Sixteen Candles

Written and directed by comedic coming-of-age chronicler John Hughes (The Breakfast Club, Weird Science), Sixteen Candles is nothing if not sophomoric. Molly Ringwald makes a commendable impression as an understandably insecure girl concerned about her lack of physical development when she turns 16, while Anthony Michael Hall is perfectly cast as The Geek. But their worthy efforts are in the service of a script built on a shaky premise--even for a comedy: namely, would the parents, grandparents, and siblings of a middle-class 16-year-old simply forget her birthday because they're more concerned with her sister's impending marriage? Then there's the matter of the handsome but sensitive high school senior hunk who ditches his pretty but ditsy girlfriend for sophomore Ringwald because he's interested in a girl with more depth. Factor in the usual party high jinks, car mishaps, and other teen comedy conventions, plus running tasteless jokes about a horny Chinese exchange student and a hapless girl (a young Joan Cusack) wearing a constrictive retainer, and the critical reputation this film has acquired in the nearly two decades since its release seems rather overblown. Boasting a decent digital transfer, DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, but no extras, this is definitely optional. (T. Rich)[Blu-ray Review—Aug. 28, 2012—Universal, 93 min., PG, $19.98—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1984's Sixteen Candles features a great transfer and a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack. Bonus features include the retrospective featurette “Celebrating Sixteen Candles” (38 min.), “100 Years of Universal” segments on “The ‘80s” (15 min.) and “Unforgettable Characters” (8 min.), the BD-Live function, and bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a welcome Blu-ray debut for Hughes's uneven but much-loved coming-of-age film.]