I Watch a Movie I Should Have Seen: “Some Kind of Wonderful”

January 10, 2020

We’re back after a long hiatus! I’ve missed watching 80s and 90s movies I haven’t seen!

The backstory for Some Kind of Wonderful is that John Hughes was unhappy with the ending of Pretty in Pink. He wanted Molly Ringwald to end up with Duckie but the studio wouldn’t let that happen. In response, Hughes made basically the same movie here but with the genders swapped and the ending he wanted.

My thoughts:

Let’s meet today’s characters via musical intro: Mary Stuart Masterson (Watts) likes to drum and wear dog tags! She’s different! Eric Stoltz likes to brood while fixing cars and the thrill of just avoiding an oncoming train! He’s going through teen stuff! And Lea Thompson likes to…make out?
Eric Stoltz pines for Lea Thompson but she has eyes for someone who drives a Corvette. Sorry, Eric Stoltz. You can’t compete with a fine, American sports car.
Eric Stoltz’s dad is pushing him to go to college. Dads are the WORST!
Eric Stoltz’s younger sister is DJ Tanner?? Her character has a lot of opinions. It’s foreshadowing for her time on The View.
Watts drives a car with the steering wheel on the passenger side. How can they possibly make her kookier??
The school bad boy carries all your textbook bad boy stuff on him: cigarettes, alcohol, and, obviously, nude playing cards. He was just missing the fake switchblade that turns into a comb.
Eric Stoltz draws Lea Thompson like one of his French girls from afar.
Hot Guy is cheating on Lea Thompson but he wears a tweed overcoat with the sleeves pushed up so how can she stay mad at him?
Hot Guy confronts Eric Stoltz and tells him to keep his eyes off Hot Guy’s property. And I know I should be focused on calling her “property” but it IS a little creepy how much Eric Stoltz stares at her.
Eric Stoltz pulls the fire alarm to get into detention with Lea Thompson. Detention consists of all the worst people in the school. One guy rips a phone book in half. Another brandishes a knife. And the last one…breaks a pencil? They should have reordered that. Or made the second guy pop open the knife to reveal a comb!
All of his stalking pays off as he’s there just as she dumps Hot Guy and he gets a rebound date!
My next note reads “This is 1987. A girl can be anything she wants to be.” I don’t remember what this is in reference to but I agree with it!
Hot Guy, to bury the hatchet, invites the new couple, Eric Stoltz and Lea Thompson, to a party at his house. Eric Stoltz is skeptical but what has Hot Guy even done to warrant such skepticism except for everything?
Watts attempts to stop being friends with Stoltz. Says she would bet her hands that Marty Mcfly’s mom isn’t into him. And we know how much she needs her hands? She needs them for drumming and driving on the wrong side of the car and…and…did I say drumming already?
Lea Thompson starts being shut out of the popular group at school because of her date with Stoltz. There’s an awkward scene where they completely ignore her and talk like she’s not there. And she was there! I saw her in her glorious dress shirt and oddly large khaki shorts ensemble.
Watts tells Stoltz he needs to practice kissing her to be ready to kiss Lea Thompson. Feelings were felt.
To get extra ready for the date, Stoltz shampoos his face. You can’t have a face that flakes.
Even though he’s convinced that Lea Thompson is in cahoots with Hot Guy to humiliate him, he spends all of his college money preparing an amazing date for her. His dad finds out but ultimately, like any sensible parent, realizes that sometimes you need to blow your future to have a nice evening with a girl who may not actually like you.
Stoltz wears a very 80s suit to pick her up in a fancy old car. Watts is chauffeuring dressed like Kato from The Green Hornet.
The brooch pin tie budget was very large for this movie.

Stoltz takes Lea Thompson to an art museum after hours where he arranged for his painting of her to be hung. Then he gives her the crazy expensive earrings he bought her. She realizes he’s a nice guy and she kisses him leaving one last thing to do: Go to Hot Guy’s party to get beat up!
Stoltz goes to Hot Guy’s party to accept the beating. However, Stoltz’s new detention friends show up to save the day. This movie asks a lot of us.
Stoltz realizes he loves Watts in the end. This was a long and expensive way to realize what was in front of him all along but I guess that’s the cinema. He literally runs to Watts and stops her from crying by kissing her passionately. She needed to stop crying. All she had to wipe her tears were weird fringe gloves and they must have felt terrible. Each time you wipe, some of the fringe is wet from previous wipes. Others are dry. Too many textures sliding across your face. A real nightmare.

Anyway, Some Kind of Wonderful is okay. I thought it should have had the Pretty in Pink ending. Lea Thompson wasn’t so bad. She was a good egg. End up with her. Watts is a tomboy. Tomboys always land on their feet. Or is that tomcats?

2:18pm | URL: https://tmblr.co/Z5Yv9y2n7lbnd

(Notes: 31)