Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: John Hughes’ ultimate teen comedy is as engaging a crowd-pleaser as it can be; there’s not one iota of subtext, but the whole is simply too entertaining for it to matter all that much. The pieces all fall into place: the smart editing (Paul Hirsch), cinematography (Tak Fujimoto) and use of music and sound, breaking down the fourth wall, all milk the comedy with fine timing. And, of course, the cast, all very efficient in their roles: Mia Sara as the cute sweetheart, Alan Ruck as the neurotic friend, Jeffrey Jones as the single-minded villainous principal, and above all, Matthew Broderick as the rascal that is in equal parts charming and manipulating. It takes just one cross-cutting between a regular high school day and a perfect day in Chicago, however, to show he was not completely unjustified.
