Sixteen Candles (1984)

Second viewing; first seen on July 8, 2006.

The film's action spans two days on the life of Samantha, a sixteen-year-old woman: her birthday and the day after that, which is her older sister's wedding day. The events in these days are those of normal teenagers: family life, school, parties, dates, and of course her sister's wedding.

Adolescence is a rather universally appealing subject in movies; childhood is too distant, and the mind then is too unformed, for adult viewers to remember it vividly; adulthood, on the oter hand, is when people go their different ways, so you can only viscerally relate to stories which coincide with your particular path in life. This cool comedy has enough inventiveness to keep anyone entertained, and an emotional side which is rather sensitively done. It aspires neither to satire nor to realistic drama, so you may rest assured things will have a way to work themselves out to everyone's contentment.

Here's my previous blog entry for this film, published upon my first viewing. It is rather anodyne (the present one is not much better, I am afraid):

[begin quote]
Synopsis: On her 16th birthday, girl seems to be experiencing a living hell.
Appraisal: This film is an account of adolescence's troubles centering on the feminine perspective. The film adopts a light, comic approach, and has generally intelligent dialogue and many interesting characters and situations. Adolescence is one of the most fertile subjects for films, and this is probably one of the better films about that interesting period in human existence. The performances by the leading actress and the boy who plays her rejected suitor are very convincing; also, an excellent actress in the beginning of her career makes a funny small part as a girl using a neck orthopedic device.
[end quote]

Rating: 68 (up from 66)