Part of MovieSet’s Remembering John Hughes special series
‘Don’t You Forget About Me‘ DVD Review
By James Wallace of Gordon and the Whale
Special for MovieSet.com
DIRECTOR: Matt Austin
WRITERS: Matt Austin, Michael Facciolo, Kari Hollend, Lenny Panzer
RATING: 9/10
John Hughes. It’s a name that is synonymous with our youth. With our teen angst. With our feelings of suburban loneliness and isolation. With both being misunderstood and our misunderstandings with higher authority.
He spoke to us in our language, at a time when we were often spoken down to or written off. And that language will go on forever, helping teenagers for generations to come shout a message to the world to not ignore them, to never forget them, and to fuck off if they don’t like it.He was, and is, a man that will go down as a key figure of formative years, for past, present, and future generations of brains, athletes, basket cases, princesses, and criminals. Like a revolutionary to the cause of both not caring and caring too much.
(R) Director Matt Austin in DON'T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME, an Alliance Films release.
But how could a man so important, so key to our awkward teenage stages, just leave us and disappear, like he did in 1991 when he directed his last film and said sayonara to the world of filmmaking without even a wave goodbye or a fist raised high in the air?
It is a mystery that has plagued many for the last 18 years. Yet, four people finally decided to do something about it! With only a van, a camera, a sense of adventure, and a desire for discovery, filmmakers Matt Austin, Michael Facciolo, Kari Hollend, and Lenny Panzer set out on a journey to find the reclusive Hughes and ask him directly why he abandoned us all. After all, we needed him now more than ever – both in the films we watch and the lives we live.
John Hughes
Their trek leads them from Toronto to Hughes’ home in small town Illinois and everywhere in between. What they find along the way are groups of teenagers that, to this day, even with the endless amounts of stereotypical teen refuse in movies and TV, still connect with the stories and the characters Hughes gave us. They press on in their search, seeing first hand the lingering effect and relevancy the director still has, solidifying their places as messengers for us all.
The lonely travelers also have a little help from their friends – Hughes-esque directors that have taken up the mantle where the man left off, including Kevin Smith (‘Chasing Amy’) and Jason Reitman (‘Juno’). The critics that may have misunderstood Hughes in the beginning, possibly being part of what drove him away, but grew to see him for the artist he was, including Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper. And of course, various members of the Brat Pack. Those actors that brought to life the characters Hughes created. The very characters that were there for us all to identify with, no matter what social circles we ran in. Andrew McCarthy (‘Pretty in Pink’), Judd Nelson (‘The Breakfast Club’), Ally Sheedy (“The Breakfast Club’), Mia Sara (‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’), Alan Ruck (‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’), and more.
All people effected, in some way or another, by Hughes’ prolonged hiatus. All people wondering the same thing we have been wondering. Where did John Hughes go? And why?
The quest for these answers finally leads the filmmakers to Hughes’ hometown, where they do a little good, old-fashioned detective work and find what they believe to be the home of the director. The moment they’ve been waiting for for two and a half years…that we’ve all been waiting for for 18 years…is upon them. They prepare a perfect set of questions, should they be so lucky to get an interview. They write a heartfelt Dear John letter, signing it from themselves for us all. They wait in anticipation, just as we do.
John Hughes Documentary on DVD
And then they wait some more. And then nothing happens. And they leave. And they return home, where 6 weeks later their letter is returned in a self-addressed envelope. And on August 6th, 2009, as we all know, Mr. Hughes suddenly and unfortunately died of a heart attack, leaving us all with so many unanswered questions. Like the unknown punchline to a joke about a naked lady in a bar with with a poodle under one arm, and a two foot salami under the other.
But in the end, it is not the questions that really matter but the legacy of films that Hughes left us with. Films that did not try to give us answers but merely said, “Hey, man, I get you. Even if no one else does.” And that is why ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’ works so well as a film. While it starts out as a journey about discovery of a man, it ends up as a journey about self-discovery of what the man represented inside us all.
As one of the filmmakers poses in the final moments of the film, “Is our message really that we want you to come back or is our message just thank you?” That is what ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’ is as a film. One final thank you from us all to Mr. Hughes for the stories, the characters, and the understanding he gave to the teenagers of world.
It is this humble critic’s opinion that Hughes knew what his films meant to the masses. Instead of abandoning us, I’d like to think that John said what he wanted to say and simply retired, allowing the next batch of Hughesian filmmakers – the Apatows and the Smiths and the Reitmans – to come along and carry the torch.
In return, all I think he would have wanted is for us to always remember his films…remember the laughter they provided…remember the understanding and insight they provided…remember the message they provided. That there is someone or something out there that understands you, even if no one else does.
Don’t worry, John. We won’t forget these things. We won’t forget about you. Thanks to your films. Thanks to this film.
Gordon and the Whale remembers John Hughes
Check out James’, and the rest of the Gordon and the Whale staff’s, retrospective on John Hughes & his films.
