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Ferris Bueller's Day Off is, surprisingly, a movie with layers. On the surface, it tells the story of a trio of teenagers playing hooky from school on a fine May day, having more fun and excitement than some people do in years. The deeper layers concern friendship, love, and family interactions.
The movie's tone is set very early on when Ferris Bueller (played by Matthew Broderick), after persuading his parents -- over his sister's protests -- that he's too sick to go to school, sits carefully up in bed, looks straight at the camera and announces to the audience, "They bought it!" He continues to address the audience throughout the film. In fact, except for two telephone conversations with his best friend, all of his interaction early in the movie is with the audience.
From this, we learn that Ferris is a clever, thoughtful young man with a low opinion of high school. Less than happy with his parents' decision to give him a computer instead of a car, he has, nevertheless, learned to use the computer well enough to remotely change his school attendance record (under the very eyes of the principal, unfortunately, but more on that later).
As is obvious from the very beginning of the film, Ferris is a consummate con artist; he treats us to a lesson on faking out the parents while elaborately preparing his room to look as though he's sleeping, should his parents come home from work to check on him. It's easy to see Ferris as a bully, as well, especially in his treatment of his best friend Cameron, who really is home from school sick. Cameron has a car, you see, and Ferris needs him in order to accomplish his plans for the day. But though Ferris does bully Cam into participating in his plans, it's only partly because Ferris needs Cam's car. He also genuinely cares about Cam and wants to see him happy. He admits to this -- to the audience, though not to Cameron -- late in the film when he gives his clear-eyed assessment that their friendship is coming to its natural conclusion. It's more obvious, however, when he offers to "take the heat" for the destruction of Cameron's father's beloved Ferrari.
Adult authority in the film is represented mainly by Edward R. Rooney, Dean of Students -- the principal at Ferris's high school. Although Ferris's parents are present, he has them so wrapped around his fingers that they accept whatever he tells them without so much as blinking (though there are a few moments in the course of the film when it seems as though Ferris is about to get caught by his father). Cameron's parents are mentioned numerous times, but never seen, and Cameron impersonates the father of Ferris's girlfriend Sloane to get her released from school for the day.
Ed Rooney clearly thinks a great deal of himself. He is positive that he is far more intelligent than some punk like Ferris Bueller, and he's determined to catch Ferris in truancy, especially after he witnesses Ferris's computerized attendance record being changed.
Unfortunately, Rooney isn't particularly intelligent. Unlike Principal Vernon of The Breakfast Club, Rooney has no redeeming qualities (and Jeffrey Jones seems to prefer characters that have no redeeming qualities). When, in his obsession with catching Ferris, Rooney decides that breaking and entering is okay, he loses any sympathy the audience might still have had for him (especially when he already knows, from the repeating "doorbell" tape, that Ferris is not home in bed). His attack on the Bueller family dog is nothing short of unforgivable. His subsequent humiliation in front of a bus-load of students, with the implication that his battered condition will be the talk of the school the following morning, is completely deserved.
A good story requires growth and change. This is most often shown in the main character, but throughout the course of the movie, Ferris remains Ferris: a likeable con artist. It is a pair of secondary characters who experience growth as a result of Ferris's truancy: his sister Jeanne, who fumes throughout the movie about everything always going her brother's way, and his best friend Cameron, whose spectacular murder of his father's Ferrari will more than likely have him spending the rest of his school days in the Buellers' guest room.
In Jeanne's case, her acceptance of her brother is predicated on two events: falling for the philosophical druggie (played by Charlie Sheen) at the police station, and her desire for revenge on Ed Rooney, whose invasion of the Bueller home is what caused her to end up at the police station (accused of making a false report to police) to begin with. Her alliance with and acceptance of her brother may be temporary -- and she does make him sweat a bit when it appears that Rooney has finally caught him -- but for the moment, the Bueller siblings are allied against the authority represented by Edward R. Rooney, Dean of Students.
Cameron's case is a bit more problematic. It is obvious from the beginning that Cameron does not have a good relationship with either of his parents. He wishes his mother would stay in Decatur, for instance. During the course of the movie we learn a little more from Ferris about how cold Cam's upbringing has been, and even more from Cam's outburst near the end: "Who do you love? A car!"
As much as we might admire Cam's clear-eyed determination to face his father in the matter of the car, we can be fairly certain that while the confrontation will certainly clear the air between father and son, the outcome is not likely to be the one Cam clearly desires, a deep father-son bond. Far more likely is that Morris Fry will kick his son out of the house -- or even have him arrested for destroying his beloved Ferrari. But in the end, even that would serve to launch Cameron into his future. So it is Cameron, in the long run, who will benefit most from Ferris's decision to play hooky on a beautiful spring morning.
Members of the Brat Pack: None, unless we count writer/director John Hughes.
Instances of defiance of adult authority: Have you seen this movie?
Break ups: None
Pair ups: One, sort of: Jeanne and the druggie.
