Sixteen Candles (1984)

Sixteen Candles is a 1984 American coming-of-age comedy film starring Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling, and Anthony Michael Hall. It was written and directed by John Hughes.

High school sophomore Samantha “Sam” Baker struggles to go through the day on her 16th birthday, which her entire family has forgotten about because her older sister, Ginny, is getting married the next day. She is also infatuated with a popular and attractive senior, Jake Ryan. At school, she fares no better when she finds out that a completed “sex quiz” which she tried to surreptitiously slip to her friend Randy, never reached her and, unbeknownst to either of them, was picked up by Jake. Despite her name not being on the quiz, Sam is still a bit panicked because the quiz contains sensitive information, such as how she is a virgin and is saving herself for Jake. During gym class, Jake opens up to his friend Rock, admitting that he feels like things with his girlfriend Caroline have become stagnant. He also tells him how he thinks it is cool that he keeps catching Sam looking at him. Meanwhile, an outgoing geeky freshman named Ted is in love with Sam. On the school bus ride home, he tries to hit on her, only to have her spurn him with some trash-talk before she gets off. At home, Sam has a whole new set of problems when she discovers that all four of her grandparents are staying at the Baker home during the wedding. One set of grandparents has brought along a bizarre Chinese foreign exchange student, Long Duk Dong. The grandparents force Sam to take him along to her school’s senior dance that night and, to Sam’s amazement, it takes the “Donger” only five minutes to find an unlikely girlfriend—the tall, large-breasted jock, Marlene.

John Hughes can do no wrong 6.5/10