There are some films where you when you watch them for the first time it is almost as if you have seen them before. Sixteen Candles (1984) was one of those films for me. The number of scenes that have been referenced or parodied in pop culture is pretty ridiculous. The fact that it has been parodied ad referenced so much really seals its status as 80s classic, and I can see why. It really fits into the mould of other 80s teen classics like The Breakfast Club (1985) and Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), with the same style of writing and focus on teen rebellion and carelessness, which isn't all that shocking when you consider that John Hughes wrote and directed all three. However, and this is a really big however, there is a one major problem with this film which the other two don't suffer from and that is that is has aged so, so poorly. Not necessarily on a technical stand point, but some of the characters and plot points go beyond basic poor taste and are actually quite uncomfortable to watch. The story follows one day in the life of Samantha Baker (Molly Ringwald), with the day in question just so happening to be her 16th Birthday. It is not the perfect sweet 16 that she has been hoping for, however. Her sister is getting married the next day, the boy she has a crush on, Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling), doesn't know she exists, and her family have forgotten that it was her birthday. The film follows her throughout the day as she tries to save what has been a sweet sixteen to forget, and in doing so she makes it quite a bit worse.
I have to start this review by speaking about the parts of this film which are uncomfortable to watch. I don't want to linger on these aspects of the film, but it would be silly of me to completely overlook these aspects. The first major part of this film which has aged poorly is the character of Long Duk Dong (Gedde Watanabe), a Chinese exchange student who is staying with Samantha's grandparents. This would not be a problem on its own, but whenever this character comes onto screen or has his name mentioned there is a gong sound effect played in the background. For the time I can imagine that this would be acceptable and seen as a silly joke but watching this now it has the complete opposite effect. It isn't funny, it's just very uncomfortable. The other aspect of this film which has not aged well is a plot point where a character simply named Geek (Anthony Michael Hall) is allowed to drive Jake's very drunk girlfriend, Caroline (Haviland Morris), home under the pretence that she thinks the geek is her boyfriend. The geek then drives to his friend’s house so that they can take pictures of him with Caroline while she is unaware that it is happening. The scene ends with the suggestion that the two of them have sex, again under the pretence that she thinks he is her boyfriend. This is a deeply uncomfortable scene to watch and it just builds the levels of discomfort the longer it goes on. I can see that at the time both of these parts of the film would have been accepted and seen as pretty harmless, but they have not aged well at all. As for the rest of the film the only proper negatives I can see are the fact that the plot is paper thin, which means that the film pads itself out with scenes that add nothing to the overall story and are not all that interesting. But it is shot well, has a good script and soundtrack and never feels incompetent on a technical aspect.
The best part of this film is in the charming characters. None of the performances are actually anything special, and I actually think that Molly Ringwald is pretty wooden in the role. She isn't terrible and her character isn't ever developed enough that a really strong performance is needed, but it does occasionally lead to moments of awkward line readings from her, and this could also be said for a lot of the actors in this film. But it doesn't all stop them from being charming and, for the most part, coming across well as high school students with the anxieties and trials that teenagers have to face. The best performance, even though his characters is a difficult one to watch, does come from Anthony Michael Hall as the Geek. He puts a lot of energy into his performance and makes sure to capture every scene with this energy, especially when he is interacting with his two friends Bryce and Cliff, played by John Cusack and Darren Harris respectively. The three of them have the funniest moments in the film (not including the taking photos of a drunk Caroline) and are the most entertaining aspect overall. The writing is also good, as you would expect from John Hughes, and you can see the ideas and visual style that he would take into his later films.
Sixteen Candles is not by any means a bad film. It has likeable enough characters and a good script and is also technically very sound. The performances aren't the best, but they work well enough for what is needed and there are a couple of pretty good ones thrown in there. But it is so hard to overlook the aspects of the film that have not aged well at all. These moments of the film are really uncomfortable to watch, which is even harder when it comes to the joke about Long Duk Dong because it is repeated throughout the entire film. It is for these reasons that I can't recommend the film. It is absolutely fine without these moments, not great but not bad, but these parts of the film really drag it through the mud. Instead, I would recommend John Hughes’s next film, The Breakfast Club, which is a very similar film, but which improves on every aspect of Sixteen Candles. As for this film, I won't be watching it again, I can do without causal racism and suggestions of rape in my teen comedies thank you very much.