Who's going to the prom: Probably everyone. Ferris will go with Sloane, of course, and Cam will go stag. It sounds as though Jeanne has enough admirers that someone will ask her, as well. And Rooney will probably be there to glare at Ferris and Sloane.
The movie's tone is set very early on when Ferris Bueller (played by Matthew Broderick), after persuading his parents -- over his sister's protests -- that he's too sick to go to school, sits carefully up in bed, looks straight at the camera and announces to the audience, "They bought it!" He continues to address the audience throughout the film. In fact, except for two telephone conversations with his best friend, all of his interaction early in the movie is with the audience.
From this, we learn that Ferris is a clever, thoughtful young man with a low opinion of high school. Less than happy with his parents' decision to give him a computer instead of a car, he has, nevertheless, learned to use the computer well enough to remotely change his school attendance record (under the very eyes of the principal, unfortunately, but more on that later).
As is obvious from the very beginning of the film, Ferris is a consummate con artist; he treats us to a lesson on faking out the parents while elaborately preparing his room to look as though he's sleeping, should his parents come home from work to check on him. It's easy to see Ferris as a bully, as well, especially in his treatment of his best friend Cameron, who really is home from school sick. Cameron has a car, you see, and Ferris needs him in order to accomplish his plans for the day. But though Ferris does bully Cam into participating in his plans, it's only partly because Ferris needs Cam's car. He also genuinely cares about Cam and wants to see him happy. He admits to this -- to the audience, though not to Cameron -- late in the film when he gives his clear-eyed assessment that their friendship is coming to its natural conclusion. It's more obvious, however, when he offers to "take the heat" for the destruction of Cameron's father's beloved Ferrari.
Adult authority in the film is represented mainly by Edward R. Rooney, Dean of Students -- the principal at Ferris's high school. Although Ferris's parents are present, he has them so wrapped around his fingers that they accept whatever he tells them without so much as blinking (though there are a few moments in the course of the film when it seems as though Ferris is about to get caught by his father). Cameron's parents are mentioned numerous times, but never seen, and Cameron impersonates the father of Ferris's girlfriend Sloane to get her released from school for the day.
Ed Rooney clearly thinks a great deal of himself. He is positive that he is far more intelligent than some punk like Ferris Bueller, and he's determined to catch Ferris in truancy, especially after he witnesses Ferris's computerized attendance record being changed.
Unfortunately, Rooney isn't particularly intelligent. Unlike Principal Vernon of The Breakfast Club, Rooney has no redeeming qualities (and Jeffrey Jones seems to prefer characters that have no redeeming qualities). When, in his obsession with catching Ferris, Rooney decides that breaking and entering is okay, he loses any sympathy the audience might still have had for him (especially when he already knows, from the repeating "doorbell" tape, that Ferris is not home in bed). His attack on the Bueller family dog is nothing short of unforgivable. His subsequent humiliation in front of a bus-load of students, with the implication that his battered condition will be the talk of the school the following morning, is completely deserved.
A good story requires growth and change. This is most often shown in the main character, but throughout the course of the movie, Ferris remains Ferris: a likeable con artist. It is a pair of secondary characters who experience growth as a result of Ferris's truancy: his sister Jeanne, who fumes throughout the movie about everything always going her brother's way, and his best friend Cameron, whose spectacular murder of his father's Ferrari will more than likely have him spending the rest of his school days in the Buellers' guest room.
In Jeanne's case, her acceptance of her brother is predicated on two events: falling for the philosophical druggie (played by Charlie Sheen) at the police station, and her desire for revenge on Ed Rooney, whose invasion of the Bueller home is what caused her to end up at the police station (accused of making a false report to police) to begin with. Her alliance with and acceptance of her brother may be temporary -- and she does make him sweat a bit when it appears that Rooney has finally caught him -- but for the moment, the Bueller siblings are allied against the authority represented by Edward R. Rooney, Dean of Students.
Cameron's case is a bit more problematic. It is obvious from the beginning that Cameron does not have a good relationship with either of his parents. He wishes his mother would stay in Decatur, for instance. During the course of the movie we learn a little more from Ferris about how cold Cam's upbringing has been, and even more from Cam's outburst near the end: "Who do you love? A car!"
As much as we might admire Cam's clear-eyed determination to face his father in the matter of the car, we can be fairly certain that while the confrontation will certainly clear the air between father and son, the outcome is not likely to be the one Cam clearly desires, a deep father-son bond. Far more likely is that Morris Fry will kick his son out of the house -- or even have him arrested for destroying his beloved Ferrari. But in the end, even that would serve to launch Cameron into his future. So it is Cameron, in the long run, who will benefit most from Ferris's decision to play hooky on a beautiful spring morning.
Members of the Brat Pack: None, unless we count writer/director John Hughes.
Instances of defiance of adult authority: Have you seen this movie?
Break ups: None
Pair ups: One, sort of: Jeanne and the druggie.
Who's going to the prom: Probably everyone. Ferris will go with Sloane, of course, and Cam will go stag. It sounds as though Jeanne has enough admirers that someone will ask her, as well. And Rooney will probably be there to glare at Ferris and Sloane.
