PG-13 | 1h 37m | High School, Romance, Comedy | 2025
I took the opportunity to catch up on Hughes’s canon, especially since many feel that, while “Sixteen Candles” and “The Breakfast Club” were better films, “Pretty in Pink” was the quintessential John Hughes movie.
Also, “Pretty in Pink”—a hit movie that blossomed from a hit song of the same name by the English band The Psychedelic Furs—has long been part of America’s cultural lexicon, and I needed to see why.
‘Pretty in Pink’
Hughes’s go-to muse, Molly Ringwald, stars as Andie Walsh, a teenager who lives on the wrong side of the proverbial and literal tracks. (Oh look, there goes an actual train through her neighborhood to show us which side she’s on.) Andie falls for a “richie.” That is, rich-boy Blane (Andrew McCarthy), to the dismay of both his and her friends.
Andie’s female bestie is her boss at a local record store, the unsinkable Iona (Annie Potts). Her male best-buddy is the incredibly obnoxious Duckie (Jon Cryer), who’s hopelessly smitten with her.
Quite Basic
Hughes’s is a fairly formulaic screenplay—much of 1986’s “Pretty in Pink” story comes from the 1984 “Sixteen Candles.” It holds a special, nostalgic place in the hearts of those who saw it in theaters, when they themselves were teens and going through the same kinds of heartaches and identity crises as the characters. Add to that the Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and Boy-George-spawned fashion of the times.Cast
Normally I can’t abide the young Andrew McCarthy’s haunted, feverish stares, but he’s at his most hapless and charming here. Spader is par-for-the-course unctuous and snooty, Potts is adorable, and hangdog Harry Dean Stanton as Andie’s unemployed ne’er-do-well dad elicits sympathy.
All of the above make Cryer as Duckie the litmus test—you either love him and find his frenetic schtick cute and amusing, or experience everything he does as fingernails on a blackboard. I’m not a fan. I had to admit that the excruciating setup of his prolonged annoyingness worked well to demonstrate how big his heart is. Spoiler alert: He finally and selflessly steps aside to let the love of his life be with the man of her dreams.
Notable up-and-comers of the day include Kristy Swanson, Gina Gershon, and Andrew Dice Clay, who, truth be told, after seeing his work here, should have had a bigger film career.
One thing’s for sure: Andie Walsh’s homemade prom dress ensured that she did indeed look pretty in pink. And while The Psychedelic Furs song immortalized the phrase “pretty in pink,” it had already been around a while as a derogatory slur for a woman who looks best with no clothes on. It’s nice that the movie bestowed innocence by having “Pretty in Pink” mean a lonely high school girl who had the courage to show up at prom by herself.
