# I submit that Ferris Bueller's Day Off is the perfect comedy. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 28, 2008, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234 "2008-04-28T16:08:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pprgrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f6c823/32.png) [@pprgrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pprgrl)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/41 "2008-04-29T04:27:21Z")
I will watch _Ferris Bueller_ if I’m flipping through and it’s on. I will watch _Blues Brothers_ if I’m flipping through and it’s on. I’ve seen them both about the same number of times. I still laugh out loud several times during _The Blues Brothers_. _Ferris Bueller_ rates no more than a quiet chuckle once or twice. On a good day. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/42 "2008-04-29T04:33:30Z")
It’s vastly, vastly overrated. It was mildly amusing, but I didn’t really like the character of Ferris and thought he was a bit of a dick. I also felt the movie did stupid things too often that were done for the sake of a gag, but the gag wasn’t good enough to support my complete inability to suspend disbelief that the characters would do/say whatever it was. I have seen it a number of times but have a hard time sitting all the way through it in one go, because it gets kind of annoying/kind of boring very quickly. Two people now have mentioned “Just Say Anything”… do you mean the movie “[Say Anything](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098258/)” with John Cusack? If so, I agree it’s a way better movie. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/43 "2008-04-29T04:36:23Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] Unfortunately, this scene has been tarnished for me by Ben Stein’s descent into fundamentalist crackpottery. [/QUOTE] Ben Stein is jewish, not a Christian fundamentalist. ---
**Author:** ![Intravenus\_De\_Milo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Intravenus\_De\_Milo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intravenus_De_Milo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/44 "2008-04-29T04:51:13Z")
One thing about this movie is that it takes place in its own surreal little world, where your best friend’s father just happens to have a super-rare Ferrarri sitting in an unlocked garage, where a thousand-plus teens all chip in to dedicate a water tower to a dying student, where a random guy can just appear on a parade float in a major city and bystanders will not only not object, but will start singing and dancing along with him. In this way it’s a lot like **The Blues Brothers** : enjoying the movie depends a lot of being able to go along with it on its own terms. Oh, and didn’t Jeffrey Jones (Ed Rooney) get busted recently for possession of child porn or some such thing? If so, then I would doubly enjoy watching the world kick Rooney’s ass 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/45 "2008-04-29T05:01:41Z")
[QUOTE=Hodge] I just could not get around the title character. I did not think Ferris was a charming or irreverent rogue but a smug and manipulative liar. Cameron should have punched him out early in the movie and I empathized with his poor sister who most definitely did not deserve all of the crap she took. I actually got pissed off when she decided to cover for him at the end of the movie. She should have thrown him to wolves and he would have deserved it. Hell, I even thought the principal was more sympathetic than that smarmy jerk of a title character. [/QUOTE] Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/46 "2008-04-29T05:10:38Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] It’s vastly, vastly overrated. It was mildly amusing, but I didn’t really like the character of Ferris and thought he was a bit of a dick. I also felt the movie did stupid things too often that were done for the sake of a gag, but the gag wasn’t good enough to support my complete inability to suspend disbelief that the characters would do/say whatever it was. I have seen it a number of times but have a hard time sitting all the way through it in one go, because it gets kind of annoying/kind of boring very quickly. Two people now have mentioned “Just Say Anything”… do you mean the movie “[Say Anything](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098258/)” with John Cusack? If so, I agree it’s a way better movie. [/QUOTE] Say anything is a good movie. However, if you’re trying to compare the movies on their comedy appeal as the OP suggest; there’s no way Say Anything is a better comedy. Better love story? yeah. Now I think Better Off Dead would be a much better comparison to FB… but I’d still go with FB. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/47 "2008-04-29T05:20:03Z")
If it wasn’t for other people wanting to watch it, I’d have never sat through a second viewing. I found it to have, at best, a few humorous moments. Otherwise… eh… no thanks. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/48 "2008-04-29T05:47:22Z")
[CRABS](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3v0piKIklc) I swear you will feel something poignant during The Last American Virgin movie. I don’t watch it nowadays, because I’d probably cry at the ending. Laughs and heartbreak, all rolled up into one timeless assault. This movie takes no prisoners, for girls and guys. Plus, as a teenager of the eighties this movie just feels more like the eighties than any of the others. It’s a better zeitgeist cinematographically. [Just Once…](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cum0bfz_1oM&feature=related) (I know what you’re sayin’, **Opal** ) ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/49 "2008-04-29T05:56:58Z")
