Pretty in Pink

Paramount Pictures | Release Date: February 28, 1986

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

56	METASCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews

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Mixed:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

Staff (Not Credited)

To be able to give this kind of stuff new and sympathetic twists is a tribute to Hughes' skill with narrative, and to Ringwald's magnetism as a performer. Read full review

Jay Scott

The movie made me so happy, and here I am back on the subway with Nerdo, and there's this jerk across the aisle who's like ancient, 30 at least, and he's got the nerve to look right into my see-through Madonna lace outfit. And he winks. Oh, barf- ola. Read full review

Patrick Goldstein

Delightful... The film is buoyed by a captivating performance by Ringwald, who has an unerring ability to share her character's emotions with an audience, as if we were eavsdropping behind her makeup mirror. [28 Feb 1986]

Roger Ebert

Although it is not a great movie, it contains some moments when the audience is likely to think, yes, being 16 was exactly like that. Read full review

Peter Stack

Very high on my list of good movie titles, has fascinating deep tones, surprising poignancy, and tendor humor for a movie aimed at teenage audiences. [28 Feb 1986]

Josh Larsen

When Cryer eases up and lets Duckie’s vulnerability show, there’s an undeniable sweetness to the character. Ringwald, though, is the true wonder: Andie’s head is always held high—and she frequently backs that up with a self-empowering speech—but her facial expressions are constantly in flux, revealing the many other things she’s feeling: uncertainty, insecurity, her own vulnerability. Read full review

Kathleen Carroll

As irresistibly sweet as cotton candy. Even though the poor-girl-meets-rich-kid plot is older than the Hollywood hills, and this romantic comedy lacks the cheeky humour of Hughes' first outing, "Sixteen Candles," the film definitely warms the heart. Read full review

Paul Schrodt

Whereas Mean Girls used a visual metaphor turning students into ravaging lions as a dull-headed joke, Hughes created a lion’s den that felt perilously real. Read full review

Richard Corliss

Blane's snooty friend Steff (Spader) could be a tired stereotype, but with his all-year tan, his hip-blase voice and hs view of high school as a "career," Steff becomes a recognizable character of any age: upscale slime in embryo. [3 Mar 1996, p.83]

Staff (Not Credited)

A rather intelligent (if not terribly original) look at adolescent insecurities. Read full review

Janet Maslin

Fortunately, the actors are mostly likable, and the story is told gently enough to downplay both its trendiness and its conventionality. Read full review