Sixteen Candles

Related Content

• Pretty in Pink
  May 18, 2011
• New Slade Gorton Biography: Arrogant, Fascinating and Always Contrarian
  January 23, 2012
• Planes, Trains & Automobiles
  November 9, 2011
• A Decade Later, Andrew W.K. Still Wet, Still Partying At Showbox
  March 5, 2012
• Washington Ranks Third Least Corruptible State in the Nation
  March 20, 2012

More About

• John Hughes
• Molly Ringwald
• Michael Schoeffling
• Comedy Movies
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Show me a woman between the ages of 28 and 35 who didn’t have a crush on Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling), the superfox dreamboat of John Hughes’ classic 1984 teen wish-fulfillment fantasy, and I’ll show you, well, a lesbian. Hughes, the man who would go on to make The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Weird Science, and just about every other great ’80s movie never remotely eligible for an Oscar, found his first and best muse in Molly Ringwald, the ordinary/extraordinary everygirl. Her pouty lips, gawky body, and frequent eyeball rolls—not the flawless, über-confident sexpot represented by Jake’s bitchy queen-bee girlfriend—truly captures the agony and ecstasy of being a teenager. The role of Samantha was a breakout for Ringwald, but Anthony Michael Hall, as the jittery, froggy-voiced captain of the geek squad, and John and Joan Cusack in two of their earliest roles, are just as much fun to watch. (PG) LEAH GREENBLATT
Feb. 12-18, 7 & 9:30 p.m., 2009