Ferris Bueller's Day Off Review

The surface is a wish, an unbeatable teenager talking to the camera while Chicago arranges itself for his convenience, and as pure comic construction it is close to flawless. The parade sequence should not work at all and it does, the restaurant bit is beautifully timed, and Matthew Broderick's direct address is the rare fourth wall break that reads as charming rather than smug. Jeffrey Jones commits to the principal as a cartoon of pure resentment and Jennifer Grey is very funny as the sister who correctly identifies the problem.

What gives the film a life beyond nostalgia is Alan Ruck. Cameron is genuinely unwell, frightened of his father and unable to enjoy anything, and Ruck plays him without a wink, so the museum sequence and the moment with the car turn a farce into something about a friend forcing another friend to act. Ferris himself has no arc and does not need one, though the film's insistence that he is right about everything gets a little pleased with itself. It is built for rewatching and it has one real person in it.