#StokerScore Rewound: Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)

#StokerScore 9/10

I have loved watching movies for as long as I can remember. I think the first movie I was ever taken to see at the cinema was Disney's Snow White (which probably answers many more questions that friends have about me) and I should point out that I'm 49 years old as I write this. 

which one's Marlon Brando?

I was a kid who was inspired as much by the movie posters and trailers for the films that I saw in the auditorius, so much so that on a trip to see The Spy Who Loved me at the Darlington ABC cinema, I begged and pleaded to see the 1977 version of The Island of Dr Moreau, even though it was an AA certificate and I would never have been allowed in. Ten years later and just out of my teens I remember watching this John Hughes-produced movie and loving the hell out of it. So based on that and the delay in other cool movies arriving at the cineplex I thought I'd do a few retro reviews to see how the movies I used to watch stack up after a few years and try to avoid my rose-coloured spectacles potential for disappointment.

In the case of Some Kind of Wonderful the story really workssurprisingly well. I'm sure I can hear you asking how I know that when as a self-confessed lover of the movie I surely can't be impartial and I agree with you to the point that I decided to ask some of my High School Seniors to review it for me and give me their thoughts. Generally the results came back quite favourable considering it's a romantic teen melodrama. Having had my own thoughts put to rest I feel I can explain why the movie still works for me too, even in these more technologically enlightened times.

It's the classic story of poor boy loves girl, girl is in a relationship with another rich boy, girl finds current rich boyfriend is cheating on her, girl agrees to a date with poor boy who's in love with her to spite rich boyfriend, poor boy has confrontation with rich ex-boyfriend, poor boy ends up with drummer/tomboy best friend instead of girl he was originally in love with (It was the 80's, what can I say?)

The performances from Eric Stoltz (poor boy) and Mary Stuart Masterson (tomboy best friend), two sides of the triangle, are spot on to the point that I don't believe either of these actors has been better in anything else they've been in, and I'm a huge fan of Stoltz in The Prophecy. Lea Thompson does enough to make her character of girl-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks-hanging-with-the-rich-crowd and at the same time removes the stains left over from the woeful George Lucas mess of  Howard the Duck. Thompson even bagged herself a husband by way of marrying Wonderful's director, Howard Deutch.

This American movie, from the iconic and prolific John Hughes writing and producing stable, covers all of the important points of the generational era; teen angst, teen indecision, teens trying to fit in, teen relationships with family and peers, along with the hard fought but requisite happy ending. Apart from the excellently drawn characters, writing, and main actors and supporting cast, what makes the

movie stand above other movies of a similar theme for me is the music. The main characters names are all references to The Rolling Stones so we get to hear The Stones singing Miss Amanda Brown along with a cover version by The March Violets amongst some truly great tracks that make the soundtrack worth seeking out in its own right. My own personal favourite is Furniture's Brilliant Mind.

Throw in Eddie Murphy's straight-laced partner from Beverly Hills Cop as Soltz's dad and Elias Koteas's credited comic turn as 'Skinhead' (his name is actually Duncan in the movie) and you are left with a feelgood movie that people of my age will watch and no doubt reminisce to, but that current teenagers may well see as a 'holy crap, mum and dad were like THAT?' kind of moment.

In the same way that unrequited love and coming to terms with our own mortality are themes that engage teenagers, Some Kind of Wonderful leaves you with a reminder that it's worth looking at what you have, not what you think you should have.