Alguém Muito Especial

Mary stuart Masterson plays a girl who has a crush on Eric Stoltz who has been friends with her for a long time but she never has told her feelings. When Stoltz starts hanging around with the rich crowd and falls for the snobby beauty queen Lea Thomson Masterson fears she may lose him. A well scripted comedy romance drama slice of life that John Hughes does right every now and then. on a scale of one to ten..8

The teenager Keith (Eric Stoltz) is a high-school student and mechanic that lives with his working class family. His father´s ambition is that Keith goes to college but it not his priority since he loves Arts. His best friend is the tomboy Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson) and the girl of his dreams is the popular Amanda (Lea Thompson). When she breaks up with his wealthy boyfriend Hardy Jenns (Craig Sheffer), Keith invites Amanda to date and she accepts to get even of Hardy. But the rich boy plans a scheme to humiliate the couple with his friends. Meanwhile Watts discovers her true feelings for Keith.

"Some Kind of Wonderful" is another gem from the wonderful 80´s. This feature presents a successful young generation of actors and actresses and it is highly nostalgic and entertaining to watch it again thirty and something years after its release. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Alguém Muito Especial" ("Someone Very Special")

This film is a great just excellent. The worker, the princess, and the tomboy scenario makes quite a cast lineup. By the end, you are presented with a reminder that what one thinks they want, may not be close to as good as what you could have if you just look a TINY bit closer and that appearances are never exactly what they seem to be. This has got to be a _MUST SEE_ movie for everyone.

Some Kind Of Wonderful tanked at the box office when it came out, but the truth is this sleeper hit was actually good. And I will even go far saying that this reverse Pretty In Pink is better than Pretty In Pink itself. Why? Good, honest performaces. Hughes decides to leave his Brat Packers behind and went with great choices in Eric Stoltz (who could've gave John Cusack a run for his money in the Teen Angst movie department), Lea Thompson and Mary Stewart Masterson, who steals the show as Watts. Sure the story is run of the mill, but it is the acting that pulls it through. Another good thing is that Thompson's character of Amanda Jones doesn't come off as being a snooty brat (for use of a better word). She is from the same part of town like Keith and tries to fit in with the 'cool' clique. Another good supporting performance is Duncan, the headbanger who is a regular in detention. I love how they forge a friendship through their art. And who can forget how Duncan and the lifers help Keith make his date with Amanda a success? One other thing I like is the soundtrack. It doesn't sound commerical like in other Hughes films. The music really suits every scenes it shows up in (especially the end credits that feature Lick The Tins take on 'Can't Help Falling In Love'). Molly Ringwald reportedly turned down a role in this film, but it's good that she did because I couldn't picture her in this classic. Great film.

Even though he didn't sit in the director's chair, "Some Kind of Wonderful" has John Hughes' fingerprints all over it. Which is a good thing. And while everyone says this is a carbon copy of "Pretty in Pink" (it is), it hits the target. This movie handles issues of class division and status pretty well. True love's been under Eric Stoltz's nose the entire time, he just had to get over his infatuation with the popular girl first. And we've all been there; we've all wanted someone who was beyond our reach (especially in high school). That empathy is key here. Age is really the only catch (these actors are too old to play teenagers), but it's also a cast that features John Ashton and Elias Koteas. That's a win in my book.

7/10