Some Kind of Wonderful

A simple, lovely and thoughtful teenage story that occasionally shines due to fine characterizations and lucid dialog. Read full review

It has a light touch, a disarming cast, a well-developed sense of humor and a lot of charm. [27 Feb 1987, p.C17]

A hand-me-down cast? Far from it. Masterson and Stoltz possess talent and charm to spare... Wonderful aspires to be little more than the hot-and- happening teen flick of the moment. At that it succeeds.

This is kid stuff, but such well acted, well made stuff that inside 15 minutes you're sitting there like a teenager yourself wondering which girl Keith will wind up with. [27 Feb 1987]

It is not about whether the hero will get the girl. It is about whether the hero should get the girl, and when was the last time you saw a movie that even knew that could be the question? Read full review

Stoltz turns in a restrained, realistic performance, and Thompson is quite good in what could easily have become a thankless role. But far and away, this is Masterson's film. An amazingly mature young actress, Masterson skillfully brings subtlety, depth, and nuance to her character. Read full review

It's Masterson who dominates Some Kind of Wonderful. Like her energy, Masterson's beauty is kinetic, internalized, and she's a winner even if the film itself runs third in the Hughes opus on teenhood. Read full review

Mary Stuart Masterson, a delicate blond, steals the show as the sensitive gal under the tomboy's leather jacket, her natural magnetism offsetting the story's predictability. Read full review

It's Mary Stuart Masterson, bringing a depth and tenacity to her role that nowhere appears in the screenplay, who leaves the lasting impression. She escapes the airiness of Hughes's vision to establish something like a human being. [22 Feb 1987]

Thin, gulpy, awkward, it stands before us, artlessly begging sympathy but betraying its creator's worst weakness. [9 Mar 1987, p.86]

Did you miss "Pretty in Pink," with the glowing Molly Ringwald? No problem. Some Kind of Wonderful, which has the same director -- Howard Deutch -- also has the same story... The real complaint, however, is that Hughes has absolutely nothing new to report -- no fresh perspectives, no gratefully received maturity, nothing added or depleted. [27 Feb 1987]

Yet the performances are just sturdy boats against the narrative current - the plot is altogether too calculated and wholly without surprises, either pleasant or unpleasant... The painting is just fine; too bad the numbers show through. Read full review

Hughes is just treading lukewarm water. Stotz is the blandest of his teen heroes yet. [16 Mar 1987]

It's just that the picture doesn't have a strong idea behind it, just a fog of many half-expressed ideas. [26 Feb 1987, p.20(E)]

Everything comes easy here, especially the right to narcissist complacency, but Hughes/Deutch are too busy playing Mr. Goodvibes to worry about the contradictions at the heart of their shallow moral vision. Read full review

John Hughes pours his usual slickness and sentimentality all over everything. [27 Feb 1987]