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.
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” with John Cusack? If so, I agree it’s a way better movie.
Ben Stein is jewish, not a Christian fundamentalist.
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 
Ditto.
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.
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.
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.
(I know what you’re sayin’, Opal)
That was always my reaction too. Ferris was a very unpleasant character.
Well, that settles it then. It’s been cunctated.
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?
I meant Sloane’s parents, not Cameron’s.
Another Not-to-miss near perfecto comedy is **His Girl Friday **.
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!!
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? 
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”? 
Are you still here?
Go home.
Add Stripes and Office Space to the list, IMHO.
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?
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.
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.)
I think you may be looking at him through “rose”-coloured spectacles. 