Don't You Forget About Me (2010)

Wow! Such a good movie.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Filmmakers Matt Austin Sadowski, Lenny Panzer, Michael Facciolo and Kari Hollend are traveling from Toronto to Illinois in search of their favorite teen movie director John Hughes. His last directing job is Curly Sue in 1991 and he hasn't done an interview since 1999. The four have interviewed many of the actors and fans of his films who lament the state of present day teen movies. They find the door closed and Hughes would be dead soon after. This would be a great homage to the man except for the slightly-creepy stalking. There is no doubt that the movie needs to interview Hughes. Without that, the worst thing for this movie is a rejection from Hughes. That's what this is. The man has left Hollywood and it would be better to let him exist without the fan stalkers outside his home.It's nice to see the former Hughes stars and the nice things they have to say about the man. It's obviously made by people who love his work. Jim Kerr from Simple Minds has an interesting story about the song. Also Howard Deutch's story of Hughes writing 50 pages of Ferris Beuller in one night is another nice behind-the-scene tidbit. The movie is short or else I would suggest cutting out the hunting party. I would suggest leaving it out anyways.

'Don't You Forget About Me' details the story of four Canadian filmmakers on the road to Illinois for one hopeful interview with John Hughes, a man who has shied from the spotlight since 1999. The film is mostly a collection of interviews with the people he worked with (plenty of familiar Brat Pack faces) and the various directors he inspired (from Jason Reitman to Kevin Smith and so on). This is obviously a documentary for Hughes fans, as there's plenty of adulation.The strength of 'Don't You Forget About Me' is the interviews that showcase just how influential John Hughes was (and still is). One interviewee in particular mentions that with the slamming Hughes took from the critics of the '80s, his work is due for a critical reassessment. And, in effect, this documentary is that reassessment.The film's overall weakness is the screen time devoted to the journey of the four filmmakers, themselves. Much time is spent repeating the words of the people they've interviewed, and the rest is spent bickering on how best to approach Hughes at his home. It does lend a sad ending to the film that Hughes died suddenly before its release. But one tends to wish they'd just stuck with interview footage as opposed to the editorialized "on the road" material.6/10

Finally a documentary about the life of John Hughes. The unfortunate part is that it's made by amateur Canadian (sadly) filmmakers. The interviews with the stars of Hughes' films are the best part of this documentary. The let down is that while Judd Nelson and other stars are present, there are many stars who aren't. Where was Matthew Broderick? The filmmakers also go on an adventure to go to Hughes' home and subsequently interview him. I'll save you the effort.They don't interview Hughes because they're silly amateurs who wrote up their interview questions half an hour earlier in a coffee shop. They also get Hughes' home address from his pizza delivery man.It's worth watching for the interviews with the cast of Breakfast Club (sans Molly Ringwald, Estevez, Michael Hall), Weird Science (sans Michael Hall), Ferris Bueller (sans Matthew Broderick,Jeffrey Jones (Rooney)). You get the idea. They also interview filmmaker inspired by Hughes like Jason Reitman (Juno, Up in the Air) and Kevin Smith (Clerks). The celebs don't need much prodding so it's the best part of the documentary.I still hope someone makes a halfway decent documentary about the life of John Hughes. Hopefully it won't be deluded fan-boys who treat Hughes like he's Jesus Christ or John Lennon (okay, Hughes really is the Gen X Lennon). Hughes is dead but his legacy lives on. The man simply wanted privacy and we'll probably never know how many weirdos showed up at his door telling him how important he is. It's the J.D. Salinger effect.

I've always wonder what ever happened to the late John Hughes. To my mind, he was a brilliant writer. His movies captured something that other movies, recent or in the past, haven't. The question always haunted me, where is he and why isn't he doing anymore films?This documentary takes four producers/filmmakers/friends on a road trip to the homeland of Mr. Hughes, Chicago Illinois. It acts as a tribute, a road trip documentary and an insight to the man of THE teen movies. The filmmakers takes the road with cuts of cast & crew members from past John Hughes films being interviewed. Not exactly interviewed. It's more like hearing their theories where he could be, why he left, how he wrote characters that everyone can relate to and their message to the legendary writer/director.There's other people being interviewed as well like the producers from Napoleon Dynamite, Kevin Smith of Clerks & Dogma, producer & director of Not Another Teen Movie and Jason Reitman of Juno. And then there's today's teens and everyday kid on the street on what they think of John Hughes movies compared to today's teen films.After seeing this documentary through the series of theories from cast members, quotes from John Hughes and clips from his movies, you get a sense why he left. The folks who produced this documentary handled it really well but I wish more interviews were done with other past cast members. Please note this documentary and its content were filmed before his unfortunate passing in mid-2009. The documentary is in its entirely, unaltered with the exception of a note of Mr. Hughes being passed away at the end.Definitely a must see for the John Hughes fan who, like me, wondered where he was and why he suddenly disappeared."I miss you very much. I'm tired of talking to you in my mind, I would like to talk to you in person" ~ Judd Nelson