[QUOTE=Hodge] I just could not get around the title character. I did not think Ferris was a charming or irreverent rogue but a smug and manipulative liar. Cameron should have punched him out early in the movie and I empathized with his poor sister who most definitely did not deserve all of the crap she took. I actually got pissed off when she decided to cover for him at the end of the movie. She should have thrown him to wolves and he would have deserved it. Hell, I even thought the principal was more sympathetic than that smarmy jerk of a title character. [/QUOTE] That was always my reaction too. Ferris was a very unpleasant character. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/50 "2008-04-29T06:05:54Z")
Well, that settles it then. It’s been **cunctated**. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/51 "2008-04-29T10:15:00Z")
[QUOTE=JThunder] Ben Stein is jewish, not a Christian fundamentalist. [/QUOTE] Jewish? With a name like Ben Stein? Y’think so? Did I mention the word “Christian” in my post? I did not. “Fundamentalism (n) - strict adherence to the fundamental principles of any set of beliefs.” He’s a cheerleader for “intelligent design” crowd, publicly equates the teaching of evolution with Nazism, and is “pro-life” (and what a disgusting euphemism _that_ is!) In my book, that’s a fundamentalist, and certainly a crackpot. We now return you to your scheduled Bueller discussion with this question - who the hell owns the pool that they end up in near the end of the movie? One of my friends insists that it belongs to Cameron’s parents, but I’d always assumed they just kind of broke in somewhere. Anyone? Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/52 "2008-04-29T10:31:26Z")
I meant Sloane’s parents, not Cameron’s. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/53 "2008-04-29T11:43:52Z")
Another Not-to-miss near perfecto comedy is \*\*[His Girl Friday](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032599/) \*\*. If you haven’t seen it, you must put it on your netflix cue. If you have, you know what I am talking about. Diabetes! I should have known better than to hire someone with a disease!! ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/54 "2008-04-29T12:25:41Z")
[QUOTE=gaffa] The major flaw is what Ferris does with his day off. Visit the Exchange? Attend a ball game? Dine at an expensive restaurant? Singing in a parade? Huh? These are the writers idea of a great day, not a kid in high school. Driving a great car and hanging around a pool with his hot girlfriend are the only bits that ring true. [/QUOTE] So you think singing a rock classic in front of 10,000 people is **not** what kids in High School want? 😕 Who are all those entrants on American Idol then? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/55 "2008-04-29T12:37:57Z")
Oh, another thing. Don’t you think it’s odd that with all those names in the As - “Adamly… Adamowsky… Adamson… Adler… Anderson…” - there is then nobody in the class with a surname between “Bueller” and “Fry”? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/56 "2008-04-29T12:49:36Z")
Are you still here? Go home. Add **Stripes** and **Office Space** to the list, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/57 "2008-04-29T13:31:39Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] We now return you to your scheduled Bueller discussion with this question - who the hell owns the pool that they end up in near the end of the movie? One of my friends insists that it belongs to Cameron’s parents, but I’d always assumed they just kind of broke in somewhere. Anyone? Anyone? [/QUOTE] Yeah, I always figured they just borrowed some random person’s pool. It’s a nice pool with a good view, so until they get chased off why not use it? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/58 "2008-04-29T13:33:36Z")
I vaguely remember that Matthew Broderick said that he wouldn’t do a sequel to the movie because he felt the character was unlikeable, although I can’t now find a quote. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/59 "2008-04-29T16:52:23Z")
I think the Cameron emo sections that ring hollow to some now have to be taken in their original context. For the target audience (80s teenagers), they were spot-on. Ferris is a classic Falstaffian character. You take a bunch of traits that would normally be unlikable, roll them up together, deliver them with panache and a generous spirit (remember, he’s really doing all of this to loosen his friend Cameron up before college) and you get the lovable rouge who you like in spite of yourself. So yeah, it may not be the greatest comedy of all times, but it’s on the short list. (is it “Jeanne…Shauna” or is it “Jeanne…Donna”? I always thought it was the latter.) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234/60 "2008-04-29T17:09:10Z")
[QUOTE=vibrotronica] …and you get the lovable **rouge** … [/QUOTE] I think you may be looking at him through “rose”-coloured spectacles. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-submit-that-ferris-buellers-day-off-is-the-perfect-comedy/447234.md?page=4)