Samantha Baker (Molly Ringwald) is having the worst day of her life. Her entire family, including heartless parents, have forgotten her sixteenth birthday. Her stuck-up sister is getting married tomorrow. The hunk of her dreams, Jake Ryan (Michael Shoeffling) doesn’t even know she’s alive – or so she thinks – because he’s going with Caroline Mulford, the shallow, beautiful Big Blond On Campus (Haviland Morris). On top of all that, a sawed-off geek with delusions of coolness (Anthony Michael Hall) has the hots for her.
In a typical movie, the hunk would be totally unable to appreciate Sam, and, after breaking her own heart, she’d realize the cute and lovable geek was really the guy for her. John Hughes, writer and first-time director, plays against expectation by making Jake sensitive, decent, looking for a stable relationship, and quite capable of recognizing in Sam good material for same. Problem: Sam is so shy she flees every time he looks at her, and her reaction makes Jake think she hates his guts. The geek, after drooling over Sam to start, finds surprising reserves of wisdom, persuasiveness, and real coolness in spite of himself, and dedicates his efforts to getting these two together. Sam’s parents turn out to be loving and caring, simply overwhelmed by the insanity of the upcoming wedding. In the end, even Caroline, the shallow, beautiful girlfriend turns out to be not so shallow, after all.
Molly Ringwald is sweetly charming as Sam. Michael Schoeffling and Haviland Morris are beautiful people with real acting ability, both deserving of more successful careers after this movie than they had. John and Joan Cusack have small parts, and it’s interesting to see what they looked like as babies. But it’s Anthony Michael Hall’s portrayal of a pubescent wannabe hustler that makes the movie.
Really the only major negative in this film, that cost it a fifth star with me, is the character of Long Duk Dong, the Chinese exchange student. Why Long Dong (get it?) is even in this movie is beyond me. He’s totally superfluous to the plot, and his characterization is more than a little racist. The fact Sixteen Candles can survive his useless, offensive scenes is a testament to just how strong is the rest of the movie.
Cast
- Molly Ringwald as Samantha Baker
- Justin Henry as Mike Baker
- Michael Schoeffling as Jake Ryan
- Anthony Michael Hall as Farmer Ted, aka “The Geek”
- Gedde Watanabe as Long Duk Dong
- Haviland Morris as Caroline Mulford
- Paul Dooley as Jim Baker
- Carlin Glynn as Brenda Baker
- Blanche Baker as Ginny Baker
- Edward Andrews as Grandpa Howard Baker
- Billie Bird as Grandma Dorothy Baker