Rose bonbon (1986)

PRETTY IN PINK is the tale of an original, but slightly outcast, girl named Andie Walsh (Molly Ringwald) who is from the poorer part of her town. She never minded this until one day when the rich, "preppy" Blane McDonnagh (Andrew McCarthy) asks her if she'd like to go out sometime. All of Blane's rich preppy friends immediately disapprove, and Andie gets caught in the middle when her own best friend Duckie (Jon Cryer) disapproves as well. Andie decides to go out with Blane anyway, although their first date ends up being somewhat of a disaster. Blane takes Andie to his friend Steff's (James Spader) house party, where nearly everyone snubs her, and Andie is embarrassed to let Blane see where she lives and what kind of house it is. In the end, Andie has to decide whether pursuing potential love is worth the humiliation she receives from everyone else for doing so.

PRETTY IN PINK is the last of the three famous Molly Ringwald-John Hughes collaborations, and is also the least favorable, in my opinion. Which is not to say that it's not a good movie, though. While its two predecessors dealt more with status and popularity issues, this movie deals with a more serious topic of class differences. However, I find this to be a pretty unrealistic scenario by today's standards and not very easy to relate to, in my case at least. However, the whole concept of two lovers dating despite their differences and everyone else's disapproval is pretty cool and receives my commendation. The ending, though, is a bit of a disappointment.

What I really commend the movie on, however, is its portrayal of what love is really like. It manages to show just how beautiful it can be at times, and just how destructive it is most of the time. Having experienced something similar to Andie's struggle, I have to say that that feature of the movie made it a lot more personable and relatable for me, taking on a deeper meaning than it probably would for others who haven't experienced such a battle.

As far as technical aspects go... well, what can you say. The acting is terrific, namely from the always-great Molly Ringwald and the spectacularly wacky Jon Cryer as the film's most memorable character by far, Duckie. Jon Cryer easily delivers the film's best performance, along with most of its best lines. Annie Potts is also wonderful and funny as Andie's coworker Iona. John Hughes was a great director, even though his area of expertise was '80s teen movies--but, let's face it, no one could have done them better.

To wrap it up, PRETTY IN PINK is a cute love story with fantastic acting and characters that manages to capture a bit of the true essence of love, even if it is a bit disappointing in the end. 7/10.