, but one I certainly enjoy.

10. American Pie (3.5/5)

Another film I probably like more than I should. I'll admit I haven't watched any of the sequels besides American Renunion (which was okay but very unremarkable), owing to their less than stellar reputation, but this first surprise box-office hit which started it all is a good film, albeit with some problems. Problems in that try as they might, a few of the protagonists just aren't that interesting to follow, most notably the ostensible 'leads' of Jim and Kevin, who are intended to be out everyman avatars into this high school world, but end up being a bit bland, but they are likable enough I guess. There's also perhaps an all too frequent tendency to go for the cheap defecation joke when a subtler brand of humour might've been more effective. That being said there are moments in it which are extremely hilarious, like Jim's dad and his lovable if slightly uncomfortable 'life lessons' with his son, Finch's 'seduction' of Stifler's mum, and of course Stifler himself, which gave Sean William Scott the breakout role he was born to play.

9. Dazed and Confused (4/5)

Richard Linklater is a director who's certainly grown on me over the years, and a re-watch of this could bump it up the list. A day in the life picture of the last day of school for some high school students, this may not quite be as good as one of his Before Sunrise/Sunset films, but it's a compelling presentation of his extremely personable, organic style of dialogue and direction. It all feels very down-to-earth and accessible, and its plot-less nature means you can sit down and enjoy it without thinking too much, like most of its characters. I must admit I need a refresh of it to pick out specific moments, but there's of course one of the earliest instances of Matthew McConaughey's unique screen presence as an older fella who still can't get his mind off high school lifestyle.

8. Clueless (4/5)

Another one I watched a while ago, and I'm quite impressed at how much of a cultural impact it still has nowadays, quoted frequently in many a meme. Alicia Silverstone reached the brief peak of her career with Cher Horowitz, kind if a bit shallow Beverly Hills queen of high school, who spends most of her time hanging out with her equally rich and hip friend Dionne and making other people as rich and hip of them, most notably Brittany Murphy's Tai Frasier. These characters could've easily come across as stuck up and stuffy but in the assured hands out some naturally charismatic young actors and witty script and direction by Amy Heckerling, they're fairly endearing. The film breezes along as ever bit the modern Jane Austen it's aspiring to be, and its softly satirical take is amusing and good-natured.

7. Role Models (4/5)

Not your standard teen comedy as it's not set in high school or university, but rather on a mentoring program for troubled youths called Sturdy Wings, where two energy drink salesman (Sean William Scott and Paul Rudd) have to do 150 hours of community service in order to avoid jailtime. Rudd's Danny is paired up with Augie, a Christopher Mintz-Plasse/McLovin type played by Christopher Mitz-Plasse/McLovin who loves above all live-action RPG games, and Scott's Wheeler with a foul-mouthed, breasts-loving young kid named Ronnie (Bobb'e J. Thompson). I'm kind of stretching the definition of 'teen' comedy here but it's fitting enough, considering the juvenile antics and the nature of the film's humour, as well as Scott doing his usual man-child routine. The film is immensely enjoyable though, has a great deal of heart in the gradual progression between the mentors and their protegees, and has excellent supporting appearances by comedic stalwarts Jane Lynch, Joe Lo Truglio and pre-Hangover Ken Jeong.

6. Election (4.5/5)

I'm not Reese Witherspoon fan, nor am I particularly crazy about Alexander Payne in general, but I have to admit their collaboration on his high school political satire, about an insufferable perennial overachieving student Tracy Flick (Witherspoon) who runs for student council president, and the 'righteous' teacher Mr McAllister (Matthew Broderick) who's going to do anything in his power to stop her. Both leads have an extremely good time playing two outwardly cheery, inwardly rather nasty individuals to the tee. The film's direction isn't particularly special, but the script is constantly inventive and rather hilarious at points, it takes on the typical genre tropes of jock and goth outsider and plays with them hilariously, and its ending is particularly inspired.

5. Everbody Wants Some!! (4.5/5)

The most recent one of these films on here I've watched. Linklater’s wonderful depiction of an 80’s college baseball team is another one of his 'plot-less' endeavours, and I must say I preferred it to its spiritual predecessor Dazed and Confused because it's even more enjoyable and fresh, in my opinion. The whole cast is solid, with Glen Campbell’s pretentious yet endearing Finnegan, Temple Baker’s perennially spaced out and good-natured Plummer, and Zoey Deutch’s adorably energetic Beverly being particular highlights. More importantly, despite being effectively a few days in the lives of a few rather chilled jocks, its pacing never feels off throughout and each little scattershot segment is very enjoyable.

4. Say Anything (4.5/5)

Known best for that iconic shot of John Cusack raising a boombox to the skies, the film is so much more than that one inspired scene. Like Alexander Payne, I'm no fan of Cameron Crowe in general (Almost Famous is one of those films I never got the big deal about), but I kind of love this early picture of his. I'll admit the whole 'love interest's dad is a fraudster' subplot isn't wholly necessary but I found it compelling enough, and that's just one part of the film. Lloyd (Cusack) is a somewhat nervy but very pleasant chap who's just graduated from university and wants to be a kickboxer. Diane (Ione Skye) is a valedictorian and perfect daughter, who is supposedly out of slacker Lloyd's league entirely and yet gradually falls for him. The film moves along with a very patient pace in bringing its two lovebirds together, there's no ridiculous contrivances which break them up or bring them together. Some quirky sidecharacters that seem to be a must for 1980's teen movies aside, few films of this sort have achieved both the pure enjoyment value of light humour and heartfelt love that this film achieves, and Cusack has never been better than he is here.

3. Superbad (4.5/5)

They've both taken on decidedly different career paths since, so it's always quite funny to look back at nearly a decade ago when Jonah Hill and Michael Cera were the co-leads of a surprise hit teen movie, Superbad, as the younger versions of the screenwriters of the film, Seth Rogen (who co-stars as one of two rather uncouth cops with Bill Hader) and Evan Goldberg. The plot is simple and nothing extraordinary: Seth and Evan are about the graduate from high school, and want to have sex before university, with two girls they've liked for a long time, so they're out to get booze for a party with the help of McLovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). It's frankly and tried and tested formula so the fact the film at the very least works as a high school comedy is to be expected. It goes beyond that though with the unique combination of Hill and Cera, whose comedic approaches are respectively loud and somewhat obnoxious, yet still somewhat lovable, and awkward sweetness played to the extreme, work perfectly in tandem with one another to make just shooting the breeze between the two a lot of fun to watch. They craft a genuinely heartfelt friendship, and two characters who at first might seem mere ciphers but end up being likable, and in Hill's case, despite his initial ill-intentions, rather sympathetic. Add in the exploits of McLovin and the police officers, an early breakout role for Emma Stone who makes the most out of a limited role, and Cera singing to a bunch of cokeheads as 'Jimmy's brother', and you have a not flawless but extremely funny film.

2.  The Breakfast Club (4.5/5)

There are a few issues with this film. It's a tad bit unrealistic that five high school kids from such different cliques would befriend each other so quickly. There are a few dated, very 80's moments. And one could easily accuse its ending of being too neat and tidy for everyone's liking. But on the whole its strengths easily mask its flaws, to make for a one-setting film that instead of plying on tension upon tension scenarios, starts off with tension and gradually eases it off throughout the film, to build up a connection between five individuals in Saturday afternoon detention: anti-authoritarian figure John Bender (Judd Nelson), rich and pampered Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald), jock Andrew Clarke (Emilio Estevez), outcast Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy) and bookworm Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall). All five main actors do an extremely good job of selling the constantly evolving dynamic between these students, making both the comedic moments (which are very funny) and dramatic moments (which in Nelson and Hall's case in particular, are extremely well done), fell absolutely earnt. It's a sensitively written film by that master of teen comedy John Hughes, and were it not for another 80's effort of his I'd quite comfortably give this film top spot.

1. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (5/5)

Ah this film. It used to be one of my all-time favourite films, but I've since seen more films and become aware of some of the flaws of the film. That it's still a 5/5 film for me, and one of my favourites of the 80's, is testament to its lasting impact. Matthew Broderick might be a divisive actor in many circles, but he's completely in element here as 'righteous dude' Ferris Bueller who everyone besides Dean Rooney (a hilarious Jeffrey Jones), and his sister Jeannie (Jennifer Grey), loves. And by love, I mean everyone loves him to a ridiculous extent. Broderick more than earns this despite some of his character's questionable actions by being so endearing and lovable in his interactions with others despite having ulterior motives in some regards, pitch-perfect in his fourth-wall breaking scenes to the audience, and overall just being the charming and (depends on how you view him) kind-hearted fellow I found myself liking very much. The film delivers entirely on its title, as Ferris and his best friend Cameron (Alan Ruck who gives an iconic, funny and very moving performance) and girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara) skive school to go do things most people who skive school probably never do. It really is one of the most enjoyable films to watch, so I'll enclose some clips of not only the trio's day out but a few other gems as well, to show why I love it so.

And the most beautiful scene in the whole film:

Also, young Charlie Sheen: